Though my body still ached, it was hard not to enjoy being cradled against his broad chest. At least, until he said seven words that struck fear in my heart. “Do you need to use the bathroom?”
Oh no, no, no, no. Somehow, I hadn’t thought about this part of it. Before, trained hospital staff had helped me. Now, it was a handsome man I barely knew.
This could be bad. Very bad.
Spencer seemed to be following my thoughts. “I know I’m not a nurse, but I am a licensed parent. We play many roles, and I’ll do my best to help you without embarrassing the hell out of you.”
His words were comforting, but I didn’t know how much I believed them. I was already mortified. But it wasn’t like I had much choice.
“It’ll be all right,” Spencer assured me.
Throughout this conversation, he was still holding me. The man clearly had muscles to spare. With two children and an important job, I couldn’t fathom when he had time to work out. Perhaps lifting strange women was his main form of exercise?
“You okay, Lyss? Let me help you out. And there’s a stool in the bathroom.”
A giggle escaped my mouth and took us both by surprise. Spencer raised an eyebrow. “I’d say those pain meds are kicking in.”
Apparently, they were. I’d have to watch what I said.
He carried me through a bedroom to a small bathroom. There was a door opposite the one we came in. It was only partially open, but it was clearly a kid’s bedroom.
“Rafe said you’re supposed to elevate your foot even while you’re in here.” He set me on my feet—well, on my one foot—by the toilet. I immediately grabbed onto the edge of the sink for balance.
Spencer pointed to the crutches that were leaning against the wall. “After you’re done, you can use those.”
“I don’t know how.” I’d seen people use them, but I’d never tried them. Plus, I wasn’t the most coordinated person ever.
“Just to get yourself back up. Once you’re decent, give me a call and I’ll take you to your room. Okay?”
“Okay.” Hopefully I wouldn’t end up falling in the toilet or something.
“And in a day or so, we’ll have crutches lessons. Raphael probably already knows the top ten ways to teach someone to use them.”
“Does he work in medicine?”
“No, but companies hire him to research various things. He writes a lot of papers, and sometimes manuals, that explain complex procedures in simple ways. So he’s a researcher, but technically, he’s a technical writer.”
That struck me as funny again, and I wondered what the hell was in those pills I’d taken. But my sense of humor vanished after Spencer left, shutting the door behind him.
It hurt like hell just to ease the sweatpants and panties down my legs. And then it was hard to lower myself to the toilet without putting any pressure on my bad leg.
It felt like it took hours, but finally, my sweats were back in place, I’d washed my hands, and I was leaning on a crutch for support.
“Mission accomplished?” Spencer asked when he reappeared.
Feeling foolish, I nodded.
“Then you’ve earned yourself a rest.” He gently picked me up again and carried me into the bedroom we’d passed through before.
Dark curtains were drawn over the window, so I couldn’t see into the corners, but that was okay. I only had eyes for the queen-size bed Spencer was heading for. The quilt and top sheet were already pulled back, like it was waiting for me.
Rest was one of the things the doctor had ordered, and it seemed like a pretty damn good idea to me.
Spencer lowered me down so that I was sitting with my back propped up against the pillows and the headboard. I reached for the covers and was about to settle in when he put his hand over mine.
“I think I hear the twins now. Do you want to meet them?” Then he studied me. “Or, if you’re too tired, we can do it later.”
“No, I want to meet them.” It struck me as ironic that I’d pushed Lucas out of the path of an oncoming car but had never exchanged a word with him.
“Good, because they’re eager to meet you.” He hesitated. “They might be a bit shy at first, but this morning at breakfast, they asked a trillion questions about you, and were excited that you’d be here tonight.”
Aww, that was sweet. Spencer turned on some lamps while I listened to the sounds coming from the other room. Raphael and Lucas were talking about what he’d done in gym class that day. It made me wonder if the twins were in the same class or not.
I heard what sounded like bookbags hitting the floor, and then footsteps heading this way.
They were beautiful. That was my first thought when I saw them. Both had light brown hair and smooth, creamy skin. Their eyes were green, which contrasted with Spencer’s deep brown. Charlotte’s hair was long and gathered in pigtails that curled slightly at the ends. Lucas’s was shorter than hers, but still long enough to have a bit of wave to it.