Free Healing Gabriel by Elizabeth Kelly Page B

His side was aching and throbbing and he really
wanted to lie down but he smiled grimly at her. 
    “I can tell when you’re lying Gabe.  Come on, let’s get you
into bed and then I’ll give you some pain relief meds.”
    They had sent him home with two morphine pills, one for this
afternoon and one for this evening and she was glad.  Gabe was pale and sweaty,
and she had a feeling that he was in much more pain then he would admit.
    She put her arm around his waist and steadied him as he
walked down the hall to his bedroom.  “Where are the dogs?”
    “They’re with the sheep.  I didn’t want them in the house
when I first brought you home.  They’d be way too excited, and I’m pretty sure
they’d trip us both.”  She laughed.
    They were at his bedroom now and she helped him inside,
glancing curiously around.  She had never been in his room, although she’d
spent more time wondering about it then she cared to admit to herself.
    “This is nice.”  She glanced at the large bed and the gas
fireplace built into the wall opposite of it.  The room was painted a dark
green and it gave the room a warm and cozy feel to it.  It would be nice in the
winter, she mused, although right now it was a bit stuffy.  As Gabe sat down
gingerly on the bed, she crossed the room and opened the window, hoping to
catch a breeze.  It was hot out and the farmhouse didn’t have air
conditioning. 
    “Bathroom?”  She pointed to the door to her left and he
nodded.
    “Do you want to use it before I tuck you into bed?”
    He shook his head no and she turned the ceiling fan on over
the bed, stretching on her tiptoes to catch the cord.
    “Tired?”  She gave him a look of sympathy as she stood in
front of him, and he nodded.
    “Hold on a minute.”  She dug into her purse, pulling out the
small bottle of pills and went into the bathroom.  She came back with a glass
of water and held out one of the pills to him.  “Here, take this.”
    He took it without argument, drinking the entire glass of
water in three large gulps.  It was hot in the room and he could feel the sweat
sticking to the back of his long-sleeved shirt.  She had brought him a change
of clothes to wear home from the hospital, just a pair of lightweight shorts
and his usual long-sleeved shirt.
    “Shorts on or off?”
    He blushed.  “On.”
    There was no way he was letting her see him in his
underwear.  He’d gotten the nurses to help him dress while she was getting her
car and even with his side aching, he didn’t entirely trust that he wouldn’t
get an erection if she took his shorts off of him.
    He realized with a start that she was unbuttoning his shirt
and he grabbed at her hands, groaning with pain when it pulled at the staples
in his side.
    She frowned.  “What?”
    “I’ll sleep with my shirt on.”
    “Don’t be ridiculous.  It’s like a million degrees in here. 
You’ll be much too warm.”
    He tried to protest again but it was really warm in the
bedroom, and the thought of trying to sleep in his shirt was an unpleasant one.
    “I can do it.”  He muttered, brushing at her hands again. 
“I don’t need your help.”
    “Yes, you do.”  She said firmly.  She finished unbuttoning
his shirt and he closed his eyes as she slipped the shirt off his shoulders and
arms.  He couldn’t look at her.  He couldn’t stand to see the disgust and pity
in her eyes when she saw his ravaged body for the first time.
    “Holy Hannah.”  She breathed quietly.
    His heart dropped to his feet and he could feel the heat
rising to his cheeks.  He forced himself to open his eyes. 
    “You’ve got a six pack!” 
    He twitched a little in surprise.  He realized that Morgan was
staring at his abdomen.  The left side was covered in scarring, the muscles
hidden beneath the scars, but the right side of his abs were perfect.
    “How the heck do you have a six pack?  You sit at a computer
all day.”  She gave him a look of indignation.  “I’m