Free Broken (The Broken Series Book 1) by Carrie Cox

down,” Brian said. “It’s not a problem. This is something that will happen when he tries to use his legs at first. His legs were shattered in the accident, and they’ve knitted back together, but they are far from perfect. He will be in pain, Kristina. It’s part of his recovery.”
    “But there must be something I can do,” I said.
    “There’s some cream, called muscle ease, in the cupboard,” Brian said. “You can massage that into his legs. That should help. Give him a couple of the pain killers in his bathroom cabinet. He doesn’t like taking them, but do your best to persuade him. Give him two now, and another two in four hours’ time if he’s still in pain, okay?”  
    “Okay,” I said, but I didn’t sound convinced. My shaky voice betrayed me.
    “Look, if you’re still worried about him and the massage and the tablets don’t help, then give me a call back in an hour or so, and I’ll come back in.”  
    I exhaled in utter relief. “Thank you, Brian.”  

12

    I went into the bathroom and rattled around in the medicine cabinet. I found the tube of muscle ease at the back on the top shelf behind the shaving foam. It looked like some kind of muscle oil. I unscrewed the cap and took a sniff. It smelled of menthol. I guessed it was like a muscle relaxant.  
    I grabbed the white bottle of prescription painkillers as well, and as Jack heard me rustling around in the bathroom, he called out, “What are you doing in there?”  
    I walked back through to the bedroom with the muscle ease in one hand and the pain killers in the other.  
    He rolled his eyes at me. “You spoke to Brian.”  
    I nodded. “Why didn’t you tell me about the pain killers?”  
    He didn’t answer.
    I walked up to his bedside and put the muscle oil and the pain killers on the bedside cabinet. I then extracted two tablets and handed them to him.  
    He pushed himself up in bed, and I handed him his glass of water.  
    “Thanks,” he said and swallowed both tablets.  
    “Are you angry with me?” I asked. “For calling Brian?”
    “No,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “I’m quite looking forward to it.”
    I frowned. “Looking forward to it?”
    He smiled. His face was still pale, but it transformed with his grin. His eyes sparkled.
    “Yeah, because now you’re going to massage me with that oil.”   He winked at me.
    I flushed beet red and quickly averted my gaze to stare down at the bed covers.
    I wished I could stop the blushing. It was so embarrassing. I should be more practical and nurse-like. I glanced at the tube of oil again and gathered my courage. I could do this. I had to. It wasn’t a big deal. He was a patient and this was a treatment.
    So I’d be up close and personal with him for ten minutes, but I could handle that, couldn’t I?
    I had to.
    I cleared my throat and picked up the massage oil. “Right, so, where exactly do I use this?”  
    Jack spluttered a laugh. “It’s okay, you only need to do my legs.”
    I looked down at him on the bed and saw my first challenge: he was still wearing his t-shirt and jeans. I wasn’t sure what to do. Did I take them off, or should he?
    I licked my lips. “Um, I suppose we need to take your jeans off.”
    He nodded. “Yep, that’ll be good.”  
    He grinned at me again. I could sense it, but I wouldn’t look at his face because I knew I would flush a thousand shades of red for the millionth time. Instead, I put the muscle ease oil on the bed beside him and reached towards the fly on his jeans. My hands started to shake.
    My hands were trembling so much I barely managed to open the first button. I could feel my breathing getting faster, and I hoped Jack didn’t notice.  
    But he reached for my hand. His fingers wrapped around mine.
      I looked up at him. “Did I do something wrong?”
    He wasn’t grinning anymore, but there was a look of concern on his face. “Are you nervous?” he asked. “Your hands are shaking.”  
    I pulled my