Chapter 32: Walking Again

~Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind.~—William Shakespeare

Dannie was on her way to the kitchen when she ran into Mr. Martin in the hallway.

“Ah, Dannie, are you on your way to Jake?”

“Not exactly, sir. I was just on my way to fetch him lunch. Grace said it should be ready by now.”

“Lunch can wait. Go back and remove his bandages. I’ve got some spare time on my hands and figured I’d take a look at his wounds. I’ll be with you as soon as I fetch my medical kit.”

With that, Mr. Martin walked off, leaving Dannie standing awkwardly in the hall. Remove Jake’s bandages? By herself?

Walking back into the room where Jake was still being forced to remain in bed, she took a deep breath and attempted to make her voice sound professional.

“Jake, take your shirt off.”

The eyebrows slowly lifted upward and the pale green eyes blinked at her in surprise. “Take my shirt…off?” he repeated.

“That’s right, come on, be quick about it.” Dannie walked up closer to the bedside.

“Why?”

“Mr. Martin is going to be here in a minute to examine your wounds, and I’ve got to remove the bandages.”

“Oh, well in that case…” Jake grinned as he complied. This could get very amusin’, he thought to himself. “So, did you have to do this often while I was unconscious?” he asked as Dannie began untying the linen strip.

“Several times,” was Dannie’s curt response as she tried to focus on her work and not on Jake’s muscles. Her hands were clumsy, and she found it hard to undo the knot. Why did Jake have to be awake? This would have been a lot simpler if he was still unconscious.

“You stripped me down and changed my bandages several times? How did you manage to remove my shirt with me out cold?”

“First of all, you weren’t wearing a shirt, and second, I had help. When it came to cleaning the wounds, Mack was always around to lend me a hand. Not to mention Mr. Martin was usually present as well.”

“I wasn’t wearin’ a shirt? Right, I remember when I awoke all I had was this white stuff wrapped around me. So, you would sit here and watch me sleepin’ without my shirt on?”

Dannie knew her face was going bright red, and she decided against answering such a ridiculous question. Why was this strip of linen so long?

Jake, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying this whole procedure immensely and kept right on talking. “Still, gettin’ the bandages off and cleanin’ the wounds must have been pretty hard…”

“It was a lot easier than doing it with you conscious,” Dannie confessed.

“Was it now? And why’s that?”

“Because I didn’t have your running commentary distracting me.”

“Aaah. Well, sorry if my talkin’ is botherin’ you, but I can’t help myself. I’ve never had a woman hug me while I was bare-chested before.”

“Jacob Wade, the things you come up with!” Dannie was sure her face was purple by now. “I am not hugging you! I am merely removing your bandages so Mr. Martin will be able to examine your wounds. Don’t you know nurses do things like this all the time? It comes with the profession. Surely you understand that this is all for medical purposes?”

Dannie hurried to get the silly thing off Jake as fast as she could.

Jake chuckled at Dannie’s reaction. It was funny to see her all embarrassed and blushing. “I s’pose I’ll have a couple of scars to show, thanks to this encounter.

“Not like I could care if you did,” Dannie retorted. At last, she had all the bandages removed, and as if on cue, Mr. Martin walked through the door.

“Ah, I see I am right on time,” he said. “Hmm. Everything is healing nicely, but it’s too soon to take the stitches out. Dannie, you go ahead and open that bottle and disinfect the area around the wounds. You can do it on your own, by now. Once you’re done, wrap him up.”

“Yes sir,” Dannie said, dreading the fact that she was going to have to start ‘hugging’ Jake all over again. She gently applied the slightly damp cloth around the area of Jake’s wounds, careful not to snag any of the stitches. They had to remain untouched and dry.

“What about his leg?” Chris Martin asked.

“Oh, I forgot about that one.”

“Never mind, I’ll do it. You focus on his chest.”

Jake winked at Dannie, who pretended not to notice. Focus on his chest? Did Mr. Martin even hear himself?

“How long do you think it will be before I can get out of this bed and walk again?” Jake asked as Mr. Martin undid the bandage on his leg and examined the wound.

“Don’t rush into it, Jake. Your injuries were serious, and I need you to rest and take it easy. There is no way to make it heal faster. Just be patient. There was an infection in the leg, and I had to re-open the wound and clean it out. When you do get up, you will have to break the leg in slowly, give it time to adjust to your weight. I’ll have Mack make you a walking cane.”

“How about ridin’?”

“Oooh, now that is something you shouldn’t even think about, yet. Let the wound heal all the way before you stress it like that.”

Jake grumbled and turned his attention back to Dannie, who had by now begun the process of winding the clean bandage around his chest.

“Is it me, or is your grip tighter this time?” he asked.

“That’s because now I’m putting it on, and I have to make sure it stays on,” Dannie replied. She was glad Mr. Martin was there. Hopefully, his presence would make Jake watch his tongue. “There,” she said, surveying her work. “Even I have to admit, I am getting pretty good at this.”

“Are you now?” Jake asked with another wink at her.

“You finished?” Mr. Martin looked over. “Good, go and get him his lunch.”

“What about bandaging up my leg?” Jake protested.

“I can manage that without Dannie,” Chris Martin replied.

“Pity,” Jake said, though only loud enough so Dannie could hear him. Dannie ignored him and promptly left the room. Closing the door, she leaned against it, bit her lip, and broke into a smile. Jake could be such an adorable scoundrel at times.