some more rest. Just take things easy. Thereâs still a little swelling. No driving until I say so. Keep the bandages dry, and the cast, only take a painkiller if you absolutely have toâyou probably know the drill. Iâll need to see him Saturday morning.â This directed again at Elaine. âMake an appointment on the way out.â He turned back at the door, âI like happy endingsâdonât disappoint me. Take care of yourself.â And with that he was gone.
âLetâs get out of here.â
âShoes anâ socks?â
âTry the bottom drawer under the TV.â
***
âWhere to? Are you hungry?â Elaine pulled the Flex out from under the hospitalâs covered entrance to Emergency. Dan had refused a wheelchair ride from his room, much to the consternation of the floor nurse. And he didnât need help climbing into the SUVâs front seat, even though Elaine saw the grimace before he settled back.
âYeah. But Iâm not thinking restaurant. Maybe back to the motel?â
âAnd that wouldnât be overexerting? I thought Dr. Zimmermanâs reference to âmountain climbingâ was just a euphemism for sex.â
âCanât let Stanley get ahead of meâ¦figuratively speaking.â
He grinned and Elaine couldnât help thinking how terrific it was to have him backâinnuendo and all. The grin was the same, a little lopsided, infectious, probably hadnât changed any since fifth grade. The bandage gave him a rakish lookâlike heâd been in a really bad fight but had won. Come to think of it, that wasnât too far from the truth, she decided.
She grinned back. âSounds like a plan.â
Sheâd chosen a motel on Cerrillos Roadâplain, not too expensive but it took pets. She carried the luggage inside while Dan turned on the shower. She looked the other way when Simon hopped onto the queen-sized bed closest to the window. There was a dog who understood creature comforts. She filled his water bowl and put it under the vanityâs counter. She wiggled out of jeans and pulled the shirt over her head, dropped the silk undies on top of the pile and headed toward the bathroom.
âGlad to see youâre following doctorâs orders.â
âHave to. Wonât get this thing off for awhile.â He held up his right hand with the cast already encased in a plastic bag sealed off with two rubber bands.
âKind of a sexy outfit for the shower. But youâre missing a bow.â Elaine pointed.
âAh, youâd just tell Carolyn. After you.â Dan held the shower door open.
The shower felt good but it felt even better to just lean against Dan, her arms around his back, her head on his shoulder. Heâd removed the bandage from his head and she could see the ten or so stitches at a diagonal above his right ear. But it was the bruising that made her pull back. Most of his right side was a dark blue-black beginning that attractive slide from puce to puke-green that denotes healing.
âHurt?â She lightly touched a bluish-green welt on his shoulder.
âLooks a lot worse than it really is. I took the brunt of it on my right sideâwent through the windshield at an angle and collided headfirst with something.â
âYou were lucky.â
âYeah.â
He bent down and kissed her, pulled back, and murmured, âGod Iâve missed you,â before pulling her into him again. âWhat if I wanted to take a rain check on that mountain climbing and just take a nap? Would my reputation be ruined?â
âIâd say that Superman was probably human.â She kissed him again. âIâm planning on having lots of second chances.â
They slept until four, ordered in, and watched a movie on HBO.
âI know itâs probably back to work tomorrow.â Elaine wasnât quite ready to give up having Dan all to herself. She slipped another