Reclaiming His Wife

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: PATIENT CARE

By the time Mark brought her personal effects from her room into his and made arrangements for lunch to be delivered to the room, it was late afternoon. Not that Jessica was hungry. She wasn’t. She was glad now that he’d decided to stay close today. She wasn’t feeling ill, but she was still a little shaky, and really didn’t think she should be alone.

That shakiness increased as she attempted to do little things for herself like change out of her dress and into comfy sweats and when she wanted to go to the bathroom to relieve herself. Mark was sweet. He assisted her without emotion. Mark simply approached each task as if he were a nurse and she a perfect stranger. Jessica appreciated his clinical approach to the whole situation; it put her at ease and avoided what could have been a very awkward situation.

She started to lose her composure however when he told her that tonight she was to sleep in his bed in the master room with him, rather than the spare bedroom in his suite.

Her stomach dipped at the prospect and she struggled to formulate words that would persuade him to reconsider.

“There is only a wall separating the two bedrooms, Mark. It seems silly not to stay in my own room as we usually do.”

“No. I want you near in case you need me.”

She did need him, but not in the way he meant. He was being nothing more than caring right now, while she was still stunned by the impact of their kiss back at the Botanical Gardens.

“Fine,” she murmured, not up to arguing anyway. She was too tired to put up much of a fuss. Hopefully, she’d pass out quickly and sleep through the night so she wouldn’t have to endure the torture of just sleeping right next to him.  

“I need to take a shower,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “My hair feels sticky and I feel icky.”

He shook his head. “Not a good idea. You might faint in there.”

Her heart thudded and she could feel her face heat up as she pictured him coming in to rescue her. She looked away as they walked toward the master room.

“You’re right,” she said, then could have kicked herself.

Any other woman would have used that to her advantage, but no, not her. What was the matter with her? Then she remembered. That’s right, she’d had a bump on the head. She gave herself a pass, wincing.

“Are you in pain?”

“A little.”

He pushed open the bedroom door and led her inside. “Here. Sit on the chair and let me get you a drink of water.”

He left and returned, handing her the glass of water.

“Drink it all, you need to stay hydrated.”

“Thanks.” She did as he said.

“So, I was thinking,” Mark began. “Perhaps you can get to clean up and wash your hair as you wanted. But rather than take a shower, you can take a bath. There is a nice clawfoot bathtub in the en suite.”

“Oh, that sounds like a wonderful idea!” exclaimed Jessica. “I really would feel better if I was able to clean up and wash my hair. A soak in the tub would be great.”

“Of course,” said Mark, “I’d have to assist you to ensure you don’t have an accident and further hurt yourself. Or God forbid, you pass out in the tub and drown.”

“Don’t you think you are being a little extreme?” questioned Jessica.

“No, I don’t. Head injuries need to be taken seriously.”

“I know,” conceded Jessica, before adding, “I just think it would be too weird to soak in a tub with you in the room.”

“Jess, we’re married. Married couples do this all the time. Nothing will happen. I would never take advantage of you, least of all when you are injured.”

“I know you’re not going to take advantage of me, Mark,” Jessica said, exasperatedly.

“But we are married on paper only. We do not have an intimate relationship; hence why it would be weird.”

 “Maybe it’s time we took our marriage to the next level and be more than married on paper,” he suggested.

Shocked, Jessica had no reply for him. She just stared wide-eyed at Mark.

Returning her stare for a few beats, Mark eventually said, “that’s a discussion for another time. Let me go run your bath. You sit and relax. I will be back to help you out of your sweats and into the tub.”

With that, he left the room.

Jessica proceeded to mentally kick herself. Why was she missing all these opportunities being presented to her?

Wasn’t this what she wanted? She wanted them to have a s****l relationship. So why when Mark suggested it just now did she freeze?

She was such a ninny. If her life were actually a book, readers would get second-hand embarrassment for her.

She was so busy chastising herself, she hadn’t heard when Mark re-entered the room and so she shrieked when he spoke to her.

“Do you want to take the sweats off here or when you go into the bathroom?”

“Jeez! What are you trying to do? Scare the life out of me?”

“What were you so deep in thoughts thinking about?”

“Nothing,” she rushed to say. “I’ll undress in the bathroom.”

As she turned to head in that direction, Mark followed her.

“Mark,” she said raising her hand - palm towards him. “I can manage on my own.”

“Jessica, I’m coming in with you. If it will make you feel more comfortable, I’ll turn my bath so you can take the sweats off and get into the tub. I filled it with bubbles so I won’t be able to see anything.”

Relenting, Jessica said “okay.”   

Once in the bathroom, Mark was true to his word – he turned his back to Jessica and gave her the privacy she requested.

Jessica on the other hand was regretting her request. Bending to pull her sweat pants off, she found that certain extreme movements like bending forward caused her head to ache like a b***h. However, she bit her bottom lip to keep from whimpering out loud. She did not want Mark turning around and seeing her naked for the first time while she was looking like a hot mess. This was so not how she’d pictured their first intimate moment being like.

She had better luck taking her top off. 

Task completed, she slipped into the tub and couldn’t help moaning aloud as the hot water soothed her aching joints and muscles. She wanted to kiss Mark for suggesting the soak. It was heavenly.   

Her moans brought Mark around. Seeing Jessica partially submerged in the tub, head thrown back and eyes closed had Mark’s d**k growing from half-mast to full attention.

He took a step towards the tub then froze. He needed a moment to get his libido under control. After all, he’d promised Jessica he would not take advantage of the situation and he was a man of his word.   

Eventually, he made his way behind her.

“Your hair’s got dried blood in it,” he said, as he eased himself onto his knees. “I’m hoping it won’t cause you too much pain, but I’ll help you wash it.”

Jessica’s eyes remained closed. She was not surprised to hear Mark’s voice immediately behind her. Her body was so in tune with his, that the moment he started moving towards her she’d felt it. The hot water was doing its job and lulling her into a state of weightlessness. She felt like if she was having an out-of-body experience.

She paused before responding, “Mark, do you even know how to wash kinky 4C hair?”

“Actually I do,” Mark said as he placed his fingers in her hair and began to gently massage her scalp.

She gulped. “You do?”

“Yes,” he said with measured calm. “I married you. It was one of the first things I researched after we got married. I knew there were going to be a few cultural differences and I wanted to smooth the path as much as possible.”

“Wow, I didn’t know you’d done all of that.”

“Who do you think stocked all those personal items for you when you moved in with me?”

“I’d just assumed you’d had one of the housekeepers buy the items for me.”

“No, I went out and bought them myself. It was actually an interesting experience. I had no idea there were so many products to choose from, but the salesperson was a tremendous help. She got a big tip at the end of it all.”

His voice was nothing but neutral.

She tried to appear nonchalant, too. But she found it hard to. She’d had no idea he’d taken such extreme steps to ensure her comfort.

“Thank you, Mark. You didn’t have to do it but I appreciate your gesture,” she said, feeling dizzy again but not from her injuries. It was the thought of him taking such good care of her, even though it made sense the more she thought about it. That was the type of person Mark was. He went above and beyond for those he cared about. Could it be that he cared about her in his own way?

 “You don’t need to thank me. I wanted to do it. Now lean forward so I can wet your hair.” His voice sounded tight and she wondered… “This won’t take long. Keep still now.”

After wetting her hair, he washed it with shampoo before applying conditioner and massaging her hair with it.

All too quickly he was finished with her hair, leaving her to complete her bath and urging her to shout for him if she needed him.

She wondered at his abrupt departure but couldn’t figure out what it meant.

Climbing out of the tub, she towel dried. She lavishly applied the leave-in conditioner he'd set out for her before blow-drying her hair. She'd wear her hair in an afro for a few days to give her wound time to heal before attempting to detangle her 'bird's nest' of a hair. 

The bath had done the trick – she felt so much better. Her head still ached, but the throbbing had reduced significantly to a mild background discomfort.

There was a soft knock on the door. Jessica rewrapped her body in a bathrobe.

“Come in,” she called out, half-surprised he’d knocked, considering he’d appeared to have taken charge of her welfare.

He pushed open the door then stood there, inspecting her from the face-up. “You look much better.”

“I feel better. Thanks.”

Then his gaze travelled downward and a curious look passed over his face. He stretched out his hand to her, and it was only then she noticed he’d returned with a change of clothes for her. Collecting the clothes she was surprised to see it was an oversized t-shirt she usually wore to bed and a pair of panties.

Shrugging, Mark said “I don’t remember ever seeing you sleep in anything else and since we won’t be going out for the rest of today, I figured you might as well be comfortable. You could even take a nap if you want to.”

“Thanks, but I don’t feel sleepy.”

Mark turned around and gave her his back. She took that as her cue to change into the offered clothing. When finished, she told him he could turn around.

One glance from him and she could feel her braless breasts begin to grow heavy with arousal. Her stomach fluttered. “I think I’ll have something to eat and catch up on some of the local programmings on television. See what’s changed and what hasn’t. Or maybe I'll just watch a movie while I eat."

“Sure, we can do that,” he said, his eyes blank but his voice tight again. He stepped back. “Come on. There’s a couch waiting for you. What would you like to eat?”

She avoided his gaze as she walked forward, then went past him in the doorway, but she could feel his presence like a soft touch.

Thankfully soon she was lying on the couch with cushions behind her back and a throw over her body.

What did she want to eat? 

Looking at Mark in a pair of low riding jeans that hugged his ass very nicely and a tight t-shirt that emphasized his six-pack abs, she wondered if he was on the menu.

 She would definitely like to take a bite or two out of him.