Chapter 9
Nine
Who knew it took forever to be discharged from the hospital? Stone felt like he’d been jumping through hoops for days, and the end never came. Talk about going stir crazy. The only thing that wasn’t going well was recovering whatever went missing from his memory.
“What about intimacy?” he asked as Dr. Anderson finally got his discharge paperwork ready.
“Stone! No, don’t answer that. He’s healing. We don’t need to worry about that.” God, he loved the way Mae’s face turned a brilliant shade of pink.
“Well, there is something to be said about the link between intimacy, love, stress-reducing hormones and the effects it all has on healing… both physically and mentally. I would say there are no restrictions from a neurological standpoint at this time. So let your physical healing guide you. I’d suggest starting slow, and building yourself up to the full act of sexual intercourse. ”
Mae buried her head next to Stone’s hip and groaned.
“Careful, Mae. I’ll want to get started before the brain doc has even left the room.”
“Stop. It.” Her growled words had the opposite effect, Stone now laughing and wincing as he reached up to place his hand over his healing wound.
“Ow, ow…”
“See? Got what you deserved with that one.” Mae giggled, and the pain subsided the second she smiled at him.
“Welcome home.” Mae pushed open the door to his apartment, five days after he’d first woken up, and smiled. “Let’s get inside and get you situated.”
“The only thing I’ll be doing is taking that bag from you.”
“Absolutely not. The doctor’s release instructions were clear.
Lots of rest. No over doing it. Which is why I’m carrying the bag, and why I’m also going to help you get out of that jacket.
” Mae tossed the duffle to the ground before reaching out for the bulky outerwear.
Christ. He could manage to dress and undress himself.
And after jumping through a thousand hoops in the hospital and promising to keep up with all his discharge rules and rehab programs, Stone nearly had to pull Mae to the car himself.
She hadn’t left his side since he woke, and as beautiful as he thought she was no matter what, he could see that everything was taking its toll.
“And he also said I could do some light exercise to build my strength back up.”
“What do you think walking from the car to the apartment was? I tried to get Jake to loan me a wheelchair from his clinic for today but Hawk vetoed that.”
“Thank God for that. Although I am surprised he’s on my side about anything. I guess getting shot right after he found out about us was a blessing.”
Stone had almost fallen out of his hospital bed and had a heart attack right then and there when he woke up, with Mae still in his arms, as Hawk sat in one of the visitor’s chairs.
Although he’d reassured Mae the night before that he didn’t care about her brother, he’d definitely thought there would be more time.
Stone quickly snapped out of his panic, ready to stand up for his relationship with his best friend’s little sister, but Hawk just sat there with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.
It felt like Mae skipped over some of the details, but she did explain that Hawk knew from the morning…
of his… yeah, his shooting. That was wild to wrap his mind around.
But Hawk really seemed to take the news well.
There was no more sneaking around for them, and for that, Stone was thankful.
“Hush. Do you want to eat? Take a shower and get into bed? Crash and watch some TV on the couch? The apartment is your oyster and I’m here to serve.”
“I can take care of myself, Mae. And I can dance.”
“Dance?”
Stone nodded.
“There’s a reason I told everyone to leave us alone for my homecoming.
I love them all, but there is only one thing I want to do right now.
And that’s dancing with my beautiful girlfriend, who I love.
This is the first time back in the apartment, just the two of us.
And there’s no more sneaking around. Hawk knows.
Now that it’s out in the open, it feels like a huge weight has been lifted.
So yes.” He grabbed his jacket out of her hands and threw it on the floor next to his bag.
“I want to dance with you. Right here in the entryway. Right now.”
His hands slid down to her waist.
“I’m not going to break,” he whispered into her ear. “You can put your hands on me. You can press up against me. You can lay your head on my shoulder.”
“I don’t… I don’t want to hurt you.” He heard the fear in her voice, but he couldn’t let her live in it. Better to rip the bandage off the second he was home than to wallow in the weird stiffness between the two of them.
“The only way you’d hurt me is by not letting me hold you right now. Come on.”
He saw the moment she gave in, her eyes fluttering closed as she held out her hand to him. Stone moved like he had a million times before, wrapping his hand around her waist, pulling her into him as she started swaying.
It wasn’t anything like he knew she could do.
He still remembered the first time he’d watched her dance.
Truly dance. The way her body moved around the wide open space of the simulator floor at The Trident when they were starting construction had taken his breath away.
Emma was always trying to get Mae back in the studio.
Addie, her daughter, was focused on ballet, and Mae would have made an incredible instructor for her.
But Mae always just laughed it off… a dream she once had that she didn’t seem ready to revisit anytime soon.
Stone never took her dancing for granted. Whether he was watching or holding her in his arms as they swayed back and forth, it was always electric to him.
“Will you…” He hadn’t asked anyone yet. He hadn’t wanted to burden anyone with talking about it. But there, while she was in his arms, where he could protect her, Stone desperately wanted to know what happened to him the morning he was shot.
“Will I, what? Stop stepping on your toes?”
He laughed. “I know you know how to dance. You step on my feet on purpose.”
“Of course I do. I don’t want you to feel bad about stepping on mine.”
Stone stopped swaying, his hand coming up to gently grab her chin. He tilted her face towards his and pressed a kiss to her lips.
“I love you, Michaela Morgan.”
“I love you, too, Stone Lawson. Don’t ever do that to me again.”
“Never, baby. I never wanted to be away from you.”
Her face fell, the dreamy, in-love look she was giving him morphed into something so painful his healing wounds ached deep in his body.
“What is it?”
“Nothing.” She cleared her throat. “Let’s keep dancing. Unless you need to sit down. I mean, of course you do. Let’s sit.”
“Mae.” His hands slid down her body until they rested on her hips, and Stone tugged her impossibly closer. “I think I’m ready for that shower. Will you help me?”
“You know I will. Come on.”
Mae tugged his hand as they walked down the hallway and into their room.
“Your mom is switching to the guest room. Rhett and Sara are staying up in my room with Hawk.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t think to ask. That’s something I could have coordinated. You’ve already got so much on your shoulders.”
“It was nothing. Took two seconds to figure it out.”
“It’s not nothing.” Stone stopped as they stepped into the bathroom. “You don’t have to take on everything for me. I’m good now. I can be looped back in. I can help with decisions.”
Mae smiled. “The only thing you need to decide right now is if you feel up to taking your shower alone or if you want my help. We’ll go from there.”
Stone’s hand reached out and caught her wrist, pulling her so the two steps they were apart completely disappeared.
His fingers brushed along the edge of her yoga pants, slipping up under her shirt.
Her skin instantly pebbled under his touch as he let his fingers move higher, and higher, until he was brushing along the edge of her bra.
“Stop that,” she laughed. “You aren’t cleared for any sort of hanky-panky. I would strictly wash your body, and that’s all.”
“That’s not true at all. You know Dr. Anderson and Sloane mentioned rebuilding intimacy as an important part of my recovery.”
Mae tugged at the hem of her shirt, bringing it up over her head. He couldn’t stop the groan that ripped from his throat as he looked at her. Cheeks flushed, her gorgeous chest moving up and down as she nearly panted at him.
Her hands went to work helping him out of his clothes. A baggy pair of sweatpants and slouchy shirt went to the ground and then… fuck. Her hands were on his boxer briefs, tugging them down as well.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, not exactly sure why he was apologizing for his dick not getting the notification that sex was apparently off the table. “He didn’t get the no-sex memo.”
Mae chuckled as his fingers lowered back to the waistband of her pants, and he tugged them down over her hips, his groan turning into the most pathetic whimper as he revealed her body, completely naked and now exposed.
“Down, boy.” Mae’s fingers captured his chin, tipping his face back up to meet her eyes. “Wanted to look my best for your homecoming. Couldn’t have granny panty lines killing the vibe.”
“You could be wearing a circus tent and the vibes would still be there, Michaela.”
“Just to be clear, Sloane was not suggesting that we come home and bang all over this apartment like a pair of horny rabbits!”
Stone’s mouth dropped open as he pulled Mae into his chest. “I wasn’t suggesting that… but I don’t see why not.”
She scoffed, pushing away with a smile, but he didn’t miss how her eyes drifted down to the scars, still red and swollen, on his chest and belly.
“Shower. Now. Then bed. None of which will end in sex.”
“Fine.” He sighed. “But we could make out?”
“Stone!”
Mae huffed, reaching behind her to unclasp her bra. In a flash, she was stepping into the shower, a gasp hitting his ears as the water turned on and hit her exposed flesh.
“Shit! Don’t come in here. That’s fucking freezing.”
“Move over, I’ll come warm you up.”
The shower was indeed freezing, and he wrapped his arms around Mae, moving her so his back took the brunt of the cold water. She smiled up at him as her fingers dusted over the healing scar on his chest, and then she pressed her ear down, over his heart.
“I won’t ever take this for granted again.”
“Cold, horny showers with such a handsome man?”
“Hilarious.” Mae rolled her eyes and reached for the bottle of body wash over his shoulder.
“I meant hearing your heartbeat. So steady and so strong. I swear, laying in the hospital with my head next to your hip, I memorized it in case…” Her voice dropped off, a small sniff filling the void instead.
“Mae, look at me.” Stone’s voice commanded. “Look at me, baby. I’m not going anywhere. I would never leave you. I’ll always fight to be with you. Always.”
Tears flooded her eyes, and it killed him. He was the source of her sadness. All her worry was because of something that happened to him… and he couldn’t even remember it happening. It made him feel helpless, but he hated how it was affecting her more than anything else.
“What’s wrong? Why is that making you emotional?”
“It’s just been a few really long weeks. Do you think your mom would mind if we were in bed when she came back? I know I should stay up and entertain her, but I’m just—”
“Stop. She’ll be fine. Let’s get this hospital stink off of me. Then we can put on some Dr. Quinn. You know I’ll be out like a light…”
“You want to watch that tonight?”
“Isn’t that your favorite show?” he laughed, knowing without a doubt it was.
“Yes, but it’s your first night home. We could watch something you like.”
“I plan on watching something I really like, while she watches a show she loves.” Stone pressed his lips against Mae’s, the warm water cascading over their bodies.
“Stop it,” she laughed, her hands full of soap. He raised his eyebrows up, moved his hands away from her and smiled.
“This canvas is all yours to create a masterpiece with.”
“Goodness. I should have taken Sebastian up on getting some in-home help. You could have gotten a middle-aged male nurse to help you with this.”
Stone laughed, his fingers swiping some of the gel in Mae’s hand. “Yeah, but I wouldn’t want to wash him back. Let’s go, beautiful. I’m ready to get you into bed.”
“I just bet you are,” she sighed. He studied her face. There might be weeks of memories missing, but that moment, with Mae soaking wet, smiling up at him like all her dreams came true when they walked back in through the apartment door, would live forever in his heart.