Chapter Seven
Sweat dripped down Spider’s face as he lifted the weight bar and set it back on the cradle with a small clink.
“That’s great,” Erik, Spider’s physical therapist, said as he offered Spider a hand.
Spider, having already figured out that sitting up on his own torqued his ribs, gripped the younger man’s hand and let him help him sit up. Once upright, he spun around on the bench to face the side and reached for his towel to wipe down his face, then the bench where he’d been working.
“We’ll call it a day with that,” Erik said, pushing the wheelchair that had brought Spider down there, “but I’ll let you try to move into the chair on your own, if you like. I’m going stay right here, just in case you have any trouble.”
Spider nodded but didn’t argue. He’d only been allowed out of bed to get into the wheelchair, either to come here for a workout, or when Nurse Heather had a few minutes to take him for a walk down the hallway so he could get out of his room.
He was still not allowed to put weight on his existing leg, so he had to use his arms to shift himself from the bench and into the seat of the chair.
Moving from his bed to the chair was more awkward, and he hadn’t tried that one yet, but even fumbling himself into the chair now was preferable to having someone else lift him.
He hated that, especially when the person helping him was a woman.
It wasn’t that he thought women weren’t capable, he just hated having to let a woman lift him.
Yeah, he knew it was a little sexist, but he was usually the one making sure a woman was treated well.
Having a woman lift and carry him went against everything in him.
Luckily, when Fletch was around, he stepped in to do it before one of the nurses could.
By the time he’d shifted himself into the chair, his arms were shaking and he once more had sweat dripping. He needed a shower but didn’t know how that would work, since he still had a bandage on what was left of one leg and a cast on the other.
“Good job!” Erik said once Spider managed to get into the chair. “Now it’s time for a nap, don’t you think?”
“I’d sleep a lot better if I could shower some of this sweat off.” Spider wrinkled his nose at the thought of what he must smell like. A week unconscious and the last three days awake, or at least mostly. Plus his workouts, he had to be getting ripe, even if he couldn’t smell himself.
Erik chuckled. “I can’t make any promises, but I’ll see what we can do.” He positioned himself behind Spider’s chair and pushed him out into the hallway and along the corridor. “Have they given you any idea how long you’ll be here yet?”
Spider shook his head. “No. I’ve talked to the doctor, and asked him, but all he’ll say is it depends on how well I heal and whether or not I develop any infections or any other complications.”
“That makes sense. I can tell you, typically, after an amputation like yours, people are here about two to four weeks, but it depends on a lot. Then if they don’t live around here, they’ll often stay in the area for a few more weeks, then come and go as we get their prosthetic fitted and adjusted to suit them. ”
“And after that? How often do they need to come in?”
“That depends. There are a lot of factors, some common, some not so much.” Erik steered them into Spider’s room where they found Dax sitting in the window seat, his phone in hand.
“Done already?” Dax asked.
“I am,” Spider said, “Why don’t you go talk to the nurse about me getting a shower?” he said to the prospect. He turned his head until he could see Erik from the corner of one eye. “Can you leave me in the chair? That way I don’t have to get in again if I can get that shower.”
“You sure? How will you get back into bed?”
“I’ll have Dax help me.”
Erik moved around so he stood in front of Spider and put his hands on his hips, clearly not sure if he should trust the biker. Spider held up one hand, as if he was swearing in to testify in court.
“I promise not to try to get into bed myself. I’m already exhausted. I will ask for help. I don’t want to fall and risk needing to stay longer.”
Erik watched him with narrowed eyes for a moment longer, then nodded.
“I’ll take your word for it, but if you’re lying to me, this will be the last time. Got me?”
“I got you.”
“Here, let’s turn you so you can at least see the door.
Then I’ll leave you be.” Erik moved behind the chair and moved him around until he sat next to the bed, but with his back to it, then he bent forward and hit the brakes so he wouldn’t roll away without wanting to.
“Anything else I can get you before I leave?”
“No. I’m good. Dax will be back soon. If I need anything I’ll send him. That’s what prospects are for.”
“If you say so,” Erik said before leaving him alone.
Spider rolled his neck, then let it hang. A hot shower would go a long way to helping him relax. He just hoped Dax could convince whoever was at the nurse’s desk to let him have one.
He sat for a few minutes, then Dax came back.
“She said you can shower but there are a few things that need to be done first. We have to cover the cast. And afterward you’ll need a fresh bandage on the other side. She’s going to bring us something to cover the cast with.”
Spider nodded, he didn’t care. He just wanted to feel clean. He had no doubt it would help him feel human again. He just wished he had his own shower stuff. But he could survive without it. He didn’t need his shit to get clean.
Dax went to where he’d been sitting, and Spider assumed he was sitting down to wait for the nurse to come in, but he didn’t stay there.
Instead, he came back around, this time carrying a backpack by the handle on top and disappeared into the bathroom.
When he came out several minutes later, Spider frowned, wondering what he’d been up to, especially since he hadn’t heard the toilet flush or water run at all.
“Just getting things set up,” Dax said as he took the backpack somewhere behind Spider. He wanted to twist around and see what the prospect was doing but he knew that would hurt more than it was worth, so he didn’t bother.
A moment later Dax appeared in front of him.
“Where’s your phone?”
“On the table next to the bed, why?”
“I thought we would plug it in and let it charge while you’re busy.”
Spider frowned. He should have thought of that when he’d left it here on his way to PT.
“I don’t remember if I plugged it in. Will you check?” Dax moved out of his line of sight. He heard movement behind him.
“It wasn’t charging before, but it is now.”
“Thanks.” He sat for another minute or two before a nurse Spider didn’t recognize came in.
“I hear you’re wanting a shower?” she said, looking at him. He blinked as it took his brain a moment to process her words. His gaze flicked to the name tag on her shirt. Laura.
“I am. If we can get this covered, I’d love to get clean for a change.”
“I don’t have anyone free to help you with one right now, and you can’t get in and out alone. You’re non-weight bearing.”
“I know.” Spider bit back the urge to snap at her. “If we can just get this covered up,” he motioned to the cast, “he’ll help me.” He jerked his head toward where he’d last heard Dax behind him.
“Are you prepared to help him? To stay in the bathroom with him the whole time?”
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Dax said. “At least this time he won’t be puking while I try to clean him up.”
“Fuck you,” Spider said to Dax. He knew exactly what the prospect was referring to.
After Panther’s funeral, after watching his sister who looked so lost, Spider had had a bit too much to drink.
Or more than a bit. He remembered being in the common room with several of his brothers, laughing and drinking, then the next thing he knew there was cold water spraying in his face, and before he was even awake enough to know what was going on, his stomach rejected the booze he’d poured into it and he’d been sick as a dog.
Dax had him in the shower and was trying to clean him up, Spider still wasn’t sure what from.
Still, he didn’t think much of it because he’d been saying goodbye to his brother.
Nurse Laura looked back and forth between the two of them, as if trying to decide if she should trust them or not. After a moment she nodded, went to a cabinet, and started pulling things out.
“Here’s a bag to cover his cast, and tape. Tape the bag on, don’t tuck it into the top of the cast. You’ll end up with water in there and you do not want that Also here’s a clean gown.” She set things on the counter. “Let me go grab you a shower kit so you have soap.”
“No need,” Dax spoke up. “Unless there’s some special soap he’s supposed to be using or something?”
She shook her head. “Since this is his first shower since he arrived, I just assumed you’d need it.
” She went to the bathroom, then came back out and went to another cabinet.
“Here are a couple of towels too.” Turning to scowl at him, she ordered, “Use the bench.” She turned her attention to Dax.
“If he puts weight on that leg, he could push it out of alignment. That could mean surgery and an even longer recovery time.” Laura shot him a look that clearly said she thought he was going to be trouble.
Spider couldn’t say she was wrong, but he was trying to do what he was told, or at least mostly.
He was probably pushing harder than some would like but he knew his body, or he thought he did.
That workout this morning hadn’t been half as long as he’d been doing at least twice a week before the accident, but it had kicked his ass.
“I’m not trying to cause trouble.” Spider met her gaze. “I just want to clean up and take a nap.”
“All right. There’s a string in there—if you need help, pull it.
We’ll get in here right away.” She looked at Dax, presumably waiting for him to acknowledge her.
“All right. Let me know when you’re ready to get back in bed, then we’ll get that bandage changed.
” With that she turned and left the room.
“Ready?” Dax asked, picking up what looked like a huge clear trash bag and hitting the latch on the door out into the hall so it could swing shut.
“As ready as I’ll be any time soon.”
He was looking forward to this and he was dreading it. Somehow, he sensed that was how the next several weeks would go.