Choosing Happiness (19 page)

Andrea blinked, thinking for a moment pointing to the medicine cabinet. He opened the glass and pulled out a large pin.

"Will that do or do you need more?" she asked.

"That should do." He quickly folded the pillow case and slipped it under her arm, moving behind her he adjusted the length until her arm hung comfortably before pinning the makeshift sling together. "How's that?"

"Good." Andrea turned her head from side to side, trying to free her hair from where it was pinned under the pillowcase at her neck.

Jake pulled her hair from under the makeshift sling. "Do you want to leave it down to get wet or do you want to pull it up?"

"Can we pull it up? I need to wash it later, but I'll relax better if it's not wet and sticking to me."

"Sure." Jake carefully twisted her long hair into a knot on top of her head and grabbed one of the cloth covered hair bands on the bathroom counter to hold it. "There. How’s that?"

"Better, thanks,"

"No problem." He moved back around in front of her and reached down and unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans. He worked them off her hips, pushing her underwear with them, until they were bunched around her ankles.

Andrea braced her uninjured hand on his shoulder and stepped out of the pile of fabric. Moving to the tub, she started to step into the warm water. She looked up, surprised when Jake took her hand and held on to it as she finished stepping over the edge.

"I can get into the tub without help," she said, slightly annoyed.

"I know you can, but you usually have two hands to brace yourself as you lay down and I don't want you to slip and fall. Can I help, please?" He did his best to make it sound like she would be doing him a favor.

Realizing he had a point, her anger fled and she relented. "Yeah, I'd rather not fall and hurt myself worse."

Holding her hand, he made sure she didn’t fall as she lowered herself until she was laying mostly submerged in the steaming water. "There you are." He set the glass of tea he'd brought with him on the edge of the tub. "I'll go start dinner, you stay here.” He gave her a stern look. “Call if you need anything. I'll come check on you in a bit."

Andrea nodded.

"If you try to get out of this tub without me, I will be very unhappy. Do you understand me?" He was still scowling.

Andrea opened her eyes and looked at him a faint smile curving her lips. "Is you unhappy like Ben unhappy?"

"Only in that you won't like it." He warned before bending and kissing her on the head then heading out of the room "I'll leave the door open so I can hear if you need me."

"All right." Her voice already softening as she let the warm water relax her.

Jake went into the kitchen and put together a pan of spaghetti sauce. Once it was simmering he checked on Andrea, discreetly. He didn’t want her to feel like he was hovering. After making sure she was okay, he went back to the kitchen and washed the dishes that had been left in the sink before she was injured.

Checking on Andrea again, he found her dozing. He set a soft bath towel on the bathroom counter, moved the half full glass of tea and woke her. "Dee? Baby, you need to wake up. You can't sleep in the tub."

Andrea gasped and sat up straight splashing water onto the floor as she opened her eyes, startled by the sound of his voice. Her sudden movement sent water sloshing.

"It's all right," Jake was careful to keep his voice calm. "It's just me, babe."

Andrea visibly relaxed, leaning back in the water and closing her eyes for just a moment "I'm okay." Her voice was shaky.

"You can't sleep in the tub, Dee. At least not while you're in there alone." He held one hand out. "Let me help you out of there. You can nap and we'll eat when you wake up."

"All right," Andrea sat up in the tub again, slower this time. "Help me out of here." She held her good arm up.

Jake took her hand and pulled her up, steadying her as she stepped out of the water and on to the bath mat.

"Just stand right there and let me dry you off." Jake took the towel off the counter and gently blotted the water from her skin. Then he took the wet, dripping makeshift sling off and tossed it into the sink. He carefully dried her arm and her body where it had been laying.

"What do you want to wear?” Jake asked once he'd finished.

"Shorts and t-shirt. I can get them." Andrea said, walking into the bedroom, her wounded arm held snug against her body with her right hand.

She pulled a pair of men’s flannel boxers from the top drawer in her bureau and tossed them onto the bed behind her. Opening another drawer, she dug around a moment, before closing it again without removing anything. She opened a third drawer and dug around again. Not finding what she was after, she growled before shoving the drawer closed with her hip.

"Can't find something?" Jake asked, watching her move around the room.

"The t-shirt I want to wear." She went to the laundry hamper in the corner and using only her good hand, upended it. She kicked through the pile that fell out and growled again. Suddenly, she looked up her eyes wide. "The dryer, I think it's in the dryer."

"Tell me what it looks like and I'll check."

Andrea blushed. "It's a big gray shirt, short sleeve, black block letters across the front."

"All right, I'll go look in the dryer." He left her standing beside the pile of laundry she'd dumped on the floor. Waiting, she knelt and picked up the laundry, one handful at a time and put it back in the hamper, while still holding her left arm curled against her side.

She was still on her knees when Jake came back carrying the shirt she'd been hunting for.

"You know, there's something familiar about this thing." His tone light and teasing as he looked from the shirt hanging in his hands to Andrea. The letters ARMY stamped across the front made it plain it wasn't something originally hers.

Andrea’s blush reddened.

Jake looked back and forth between Andrea and the shirt. "It's too small to be one of Ben's," he teased.

"It's not Ben's." She looked at the floor.

Jake grinned. "How did you end up with this?"

"I'm not sure. I found it in my bag after I stayed at your place a while back. I figure it just got mixed up with my stuff. I intended to take it back.” She blushed again. "But then I wore it to bed one night and well..."

"I don't mind, Dee." He smiled as he tried to sooth her embarrassment. "Not only do I have plenty of them, I like the idea of you sleeping in one of my shirts. When you're not sleeping with me, that is."

Relieved, Andrea smiled, her high color starting to fade. "Ben always got so cranky when I stole his shirts."

"As long as I'm the only one you're stealing clothes from, you’re welcome in my closet any time you want."

"Since you don't mind that I've appropriated it, will you help me put it on?" She asked.

"Come on over here." Jake gathered the material of the shirt in his hands, bunching it up around one sleeve. He slipped the first sleeve over her wounded arm, pulling it all the way up to her body before slipping the loose neck over her head. He helped her get her other arm into the sleeve before smoothing the soft, well-washed fabric down her body, until it stopped mid-thigh. Going into the bathroom, he retrieved the dry sling he'd left there earlier and helped her put it back on.

"I think you'll be more comfortable napping in the recliner," He suggested. "You’ll be less likely to roll over and hurt yourself."

"Recliner sounds good, but what about my shorts?"

"I'll help you with them after you answer one question for me."

"What question?"

"Where'd you get the shorts?"

Andrea scowled, not understanding why he would ask. "I bought them. Why?"

Jake picked up the shorts from where she'd tossed them on the bed. "I just wanted to make sure you hadn't stolen them from some other guy. The thought of helping you into another man's shorts is not a good one."

Andrea laughed. "You're safe. I bought them just so I could sleep in them."

Jake bent to one knee in front of her and held the shorts open. Andrea braced herself with a hand on his shoulder as she stepped into them and Jake slid them up her legs. Settling the loose waistband low on her hips. He reached around her and made sure her shirt wasn't hung in the waistband as he stood.

"You ready to go lay down?"

"Laying down and taking a nap sounds like heaven, but what sounds better than the recliner is you lying next to me, right there." She tilted her head toward the bed.

"I'd love to lay with you," he said, pulling her against him for a moment. "I'm just worried that you’ll roll in your sleep and hurt yourself."

"Grab the cushions off the back of the sofa, we'll use them under the pillows to elevate our head. It makes for a similar position to sleeping in the recliner, only more space and more comfortable.”

"That's a good idea." Jake went first to the kitchen and turned the stove to the lowest setting so the sauce would simmer without burning. Then he stopped in the living room, returning a moment later carrying the two long cushions. He peeled the blankets back and moved the pillows before untucking the sheets and arranging the cushions on the bed. He quickly replaced the sheets and pillows, but left the blankets peeled back as he turned to Andrea. "Is that what you had in mind?"

"That's how I’d do it." She moved around the bed.

"Do you sleep like this often?"

"Whenever I have a cold that makes me cough when I lay flat. It works great." Andrea sat on the edge and wiggled closer to the middle of the king size bed before laying back against the cushions and pillows. "Well, you gonna join me or just watch me rest from there?" Her large yawn reminded Jake just how tired she was.

"I'm coming." He toed off his shoes.

"Lose the jeans too." Andrea watched his every move.

Jake shed his jeans and climbed into the bed with her, sliding up next to her, he let her curl into his side, careful not to jar the injured arm she laid across his body. Jake wrapped one arm around behind her, holding her close.

"Comfortable?" He asked.

"Perfectly.” Her head rested against his chest.

Jake lay in the bed, content to hold on to her and let her sleep. He listened to her breathe, knowing from the rhythm when she fell asleep. He couldn't stop his mind from racing with all the possibilities of what could have happened to her inside the bank. This was why he had never slept at home while she was in the hospital. He’d been avoiding letting his mind torment him like this. But now, as he held her against him, the possibilities, while bad, didn't seem quite so terrifying. Only the reassuring feel of her laying against him kept his panic at bay. He forced himself to focus on the sound of her breathing and the feel of her beside him and drifted off to sleep.

Jake woke sometime later, uneasy. He wasn't sure what woke him. He kept still, not wanting to disturb Andrea while he tried to figure out what had woken him. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room. Other than the angle of the light coming through the window, nothing seemed to have changed. He was still trying to figure out what had alerted him when Andrea whimpered and tensed against him. He lifted the arm not wrapped around her and smoothed the stray hair from her face.

"Shhh, it’s okay." He kept his voice soft as he rubbed his hand up and down her back, trying to sooth and calm her.

She twitched against him, whimpering once. "No, don't hurt them." Her voice was filled with terror as the dream gripped her.

"It's okay, Andrea, it's just a dream." Jake spoke a little louder this time.

The hand she had resting on his stomach clenched into a fist, bunching his tee shirt as she grabbed it. "No, NO!" she cried out, curling tighter against him.

"Andrea, wake up, baby." He ran his thumb over her face, watching her, concerned. "It's only a dream. You’re all right."

She didn't wake but seemed to relax at the sound of his voice, her hand unclenched and her body sagged against him again. He continued stroking her back, not sure if he should wake her or let the dream play itself out. It wasn't until he felt the moisture of her tears on his skin that he realized she was crying.

"Andrea," he spoke louder this time, deciding it was time to wake her up.

Andrea's body started shaking as she cried harder. "Jake," she sobbed, her voice full of anguish even as her body instinctively curled into him.

"Andrea!" He said again, sharply this time. Jake felt her body jerk against his as she suddenly woke.

"Jake?" she asked as if uncertain who she was curled against.

"I'm right here, Dee. It was just dream, you're okay."

"I was back in the bank." Her voice shook.

"I thought you might be."

"We all were, you, me, Mom and Dad, Ben and Jeanie." She seemed to need to talk about it. He listened, soothing her as much as he could. "I was so scared." She lifted her head and looked him in the eye. "They shot you," she said with tears in her eyes. "I couldn't tell if you were alive."

"I'm fine, Dee. The only danger I was ever in was from a heart attack. It about scared the life out of me knowing you were in there, and defying them by sending me pictures. That was brilliant by the way. When we heard the gunshot my heart dropped through the ground. I somehow knew they'd found out what you were doing."

Andrea laid her head back down on his shoulder. "I knew it was a risk when I did it, but if there was even a chance it would help, I had to try."

"It did help. It was your pictures that helped us identify who was in there and to find a way to talk them down."

"Where are they now?"

"In custody, awaiting trial, where they will stay. Ramon told me they weren’t given bail. Between surveillance video and hostage testimony, there's little doubt they'll be convicted."

She nodded, her face sliding over the cotton of his shirt. "It's been days, why am I dreaming about it now?"

"Because now you feel safe. Your subconscious is letting you process all the things it's been keeping from you."

"But none of you were in the bank, why am I dreaming you were?"