Rachel's Accident (6 page)

Rachel,

Since I wrecked your car and it couldn’t be salvaged I decided it was only fair to buy you a new one. Have fun with it and drive safely
. It’s yours.

Ethan

It was really moving how much thought he put into these things. I had completely forgotten all about my
car, even though I had bought it just recently with my years’ worth of savings. Maybe it was the recent part that let me forget so quickly since I just wasn’t used to it. Now the question remained how I would keep the car safely parked in my neighborhood.

I got into the front seat and immediately a broad grin split my face. This was the height of luxury to me. It even had that new car smell clinging to the interior
. I breathed it in deeply enjoying myself greatly when I made K-turn and started down the driveway.

I didn’t come very far
when the grin quickly vanished from my face
as doubts and guilt sneaked up on me and plagued me until I couldn’t take it anymore. I turned around and drove back, returning the car to the exact place I had found it in. I took the envelope he had left me and wrote on the backside of the piece of paper.

Ethan,

I appreciate your kindness, but unfortunately I can’t accept this gift. Not only is the car much more expensive than mine was ever worth, but in my neighborhood it would be gone by morning should I leave it parked there
. Thank you, though, for thinking of me.

Rachel

I stuffed the paper in the envelope along with the keys and pinned it back to the windshield. Regretfully, I turned away and walked down the long driveway without looking back. I wouldn’t be able to stand the sight of the beautiful car I couldn’t have. I drove home via public transportation like I did every day. This time though I really missed the feel of leather on my back and thighs,
the
curve of the steering wheel in my hands.

The next day I came to the house and the car was still standing there. It looked like I had to talk to him over dinner about it. Right now it was still too early for him to come out of his office, so I went about my usual routine. Around six I started to put the roast pork in the oven and let it cook while I
went back to cleaning. It was really unbelievable how fast the furniture gathered dust even though there was only one person living there.

At seven on the dot I heard him exit his office and come down the stairs. I was still immersed in my cleaning and hadn’t looked at the time. I let everything lay
where it fell to the ground and ran to the kitchen. With the big house it took me a few minutes.

Before I finally arrived in the kitchen I could already smell the burned roast pork. It wafted through the halls, but hadn’t yet reached the room where I had been cleaning.

“No, no, no,” I chanted over and over. This had never happened to me before. I had been too deep in my thoughts about what I would say to Ethan about the car later that I had completely overlooked the time. Shit.

“Ouch,” I heard
a shout
from inside the kitchen.

I rushed through the door and could just see as Ethan let go of the pan and it clattered to the floor. He had tried to somehow save our dinner as it looked like, but in the process had only burned his hands severely. Not to mention that he was still wearing the cast from our first run in. The cast now had a black burn mark and his hands were already blistering.

That brought me out of my stupor. I cursed and ran over to him. Completely disregarding the food I grabbed his undamaged wrists and dragged him over to the sink. I turned on the cold water and held his hands underneath
the stream
to cool them a little.
He hissed as the water made contact with his burnt skin.
It didn’t look like it was helping much.
The blisters looked angrier by the minute.

“Let’s get you to the hospital.” I quickly turned off the oven before I forgot that too and ushered him out the door. We ran out the front doors. I rooted around inside the envelope for the car keys, dropping them when I finally found them. I cursed again. This was a nightmare. I rushed to open the doors and help him get situated in the passenger seat. I buckled him in and then sprinted around the hood to get to the other side as quickly as possible.

I didn’t even bother with my own safety belt and just started the car and drove like the bats of hell to the hospital. There I rushed him into the ER. After the nurse on duty took him
behind
a
partition to be examined the only thing I could do was sit around
the waiting area
and
curse
myself while I waited for the results. This was
all my
fault.

My heart wouldn’t stop thundering in my chest
. What if he couldn’t work anymore because of me? Would he fire me? More and more horrible questions and scenarios whirled around my mind. I got up and paced around. This was torture. How much longer would they take to treat him? Every time the doors opened I looked up and was disappointed when it was someone else coming out.

After what felt like an eternity the doors opened again and out came Ethan. He had bandages on both hands and the cast was missing. I quickly walked over to him.

“What did the doctor say?” I asked anxiously.

He shrugged casually. “He said I had third degree burns and wouldn’t be able to use my hands for the next few weeks.”

I gaped at him open-mouthed. “How can you be so casual about this?” I almost screamed at him. I was bey
ond hysterical. “This is
all
my
fault,” I mumbled to myself. I was on the verge of tears.

To my surprise he hugged me and murmured in my ear, “It’s not your fault. I was the one who could keep his hands out of
trouble. There is nothing we can do now. It’s gonna be okay.”

Somehow his words calmed me down, at least a little. He didn’t sound like someone who was about to fire me. But right now that was a really low priority. It assured me nonetheless.

“What are you going to do, if you can’t use your hands?”

"Well I have this really awesome employee that might be able to help me, at least for a little bit." He smiled at me. "
I’ll
just have to figure something out. Don't worry."

He pulled out of our embrace and started toward the exit doors.

"Wait," I called after him. "What about the bill?"

"
I’ll
pay that another time. The nurse already knows us from the last time we were here." At that he gave me another smile over his shoulder, but walked on. I had to catch up to him to hear the rest. "And since we didn't bring any money with us it would have been difficult either way."

"Oh," was all I said to that. I had completely forgotten to grab my purse. Now that I thought about it I had forgotten everything.

When we arrived back at the house my suspicions where confirmed. All the lights were on throughout the house, the doors were wide open and my purse and keys lay in plain view on a table by the entrance. It was a wonder no one had stolen them.

"
I’ll
make us something else to eat," I assured him as I helped him out of the car.

The kitchen was a complete mess, so the first thing on my agenda was cleaning again before I could even think about cooking. When everything was sparkling and shiny again it was late evening. I opted for something light and started anew at the oven.

While I was buzzing around his kitchen Ethan sat there and watched me work. He couldn't do much else, the poor man.

"You l
ook beautiful in the kitchen." I
narrowed my eyes at that. Did he mean as a woman this was where I belonged? When he talked on I relaxed, though. "You're practically glowing with enthusiasm. It's wonderful to watch you work."

I rewarded him with a beaming smile over my shoulder, but quickly turned my attention back to the oven. I didn't want a repeat performance of earlier.

"Did the doctor say anything about how to further treat the wounds?" I asked him while I was alternately feeding him and myself.

"He said something about regularly changing the bandages, about twice a day, I t
hink.
And something else about A
loe
Vera
lotion before the bandaging."

"Do you have bandages and aloe lotion here?"

He frowned. "I don't know."

"Then we'll just have to look later."

There were no bandages or any kind of lotion anywhere to be found in this huge house. So it fell on me by default to go out and buy some. Since I wanted to be back as soon as possible I took the Mustang again, enjoying the ride immensely.
Maybe a little too much since I still didn't plan to accept it.
I had to be stubborn about this. It would just be wasted on me.

I hurried to the pharmacy and back, finding Ethan still sitting at the table staring holes into the air.

"Shit, I'm sorry. I completely forgot." I rushed over to him throwing the bag from the pharmacy and my purse on the table. He just smiled at me serenely. Okay, something was wrong.

"Are you okay?"

"Just fine."

This was not good. He wouldn't stop smiling. "Did you take anything?"

"Mhmm."

Okay. "What did you take?"

"Some pills I found in the bathroom."

Shit, those were the pain meds I had found earlier. They were long forbidden on the market and expired. And I was sure she had thrown them away.

"Did you by chance find them in the trash?"

"Mhmm."

"Let's get you to bed. You look tired."

"Mhmm."

He was just like a drunk baby, staggering around. I needed to support him so he wouldn't fall over and hurt his hands even more. We struggled up the stairs to his bedroom, where I laid him down on the bed and stripped off his clothing except for his boxer briefs. And those were some sexy briefs. They hid hardly anything from view, outlining his most price possession.

And damn, did that man have a body. His muscles were defined on his pectorals and washboard stomach and rippled as he turned around and was asleep in mere seconds. And his butt was nothing to complain about either. I barely suppressed my moan as my gaze wandered up and down his body. I needed to get out.

At least his hands weren't hurting him right now. I sighed and gathered his clothes together, folded them and laid them on the chair next to the door. Then I left the bedroom and went downstairs again. I cleaned up the leftover dishes and put them away in the cabinets.

When I was finished with that I didn't know what to do. Should I go home now and come back in the morning to check on him? But what if he woke up in the middle of the night and was in pain? She should stay close to him just in case.

I called Jess, but she didn't pick up. She was probably still at work. So I left her a voicemail telling her I wouldn't come home tonight and that she should call me back as soon as possible. Since she was the one in medical school she would be of more help than me.

I took my stuff and headed up to the second floor again. To be able to be there as soon as possible when he woke up I chose the bedroom right next to his. This way I would hear him as soon as he started steering. Yes, my hearing was that incredible.

I took off my pants and bra so I would be more comfortable and slipped under the covers in my shirt and panties. I quickly drifted off to sleep exhausted from our hectic day.

Around one in the morning I started out of my sleep. I looked at my phone and was disoriented for a second. Then I could hear moaning from the next room and everything came back in a rush.

I threw back the covers and ran out of my room and into his. He was thrashing around in bed, moaning and whimpering. Either he was in real pain or he was having a nightmare. I shook him awake regardless.

"Does it hurt?" I asked him.

He seemed to have trouble focusing on me. His eyes were dilated and he wouldn't stop moaning. I framed his face with my hands and made him look at me.

"Ethan." I called his name numerous times before he finally answered me.

"Tell me where it hurts."

"My hands," he groaned and tried to turn his head away, grimacing in pain.

Great, even though he had taken those strong pain meds earlier they had worn off quite fast. On top of that I didn't even know how many of the pills he had swallowed. Alone opening those packets must have been sheer agony for him.

"Wait a minute
I’ll
get you some more pain meds." I rushed back to my room and searched for the bag from the pharmacy. I had bought pain meds yesterday. They had to be here somewhere.

"Ha," I cried out, snatching one of the packets and rushing back to him. I only stopped shortly in the bathroom to get a glass of water. When I got back to him he was thrashing again, probably trying to shake the pain off.

"Hey, hey!"
I called at him. He stopped and looked over at me a dazed look on his face.

"Here you go." I held the pills to his mouth and he obediently swallowed them followed by a big gulp of water from the glass I held to his lips next.

"It will take a little for them to take effect, so just lay back and try to relax, okay?"

He started moaning again.

"
Sh
h
, it's okay. It's going to be okay. Just relax," I coaxed him.

When I tried to go out and leave him alone he clung to me and didn't want to let go.

"Please, stay,” he murmured.