Detour by Greaniis

Chapter 7.

 Dinner that night was quiet, given what they had discussed during their rest period. They were both deep in thought over what they had discussed. They both had worries, but neither of them could do anything to lower the stress of the worry right at that moment. Greg vowed to himself he would solve the falling issue with the therapists either that weekend or during the week, if he had to. He would build his confidence in taking care of himself to help Rebecca feel better about the situation.

After the quiet dinner, Greg stopped by the nurses' station to get the wifi password. No sense in using their data plan while entertaining themselves tonight. The nurse who helped him wrote it on a sticky note. When they both got back into his room, Greg opened the computer and connected to wifi. That was enough to break the tension between them. Doing something they were used to doing always tended to bring them back to baseline.

He called Donna back in to help him transfer back onto the bed. He didn't feel as exhausted as he did earlier, but he liked being close to Rebecca, and that just wasn't possible in the wheelchair. Once he was situated at the head of the bed, Rebecca joined him, but next to him this time. Again, she dropped her shoes off the side of the bed. Once comfortable, she swiveled the bedside table to be over them. Greg was happy she did this, since the way they were laying on the bed emphasized just how much of his body he was missing. He was in a good mood, and didn't want to dwell on these thoughts which would bring him down. Greg took a deep breath since Rebecca couldn't know what was going through his head, giving him a chance to feel better. Rebecca opened the laptop and accessed the internet.

"Could we watch some news briefs?" Greg asked. "I feel so away from reality here."

"Sure," Rebecca typed the cable news network's address in. She let some news segments run. They just laid back on the bed, holding hands and enjoying the relative quiet, being together.

After fifteen minutes comfortably watching internet vlogs on cooking, they were interrupted by a man wearing scrubs. He knocked politely on the door frame to get their attention. Greg lowered the laptop's lid so the video they were watching would pause.

"Excuse the intrusion," he said with a gentle smile. "Donna said you were hanging in here. I'm Nelson, your nursing assistant tonight. What time do you want to take a shower?"

Greg's cheeks went red. "Do I have to?"

"Have you had one yet since getting here?" Nelson challenged.

"What about the casts?" Greg asked without answering the question.

"I have ways to protect them," he responded calmly. "I bet your wife would love it if you got clean."

Greg turned and looked at Rebecca, silently asking her the question.

"It's up to you," she said. "You don't smell or anything, but your hair could use a better washing than with that waterless shampoo you have been using."

"Thanks for that," Greg said with a smirk. He knew he needed to take a shower sooner or later, but he was dreading it all the same.

"You don't have a roommate tonight, so no rushing," Nelson encouraged. "And I can help out as much or as little as you want. However, that hair does need some cleaning."

"Ok, ok," Greg surrendered with his hands in the air. "What time would be good for you?"

"Let me settle some folks in bed so I have open time for you," Nelson suggested. "How about in an hour?"

Greg resigned himself to the fact that another man would be helping him in the shower, and agreed to the plan.

As promised, an hour later Nelson came into the room with a stack of towels. He helped Greg transfer into his chair. Since this was the first time working with Nelson, Greg showed him how to help him. Nelson seemed impressed.