Extinguished

~33~ Shower

Ellie's POV

I had to stay in the hospital for a week after I woke up. Coming back home for the first time was one of the best moments of my life—So much I took for granted before. For instance, peeing. Remembering how to get your muscles moving again, after being hooked up to a catheter for so long, takes more effort than it should. That and the fact that people have to help you, because heaven forbid you fall.

I'm so happy to see my apartment, I feel like kissing the floor! I walk in, with Taylor carrying Sasha, and look around the room. It isn't how I was expecting it. It's clean!

"Did you clean up in here?" I ask, confused. I was out of it for the bad parts, but I know there was blood. The carpet is completely spotless.

Taylor shifts from foot to foot, looking a little nervous. "Uh, no. I asked the landlord to replace the carpet before you got back."

He put's Sasha down in her swing, avoiding my gaze.

"Do we have to pay a deductible or something?"

"No, it's all taken care of."

The way he says that, makes me drop it. I know that the matter is closed, and he's not going to discuss it anymore.

"Ok, I'm gonna take a shower," I say as I start heading towards my room.

"Uh," he says hesitantly, before he stops himself.

"What?" I ask as I turn around to look at him.

"Can you wait until I call Megan? She said she would help you the first time."

I'm confused, and a little irritated. "I'm fine Taylor, I can take a dang shower by myself."

"Please, Ellie. Please just wait for Megan? What if you pass out or something? You're not gonna appreciate me going in there to help you."

He has a point there. I'm still pretty dizzy and weak. Losing most of your blood takes a lot out of a person. Taylor's seen more of me in the last week and half than I want to think about, but I would be completely humiliated if he had to come help me because I passed out in the shower.

"Fine," I say as I cross my arms and pout, slumping onto the couch.

"Thank you," he says as he chuckles and pulls out his phone to call Megan.

After he calls her, he comes back over to me.

"Your dad stocked the fridge with takeout if you're interested. Do you want a sub sandwich or something?" He asks. The love on his face takes my breath away. He's not going to tell me what he's thinking, but I know. He's just so happy I'm here, alive.

"That sounds great," I say as I smile back at him.

He gets me a sandwich, and a bag of chips, and goes to grab Sasha out of her swing. He sits next to me on the couch, and the three of us just enjoying the silence.

"What time is Liam getting here?" He asks, looking at his watch.

"Around 4, once he gets out of school," I say, kissing Sasha on the top of her head.

"I didn't know there was a love like this. Nobody tells you about this kind of love. I never knew this existed," he says quietly as he snuggles her on his chest.

"It's pretty unbelievable, yeah?"

"You're pretty unbelievable," he says, kissing my head as he steals a chip from the bag.

"You don't have to butter me up, Preston. If you want a chip, all you had to do was ask," I chuckle, giving him half of my sandwich too.

We sit there eating our food, waiting on Megan to get here.

After a while, there's a knock on the door and I get up to get it. I must've stood up too fast, because I suddenly get really dizzy and fall back on the couch.

"Woah!" Taylor says as he puts Sasha back in her swing and goes to open the door. "You ok?"

"Yeah, just got a little dizzy."

Megan comes in the door, and gives Taylor a kiss on the cheek. "How you doing, buddy?" I hear her ask quietly.

"Better now that my girls are home," he says equally as quiet with a smile on his face.

She sees me on the couch and goes right over to me, pulling me into a hug. "There's my girl!" She says as she starts to cry.

"Knock it off Meg," I say with a smile on my face. I think I really scared everybody.

"Sorry! Ok, you ready for your shower?"

I groan. "You know, it's gonna be a big deal when I can go an ENTIRE day without being naked in front of somebody."

Taylor chuckles quietly as Megan grabs my arm to help steady me a little. I have to admit, I'm more wobbly that I thought I'd be. It's probably good Megan is here. I ended up getting faint a couple times and needed support. I would have fallen once if Megan hadn't caught me.

I get done with my shower, and Megan helps me get dressed. When I go back to the living room, I see Taylor holding Sasha again, feeding her. He's such a good daddy.

Megan stays for a while to hold the baby and chat, and then leaves, telling me she'll come back tomorrow if I need her. Hopefully I won't need her.

It's around 4:45 when Liam comes through the door.

"Hey bud! Where've  you been? We were expecting you at 4," I say as he comes over to give me a hug.

"Sorry. I got detention," he says simply as he takes Sasha out of my hands and goes to sit down with her, giving her a kiss.

"For what?" I ask as I roll my eyes.

"I didn't turn in my homework today. It was kind of a big assignment, so my teacher was mad."

He casually takes the remote and starts flipping the channel, with Sasha snuggled up on his chest.

"So much for never getting in trouble again," Taylor chuckles as he takes the remote out of his hands and changes it back to what he was watching.

He was remembering the promise Liam made to me when he was begging me to wake up.

"Yeah, well I lied," Liam says, shrugging as he tries to take the remote back out of Taylor's hands.

"If you two crazies are gonna fight over the remote, give me the baby first," I say reaching out my arms.

"No way! You've had her all day, you baby hog!" Liam says as he pretends to guard her away from me.

Suddenly Sasha lets out a huge burp and projectile vomits all over Liam.

I've never heard Taylor laugh that hard before. "I appreciate you taking one for the team, bud. That'll teach ya to get detention again."

"Ugh," Liam says as he pulls his shirt away from his chest. "For being so cute, you're pretty disgusting."

He pretends to be mad at Sasha as he stands up and hands her to me, tearing off his shirt. He then throws it at Taylor before he goes to take a shower.

"Ack! The little punk!" He says, getting the shirt off of him and throwing it in the hamper in Liam's room. When he comes back he's chuckling, so I know he wasn't really mad.

We spend the rest of the evening hanging out. The boys took care of us girls all night. We didn't have to lift a finger. I didn't even have to change a single diaper. This is the first time that I can ever remember where someone else has taken care of me. It was nice. I've never had this before.

I'm sure it won't last.