Leilani shrugs and says, “It’s not a big deal for me. Besides, after you go to the toilet, I’ll give you a foot bath. It might help with your fever.”
Waylen’s eyes flicker, and his lips curl into a slight smile. Leilani guiltily realizes she rarely offers to do anything for him. But he’s done so many things for me, she thinks. He’s even risked his life to save me. The least I can do is give him a foot bath.
“Well, come on,” Leilani says. “Let’s go to the restroom already.”
“Why are you so nice to me?” Waylen asks suspiciously. “You only do things for me when I insist, and you never volunteer to do them.”
“I thought you liked it when I wanted to help you,” Leilani says, trying to calm his suspicions. “But if you don’t want me to, it’s not a big deal. Robert can help you instead.”
She tries to step away, but Waylen suddenly shifts a little bit of his weight to the arm around her shoulders. She freezes, scared that if she moves away, he’ll fall over and hurt himself. Slowly he stands, keeping his arm around her shoulders.
“No, I’ll let you help me,” he says.
Slowly, they shuffle to the bathroom. Leilani can tell that Waylen is only putting a little bit of weight on her, and she wishes she’d let Robert do it. She doesn’t want Waylen to hurt himself just because he’s trying to be gentle with her. She leads Waylen to the toilet, and he leans against the wall. She lifts the toilet seat and moves to undo his belt buckle. He grabs her fingers with his.
“I’m here to help you,” Leilani reminds him. “You can’t use both your hands, and it’s hard to take off a belt with just one hand.”
“I can do it by myself,” Waylen says quietly.
“Well, fine then,” Leilani says. “Prove me wrong and do it yourself.”
“Actually, you can help me,” Waylen says, loosening his grip on her fingers. “It’s good practice for later.”
“Practice?” Leilani asks.
“When we’re in our seventies and eighties and have trouble moving, you’ll be able to help me get dressed and get undressed,” Waylen said with a small smile.
The seventies and eighties? Leilani thinks. How long does he think we’ll live? I’ll never even make it to my thirties. She feels her eyes filled with burning tears, and she tries to look away from Waylen. The thought of growing old with him is just too much to bear.
She feels Waylen’s warm fingers on her chin, and he turns her head to face her. Slowly, as if he’s testing his strength, he leans toward her and kisses her on the lips. Leilani kisses him lack, losing herself in the feeling of his soft lips on hers. He slips his tongue into her mouth, and she pushes her palm against his chest.
“Waylen, stop,” she says, breaking the kiss. “We’re in the bathroom.”
“It’s your fault for seducing me,” Waylen says. “You looked too beautiful for me to resist. But if you don’t want to keep kissing me, you have to help me take off my pants.”
Leilani loosens Waylen’s belt buckle and then unzips his pants. She turns toward the tiled wall and closes her eyes, pressing her hands over her ears. She turns back around after hearing the loud flush of the toilet.
Waylen winks at her and says, “With just a bit more practice, you’ll be an expert at getting my pants off, and I’d be happy to help you practice. Though I’d prefer the bedroom to the bathroom.”
Leilani ignores his comment and says, “We’ll hire a special nurse to take care of you when you’re old.”
“I want you to do it,” Waylen says simply.
“What if I’m already dead?” Leilani asks, feeling the tears come back.
“No,” Waylen says. “When you die, I’ll die too. If you’re sick, I’ll care for you, but if you die, I’ll die. I don’t want to live without you.”
“Waylen, you can’t say that,” Leilani says. “We’re going to have a child together. You have to stick around for the child—no matter what happens to me.”
“I have an easy solution to all that,” Waylen says lightly. “You just have to live longer than me, and we’ll both live until we’re very, very old. That way, I can take care of you, and you can torture me.”
Leilani bites her lip hard and wipes the tears from her cheek. She wants to tell him everything. She wants to tell him about Andrew and his grandfather and wait for him to find some way to fix it all. But there’s no way for him to fix it, she thinks. I have to marry Andrew—even though I want to stay with Waylen. Besides, even if Waylen could fix it, I’d only have six months with him. It’ll be easier for him if I leave now—in six months, he might become more attached to me.
“Please don’t cry,” Waylen says, gently wiping her tears. He smiles and adds, “I’ve been rejected by the same woman twice, but you don’t see me crying about it. You should be stronger—like me.”
Leilani can’t help but smile through her tears. He always knows what to say to make her feel better. She slowly leads him back to the hospital bed and helps him lie down. She wipes his hands with some disinfectant wipes and then changes his gauze for fresh white bandages.
Robert walks over, carrying a small copper tub and places it next to the bed. A bodyguard follows him, carrying a pitcher of hot water. Another bodyguard beings a stool for Leilani to sit on. Leilani sits on the stool, and Waylen dips his feet into the tub. Fortunately, neither of his feet were injured in the bomb blast.
His feet are long and narrow, and the skin is paler than the rest of his body. Leilani smiles and leans over to gently rub them with her fingers. Waylen playfully splashes his toes in the water, and Leilani looks up at him.
“It looks like you want to lick my feet,” Waylen says with a teasing smile.
Leilani blushes and says, “No, of course not! I’m not a freak!”
“Oh?” Waylen asks. He slowly leans over, so his lips brush Leilani’s ear, and he whispers, “But I want to lick yours.”
“You’re such a freak,” Leilani says, pushing his head away. “Do you have some foot fetish I don’t know about.”
“No, I don’t,” Waylen says in a low, hoarse voice. “But, I want to lick every part of your body.”
“Just let me give you a foot bath,” Leilani says, feeling her cheeks turn bright red.
Waylen laughs low in his throat, but he lets Leilani bathe his feet. Then she helps him lie down in the bed and sits in the chair next to the bed watching him as he does. For a while, he seems to be doing better, but his fever comes back around midnight. Waylen wakes up and looks miserably around the room.
“I want another shot,” he says.
The nurse on duty shakes his head and says, “We can’t give you another shot so soon after the last. Sir, your fever isn’t dangerously high right now.”
“Then what can you do for me?” Waylen asks. “You people are so useless.”
“Your body has been through a lot,” the nurse says. “Unfortunately, a fever is a normal part of the healing process. If we give you too many shots, there could be dangerous side effects.”
Leilani runs to the bathroom and wets a cotton towel. She twists the extra water out and places the cold towel on Waylen’s forehead. Then she nods at Robert and points to the door. Robert gets the message and asks the nurse to leave.
Leilani wipes Waylen’s forehead with the cold towel. When the towel starts to get warm, Robert brings her another, and she wipes his forehead again. Waylen watches her through bleary eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Waylen suddenly asks.
“Nothing,” Leilani answers. “I’m just reminding myself to be patient with this healing process. You should be patient, too. In fact, if you’re patient, I’ll make you another gift as a reward.”
Waylen frowns as if he sees through her. Slowly he shakes his head, and Leilani looks away.
“No, you’re upset about something else,” Waylen says. “What happened? Why won’t you tell me? Does it involve Gabrielle?”
Waylen is too perceptive, Leilani thinks. If I’m not more careful, he’s going to see right through me. I need to find a better way to distract him.
“Stop changing the topic,” Leilani says. “Do you want me to make you a gift or not?”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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