/Henry/
After a moment of silence in which she appeared perplexed, I suddenly recalled the reason that I had woken her up in the first place. I couldn't help but smile as the sensation spread across my face. I reached out and grabbed her hand before drawing her in again. I told her, as I watched the words register in my mind, "I can feel some sensation in my legs."
Her jaw dropped open, and her eyes shifted to look at the ground near my feet. Suddenly she let out and excited little squeal and clamped her hand over her mouth as she started giggling. She leapt out of bed and began jumping in place, much as if she were a young girl who had recently received a brand new bicycle.
"Holy mother of god, Henry! Really? Oh, I praise the Lord! Really?” She asked me this while her hands were lingering near my thighs, giving the impression that she wanted to touch me but wasn't sure if she should.
I couldn't help but chuckle and nod as I felt the first few relieved tears welling up in my eyes. It was just the beginning, but it was a solid beginning, wasn't it? She let out another high-pitched screech before bursting into tears and burying her face in my chest. I tried to move my legs while simultaneously massaging the back of her head. Although I was unable to move them normally, I did have some movement in my toes. It was similar to when you had been sitting in the same position for a long time and your legs became numb; you knew they were there, and you could move them a little, but you just didn't have much control over them.
I gave her a peck on the very top of her head. Maybe it was just a matter of patience in the end; perhaps the more we waited, the better it would get. I really hope that this isn't the end of it; I'm starting to feel something in my legs. I had high hopes that when the swelling went down even further, I would regain some of my mobility.
She let out a loud sniffle and then pushed herself up, wiping her eyes while wearing a lovely smile that extended across her face. Her voice was hoarse and thick due to the fact that she had been crying and sleeping at the same time. "I'll buzz for the physicians," she said.
I quickly realised that there was something more I could feel at that moment, so I grabbed her hand to stop her. "Err, Samantha bear, could you just hold on for a second, please?" I asked. Oh man, what a mortifying situation!
She gave another whiff while wiping the side of her face with the sleeve of her sweater. "What gives, baby?"
I let out a chuckle and nudged her in my direction one more before laughing. Because I woke up next to you, Samantha, I croaked while attempting to conceal my face in her hair. "Because I woke up next to you, Samantha."
She had angry eyes and a raised brow as she glanced at me, and she appeared to be perplexed. “So…..?”
I let out a chuckle and looked down once again towards my feet. She looked in my direction and immediately began giggling uncontrollably. She seemed embarrassed as she crawled back into the bed next to me and bit her lower lip.
She exhaled and said, "Hmm.... I do tend to have that affect on you in the mornings," as her hand moved down my chest and towards the tent I was constructing out of the blankets. I couldn't help but giggle as she kissed the back of my neck, which caused my body to start to get warm.
I had desires for her. She was still able to get me on despite the pain that I was experiencing in my back; hormones, you foolish damn fools! If I could, I would pull the covers up over our heads and make love to her till the sun came up, but I guess it was just a matter of taking things one step at a time. At least I was aware that wouldn't be an issue any more......
I was able to grab hold of her hand and pull it away just in time to prevent her from reaching my crotch. "Not helping with the relaxing down thing there, Samantha bear," I joked as I tried to think of anything other than her so that I could calm down my body. "Not helping with the calming down thing there, Samantha bear."
She taunted me as she rolled away from me, propped herself up on her elbow, and watched me with a wide smile on her face while doing so. "Ok darling, think of something un-sexy," she said as she smiled against my neck.
She was finally able to summon the physicians in after a few minutes of me laying there with my eyes closed and thinking about football. After those few minutes, I was finally okay.
* * *
Samantha's POV
The medical staff took an inordinately long amount of time to care over him. I kept a close eye on them as they poked and prodded Henry's legs and feet. As I saw Henry wiggle his toes, I bit on my lower lip nervously. It is so weird how something as small as a slight movement can make everything appear like it is supposed to be in the world. I felt like my insides were going to burst with bliss because of how happy I was. They decided to wait another hour or two in the hopes that the eodema would decrease even further before proceeding with the second MRI scan that had been scheduled.
Henry was clutching to my hand tightly as if he was terrified to let go the whole time, but he had a smile of contentment plastered on his face the entire time. My day went from being a dreadful one when I woke up and he couldn't feel his legs to being intolerable for the couple of hours that I was away from him. It was a rollercoaster ride for me today. But at that moment, none of that was relevant at all. When the doctor nodded and told Henry that everything appeared to be in good shape, the only thing that mattered was the laugh that I heard come out of Henry's mouth.
After he had finished setting up the scans, I dragged the chair back over to the bed and kissed the side of his stunning face as I sat down. He then left the room. I smiled and taunted, "I told you to quit worrying."
"Yeah, yeah. "No, it's okay to say 'I told you so,'" he remarked while sneering at me. Although it was good to see Henry returning to normal in some ways, it hurt my heart to see him in such a state of distress and sadness. The look that Henry had been wearing over the past few hours had been slowly killing me inside. Henry was almost never upset about anything, and he was the one who was always the most resilient.
Following the completion of the scans, the attending physician informed us that everything appeared to be in the appropriate place. There was still some inflammation around the operation site, but the doctor said that it would go away with time. The doctor was quite optimistic that Henry would be able to walk again, but he cautioned that it would take a lot of effort on his part.
Everything was going according to plan, and as the hours passed, he was able to elevate his knee a little bit, despite the fact that it hurt his back to do so. However, given that he had recently undergone major surgery, it was reasonable to assume that he would be in a lot of pain.
The previous two of nights, he had been in critical condition, but on that particular night, he wasn't as sick as he had been, so they wouldn't allow me spend the night at the hospital with him. It didn't seem right remaining there without Henry, so I went back to my parent's house. I didn't want to go home to our apartment since it didn't feel right living there without Henry. My mother had gone shopping and returned with a few days' worth of outfits for me to wear. It took me a significant amount of time to finally let Henry go. When I walked out of the hospital with the knowledge that I wouldn't see him for a few hours, I had the sensation that I had abandoned a part of myself there.
When I went to visit my parents, it was strange because their house no longer had the comforting atmosphere of a home. Even though I had lived in this house for thirteen years, it still seemed strange to get in between the sheets of my bed when Henry was here.
It was astonishing how quickly I had adjusted to sharing space with Henry. I gave myself a tight hug and then started crying, but this time it wasn't because I was sad; it was because I was relieved. I knew that even though it would be a lot of work, Henry would always put in his best effort, so I had no doubt that he would give it his all. Henry was never one to back down from a test, and he never failed to succeed.
He was there for a total of twelve days throughout his stay at the medical facility. Because he was able to get out of bed and into a wheelchair, the doctors were very pleased with his progress. He was able to move his legs, but it took a lot of work for him; when he tried really hard, I could see sweat forming on his forehead.
He was able to move his legs. It was clear to me that he was becoming increasingly aggravated by it, but the physicians had assured me that it was comparable to a baby learning how to walk for the first time. The desire to walk was there, as was the knowledge; all he needed to do was retrain his body in the proper walking technique. The problem with Henry was that he was never one to put his trust in other individuals. Because Henry was more of a giver than a receiver, it was difficult for him to let other people, such as me, my parents, or our friends, to do things for him and care over him.
Another thing that irritated him was the fact that he had to miss the important football game. Our school was forced to compete in the final of the state tournament without its captain, yet they still managed to pull off a victory by the skin of their teeth. It was a major source of annoyance for him that he was unable to attend, but the entire team, including the coach, had travelled to see him that evening.
They were all jammed into his room, yelling and dancing around until an irate nurse kicked them out after 10 minutes, but Henry had a good time while it lasted. Henry had enjoyed it while it lasted. They gave him the trophy, which he displayed with great pride on the side table that was located next to his bed.
After the initial period of twelve days, Henry was transferred to a rehabilitation facility. It appears that he would remain there for approximately six weeks, during which time they would work with him intensively in order to retrain his muscles. His brain had to relearn how to walk by going through the motions of putting one foot in front of the other and reconnecting with the nerves that had been destroyed.
I was given permission to assist him with his therapy, and I was instructed on how to assist him in stretching his muscles; but, the majority of the time, I served as spiritual support. At that moment, I was stationed at the far end of the workout room, looking over at Henry as he readjusted himself in preparation for his next attempt to stand and walk. His therapist advised him to work in short bursts and then take breaks in between. He had only been in this area for a week at this point, but he was already able to go up to seven steps at a time before needing to rest.
He whispered to Samantha bear, "Hey, I've got an idea," possibly looking around to make sure no one else could hear what he was saying. "I've got an idea," he said.
"So, what exactly is that, baby?"
He moved the foot rests so that his feet were flat on the floor and positioned himself in the middle of the two rails so that he could grab one of them if he needed to while he was walking.
He smirked at me as he slowly moved his eyes down my body while making his way through the room. "How about for every step I take, you take off one item of clothes back in my room?" he offered.
I couldn't help but giggle at the irony of Henry thinking about sex while he was trying to accomplish something so serious and significant. I believe he was starting to get a little bored because for the past three weeks, all we had done was kiss. I think this was starting to wear on his nerves. "Is it really just an article of clothing?" I queried, cocking my head to the side. I looked down at myself and mentally counted the articles of clothing that I had on.
Thankfully, it was very cold today, so I was wearing jeans, a tank top, a shirt, and one of his hoodies over the top of it all. Today, I wore a total of ten different items on my body, including my undergarments as well as four other items for my shoes and socks. I taunted him by tugging at the zip of the hoodie while staring at him through my eyelashes while saying, "Hmm, maybe you could get me to my underwear."
He gave me a smirk while gently shaking his head and said, "No way, Samantha bear, I'm getting you na**d today." How many?" he inquired.
“Ten.”
He smiled, and his expression suggested that he was rather thrilled about the endeavour. He thought it would be simple.
I waited at the end of the rails, smiling to myself as I watched his face change into a determined expression; damn that boy, he made it up the ten steps with no issue at all. It occurred to me that maybe this was a wonderful approach to motivate him; thus, I would have to be sure to wear additional layers the next day.