Take Care of Her

Settle In

I've never felt so babied in my life.

The nurse came back with the discharge papers and took out my IV. She helped me change into some sweats and a tank top Jan had dropped off while I was sleeping, I guess. And now Noah is helping me put on my shoes while I sit on the bed.

"Noah, I'm sure I can put on my shoes," I tell him, but he doesn't even pause as he ties my shoelaces.

"Stop," he mumbles before standing up, reaching out his hand. I frown but grab it, "Up you go. Now let's head down to the car," Noah says, turning and leaving the room.

At least he didn't insist on holding my hand the whole time. I follow slowly, my head feeling fuzzy as I walk. Noah didn't seem to mind and just slowed his pace. Once we got to his car, he helped me into the passenger seat, though I kept telling him I could do it.

We never said anything on the drive to his place, but I realized I've never seen his house. For some reason, this made me anxious. We pull up to a large building and go to the parking garage. Once we parked, I quickly got out of the car so he didn't have to help me.

He huffs but says nothing, grabbing my suitcase and bag. I go to grab my bag from him, but he turns away from me.

"Noah, I'm sure I can carry my bag." I frown, and he just smirks at me, lifting my bag higher on his shoulder and continuing to move.

"No heavy lifting, doctor's orders." I scoff, rolling my eyes, but follow him anyway.

"It's not even that heavy." He ignores me and starts to walk towards the building. I follow along and look around. The lobby area is beautiful, it has large windows and white floors, and it feels like somewhere I'm not supposed to be.

"Come on," he motions at me to keep moving. I follow him to the elevator, and it opens right away. Must be his luck, it certainly isn't mine. We get in, and he pushes the button for the top floor. I look at him, shocked. He ignores me and keeps looking forward.

The elevator jerks as it starts moving up, and I stumble. I reached out and grabbed Noah's arm to steady myself. Once I right myself, I remove my hand and look down. My face is burning, and I'm sure it's turning red.

"Sorry about that." Noah doesn't say anything. The rest of the ride up was super awkward; the air felt tense. When we exit the elevator, we are immediately in an entryway with a door.

Noah unlocks the door and lets me go in first. The condo is huge, it's open to a living room with a balcony and a kitchen larger than necessary. I walk into the living room and look around. There are large windows that overlook the city; it feels way too fancy.

"Your place is actually cozy. I was expecting it to be all modern and boring," I told him quietly, admiring the cool paintings he had hanging. His couch is large and dark blue; he has a pool table in the corner, and a large fireplace next to the TV.

"Yeah, well, I don't really like feeling like being in a hospital or hotel when I come home," Noah laughs. "Come, you'll sleep in my room." I follow him through an open door and shake my head. His bed is large, and his room is mostly empty. There are two other doors, which I assume are the bathroom and closet.

"I can't possibly take your bed, Noah. I'll sleep on the couch," I tell him honestly. He shakes his head, putting my bag on the bed and the suitcase by the wall.

"There's no way I'm letting you sleep on the couch, Jenn, just accept it." I frown at him. As comfy as the couch looks, I can't let him sleep there. Not when he was kind enough to open his home to me.

"Well, the bed is big enough. Share it with me." Noah freezes and stares at me with large eyes. I shrug, "We can put pillows between us if it'll make you feel more comfortable. But I can't let you sleep on the couch." Noah continued to stare at me, and I was worried that he had stopped breathing for a moment.

"If you're sure," he whispers. I nod my head, smiling at him. I'm glad we were able to get that resolved.

"Do you have a bathtub? I'd like to take a bath if I could." He smiles softly at me.

"Of course, let me go get it started." He walks into the bathroom, and I hear water running. "Be careful of your sutures. I'll go make some dinner." I nod and head into the bathroom. Before I started getting undressed, I sent a quick text to Jan letting her know I'm at Noah's and I'm fine.

I close the door softly and bend down to take off my shoes. Immediately regretting that, my head goes fuzzy, and without even realizing it, I'm on the floor. I groan and go to stand up. That sucked. Now my head hurts.

"Jenn?" I heard Noah on the other side of the door, "I heard something, are you okay?"

I cover my face with my hands and grind my teeth. I'm going to need his help. Using the sink, I get myself up.

"Yeah, Noah, could you come help?" I asked, my face couldn't be redder. He opens the door and cautiously comes in.

"What's up?" I looked over at him and frowned. I was leaning against the sink, trying to get my head to stop spinning.

"I tried to take off my shoes and got really dizzy. I'm going to need your help to undress." I informed him. My face is now the reddest, and I'm sure smoke is going to start coming from my face any minute.

"Okay," Noah sucks in a breath and then walks towards me. He helps me sit on the counter, and I put my face in my hands. I feel him take off my shoes, and I open my eyes and look at him. He's staring at me hard, a look in his eye I couldn't quite place.

His fingers brush against my hips, lightly pulling on my tank top. I nod my head slightly, and he lifts my tank top, slowly pulls it up past my breasts. I lift my arms so he can remove the shirt completely, and he takes care around my head. Making sure he isn't pulling on the gauze. Once the shirt is off, I put my arm across my chest.

He smiles at me, and I notice the slightest tinge of redness along his cheeks. He holds onto my arms close to my shoulders and helps me hop down. He then goes down to his knees. I look down at him in question, but he only lightly touches the top of my sweatpants. He brings the pants down and then grabs the calf of my right leg, gently lifting it up and out of the pants. And then the left. My body burns with his touch.

The only thing saving me right now is the thought that he hasn't been looking. But I know deep in my mind that that is simply not true. A naked woman in front of a man, he's sure to be looking.

"Come," Noah says, suddenly standing and holding out his hand. I give it to him, not being able to look him in the eyes. He leads me to the full tub and holds my weight as I slowly get into it. I sink into the water and sigh.

"Thank you, I'm sorry about the inconvenience." I looked at Noah and see him staring at me.

"Any time." I close my eyes again and then open them to find Noah still there, staring down at me.

"Noah?" I whisper, not entirely sure what he's waiting for. His eyes were intense as he stared at me, and I was wondering if maybe he was having a stroke.

He suddenly moves behind me and runs his hands through my hair. I go to turn my head, but his hands hold firm. I feel his fingers run softly along my collarbone, my skin damp from the heat of the water. I close my eyes as his hands run to the back of my neck, pulling my hair out of the water, and let it hang on the outside of the tub.

"Remember," he whispers softly in my ear, making the hair stand up on my arms, "You have to keep your suture dry." And in the next moment, he is standing and making his way out of the bathroom. "Enjoy your bath," he smiles at me softly before closing the door.

Once the door was shut, I let out a breath I didn't even realize I was holding. I close my eyes and try to let the warm water soothe me. I allowed myself to stay in the water for longer than I should have, and when my fingers started to prune, I convinced myself I needed to get out.

Standing carefully, I step out of the tub and wrap a towel around my body. I am unable to bend over to dry my legs, so I just allow them to air dry. Sorry to the floor.

Entering the room, I look at my bags that are sitting on the floor. I groaned but slowly grabbed my suitcase and lifted it onto the bed; it was taller than my bag, so I didn't have to bend over much. I sat on the edge of the bed and opened the suitcase. I pulled out an oversized black t-shirt and put it on. I grabbed some small grey pj shorts and frowned.

"Hey, Noah?" I called out. I hear some dish make a sound like he was placing it somewhere, and then he peeks his head through the open doorway.

"What's up?" I smiled at him, my cheeks turning pink.

"Could you help me put on these shorts? I just need them past my knees," I explain softly. I don't need him to completely dress me as he undressed me. I really don't want to do that again.

"Of course," he walks over to me with a straight face, eyes unreadable, and grabs my shorts from me. Thankfully, my T-shirt is large enough to cover everything. When he grabs my legs to put them through the hole, I notice the fire that takes over my skin. I try hard to ignore it. He helps pull up my shorts until they are above my knees. I grab his awaiting hand as he helps me stand.

"Thank you," I whispered softly, grabbing my shorts and finish pulling them up.

"Of course, come here. I made dinner." He leads me out of the bedroom, and my stomach growls loudly at the smell of food. It smells delicious.

"It smells amazing," I mention, and he looks back at me and smiles, leading me towards the living room.

"It's spaghetti. Go sit on the couch, we can watch a movie." I nod and head towards the couch, sitting on the left side.

"What are we going to watch?" I ask as he hands me a plate with noodles and a red meat sauce. I love spaghetti. Easily my favorite food. My mom used to make it all the time when we were younger.

"Whatever you want, just please not a romance." I laugh and nod my head in agreement. We ended up settling on an action/comedy and ate our food in silence.

"Who knew you were such a good cook?" I teased, nudging Noah. We had finished our food and put the plates on the coffee table in front of us.

"Yeah, well, living alone, you learn a few things." I smiled at him, not telling him that I hate cooking, and I've been living with someone who required dinner to be made every night.

We eat silently while watching the movie. Once we finish, he takes our plates to the kitchen and then comes to sit back down next to me. I throw my feet into his lap and lean back onto the couch, closing my eyes.

A loud banging on the door makes me jump up, only for me to get super dizzy and fall over. Noah quickly catches me and lowers me back onto the couch.

"It's okay, I've got you. Stay here, I'll take care of it." He whispers, laying me down on the couch. I watched him walk towards the door. I focus my attention on the ceiling, trying to stop the spinning feeling in my head.

Just when I felt like closing my eyes, Justin's face came into view.

"Justin?" I asked softly, not entirely sure if I was seeing things or not.

"I'm here, Jenn." He tells me, helping me sit up. I wrap my arms around his neck, and he rubs my back. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you. I'm looking everywhere for him." I close my eyes, not allowing myself to cry; my eyes burn from the unshed tears.

"It's okay, I'm okay," I tell him softly, afraid that if I talked any louder I'd burst the dam. He pulls me back and looks me up and down.

"You've got to rest, and I want you to stay here with Noah. He's the only one I trust to look after you." I look up at him and see his bruised face.

"What did you two fight over?" I asked him, lightly touching the bruise. He smiles at me, shrugging.

"It's just a friend thing," I nod and lean my head back on the couch, my head pounding from getting up too fast before.

"Rest, I'll see you later," he says as he leans over and kisses the top of my head.

I watch as he gets up and talks quietly with Noah in the kitchen. They talk quietly for a minute before Justin walks out of the house and Noah goes to lock the door behind him. I closed my eyes for a minute, trying to relieve the pounding in my head.