Page 32 of Prospecting

“No. Why,” she asked.

“Floor’s wet,” Cade said stepping carefully through the dampness on the floor.

“I feel so stupid,” Sheridan said as he set her down on the toilet. “I was coming to ask what you wanted for dinner.”

“We’ll have something simple as soon as I get you patched up and in bed,” Cade said. Gently he stripped her shirt. He put it in the sink to rinse out the blood. “This is starting to bruise. I’ll use the wand on it. Did you hit your head?”

“No,” Sheridan said.

“Are you sure,” he asked.

She put her hand on his chest, felt his heart racing. “I’m all right,” she reassured.

“Scanner says different. Let’s get the pants off,” he said. She leaned on him while he gently pulled them down.

“Normally you can’t get them off fast enough,” she teased but winced when he touched her bottom.

“Looks like skid marks on your bum,” he said.

“Wonder what caused the water,” she said starting to feel the aches and injuries she bit her lip.

Seeing the pain in her eyes, he said, “We have meds. Do you want me to get the meds?”

“Let’s do the wand first,” she said. “I’m sure it will make it better.” A tear slipped down her cheek. Tenderly he brushed it away, kissed her again.

“We could do it in bed,” he said. “You could lay on your front.”

“I’m not sure I can make it to the bed,” she admitted.

“All right,” he said. “First round here.” He went to the cupboard got out the wand and turned it on. A long tubular device, he slowly waved it over her back. He watched as the scrapes and bruises faded.

“That’s better,” she said.

“Let me do your ankle,” he said.

“It probably won’t do much for a sprain,” she said watching him tend her. His eyes drilled into her, watching for any sign of pain or discomfort. “Stop worrying. I’m all right.”

“You could have been,” he stopped talking, knelt in front of her. Carefully he lifted her leg, waved the wand around her ankle. The swelling went down slightly.

“Oh,” she said. “It doesn’t ache as much.”

“Good,” he said smiling at her. “I’m carrying you to bed, you’ll lay face down. I’ll run the wand all over you.”

“It sounds a bit kinky,” Sheridan teased him. She pulled him to her, kissed him, rubbed her lips against his. “Thank you.”

***

He covered her. The wand did its job and the pain meds he gave her helped her drop off to sleep. The scrapes were pink marks on her back and bum. They looked like they’d fade away. The ankle needed to be wrapped for a few days at least. Her head nestled in her arms, she slept. He covered her with the blankets to keep her warm. It was all part of the healing process. He covered his face. The sight of her sliding down the stairs, her startled cry all ripped at him.

“Why was there water on the floor,” he said. He told her he’d cook but he needed to fix it so there wasn’t water on the floor.

He walked back to the stairs looked up, saw a slightly damp tile. He got the ladder, climbed up and found the problem. A pipe for the cooling system leaked. He needed to replace it. Carefully he went to the lower level, got the tools and pipe he needed. He spent the next hour replacing a section of the pipe. When done, he waited to see if it dripped. The ceiling tile needed replacing. The spare tiles were in the lower level. This one would dry out and be fine but for now it needed replacing.

By the time he put his ladder away, nearly two hours slipped by. He would have gotten the work done faster but he kept checking on her. He used the scanner several times to make sure she slept and wasn’t concussed.

Food. He promised her food. She always planned everything out. He looked in the cooler, looked at the food available. He wanted her to sleep. If he made one of his quick meals, it would be ready sooner than he wanted her to wake up. He looked a little deeper. In their last delivery, Calli sent real ham. He knew exactly what he wanted from it.

***

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