Finding Unexpected Love - Chapter 7

Summer was coming to an end and the Labor Day weekend was only two weeks away. Both Bryan and Meaghan were swamped at work.  Meaghan smiled as she packed an overnight bag; Bryan had invited her over to his place for dinner and since they both had the weekend off she was spending it at Bryan’s place. Their time together had been scarce over the past couple of weeks and Meaghan looked forward to spending some time with her boyfriend. She missed it.

An hour later she let herself into Bryan’s apartment with the key he’d given her a few weeks earlier. She was surprised to find it dark and quiet; it was after six in the afternoon and when she’d talked to Bryan around lunchtime the previous day he’d said he was working a night shift and that he’d be home around eight in the morning. She knew he slept a few hours when he got home after a nightshift, but for him to be in bed this late in the afternoon was definitely not normal.  She spotted Bryan’s keys and wallet on the table by the door and the bag he usually had on the back of his wheelchair when he was out was on the floor next to the table. They were all signs he was in the apartment, so Meaghan was a bit worried. She grabbed her tote and headed to the bedroom. 

Bryan was in bed and appeared to be sleeping. There were several vials of pills on his nightstand, as well as an open bottle of water and an empty glass. She noticed the bed bag was hanging on the side of the bed and his AFO’s weren’t on the floor. Meaghan wondered if he’d been in bed all day. She placed a hand on his forehead to check if he had a fever and he instantly winced and swatted her hand away.

“Don’t. Hurts…” he groaned.

“Bryan, it’s Meaghan. Are you okay?” she asked, keeping her voice soft.

“Migraine. Not the worst I’ve ever had, but still pretty bad...started last night…at least I’m not puking my guts out…”

“What can I do?”

Bryan told Meaghan what medications he needed and she shook the doses he wanted out of the vials. While Meaghan did that he used his arms to scoot himself up so he was sitting more upright against the headboard.

“How many or each?”

Bryan mumbled the dosages and Meaghan shook the pills into her hand. “Here,” she said. “Hold out your hand.” Bryan obliged and she put the pills into his hand. He tipped them into his mouth and reached for the water glass.

“Thanks, babe,” Bryan said as he lay down again.

“Anything else I can do?”

“Not right now…”he mumbled, already half asleep. He felt Meaghan kiss his forehead and heard the click of the switch as she turned off the lamp on his nightstand followed by her footsteps as she left the bedroom.

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When he woke up the following morning Bryan felt a lot better, he still had a bit of a headache, but he could live with that. Meaghan was fast asleep on the other side of the bed. A moment later her eyes opened and she looked over at Bryan with a small smile on her face.

“Hey,” she said, her voice thick with sleep. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better than yesterday, I still have a headache, but it’s not that bad.”

“Glad you’re feeling better,” Meaghan said as she leaned over and kissed his forehead. “What do you want to do for breakfast?”

“Something that’s easy on my stomach. I didn’t really feel nauseous yesterday, but I know my stomach is usually sensitive after a migraine. Maybe just a plain omelet?”

“I’ll get started on that while you do your morning routine,” Meaghan said as she slipped out of bed. She pulled on a pair of Bryan’s sweatpants and after a quick detour to the bathroom to use the toilet and brush her teeth she headed to the kitchen.

Bryan took longer than normal to get through his morning routine and it almost 45 minutes later he wheeled into the kitchen dressed in navy sweatpants and a faded red t-shirt. His feet were clad in thick wool socks. His hair was still damp and curled slightly on the ends. Meaghan smiled warmly at him and handed him a mug filled with coffee.

“Thanks,” he smiled and had a sip of the coffee. “Sorry for taking so long.”

“No worries. I’ll just give the eggs a whisk and pour them in the skillet. Want a yoghurt while you wait?”

“I’ll get one myself while you cook the eggs,” Bryan said as he wheeled over to the fridge. Meaghan started cooking the eggs. They ate their breakfast in silence and after they finished Bryan loaded the dishwasher.

“You cook, I clean up,” he insisted when Meaghan tried to help. She grabbed a dishcloth and wiped off the counters.

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“This is so not what I had envisioned for our weekend together,” Bryan sighed. It was late Saturday afternoon and they were relaxing on his couch. They had spent most of the day there, Bryan had napped on and off and Meaghan was reading a book. She didn’t want to disturb Bryan by turning on the TV or music, he had told her he was sensitive to sound during migraine attacks.

“Well, it might not be exactly what we planned, but it’s nice to just take it easy and relax. It’s been a while since I spent a weekend on the couch in sweats.” Meaghan snuggled up next to Bryan and he wrapped his arm around her as she rested her head in the crook of his neck. He kissed the crown of her head gently.

“I love you, Meaghan.” It was the first time he’d said it.

“I love you too,” Meaghan replied, also for the first time. Bryan smiled and bent down and kissed her on the lips.

By the time Meaghan went back to her apartment after dinner Sunday evening Bryan was pretty much back to normal and they had gone out for dinner. Over dinner he had invited her to spend the Labor Day weekend with him at his family’s cottage in Oak Island, North Carolina.  Labor Day was only two weeks away and Bryan had arranged to have the whole week off a while back. He’d originally intended to go to Philadelphia to see his parents, but a week away with Meaghan sounded more tempting. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to get the whole week off on short notice, but she’d promised to try and it would at least be a long weekend.

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The next week flew by for both of them. Bryan pulled several double shifts at work and Meaghan had three projects in that was in the final stages and she felt like she was constantly running from one building site to the other to straighten out the typical last minute issues that always seemed to occur.  She hadn’t seen Bryan all week and because he’d been working most evenings their only communication had been a few text messages. When she left work late Friday afternoon she felt immensely relieved that she’d managed to get everything sorted and with nothing major on her plate she’d taken the whole Labor Day week off. She was excited about their getaway and looked forward to some downtime. But first she hoped to spend the coming weekend with him.

The first thing she did when she got home was to change into a pair of black shorts and a tank top and then she grabbed her phone and dialed Bryan’s number. He answered the phone on the third ring.

“Meaghan! I’ve missed you so much this week.”

“Hey there. That feeling is mutual; I’ve missed you like crazy. The upside is that I’ve managed to clear my desk and I’ve got the whole Labor Day week off. My boss told me this afternoon.”

“That’s awesome! What are your plans for the weekend? Want to spend it over here? I’ve got an evening shift on Sunday, but I’m off tonight and all day tomorrow.”

“I’d love to. We can be lazy on your deck if the weather is nice,” Meaghan suggested. Her favorite part of Bryan’s apartment was that it was on the ground floor of a newer building and he had a decent sized deck that was surrounded by a hedge.  Meaghan’s apartment didn’t even have a balcony, and she missed having an outside space of her own.  The communal garden in the building was always filled with kids playing. 

“I like that idea. Anything involving being lazy sounds amazing to me after the week I’ve had.”

“Why don’t I get some things together and I’ll head over to your place?”

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An hour later she pulled into a parking space just outside Bryan’s building. He came out of the front door of the building just as she parked. She was surprised to see him wearing shorts; he was self-conscious about his thin, atrophied legs and preferred to hide them under jeans or slacks. He smiled broadly when she stepped out of the car and hurried over to her and pulled her into his lap.

“Damn, I’ve missed you,” he said as he hugged her tightly.

“I’ve missed you too.” Meaghan kissed him hungrily, but quickly and got to her feet. “Let’s get inside.”

“Need me to help you with anything?” Bryan offered as he shifted his weight in his wheelchair.

“If you take my bag I think I’ve got it,” Meaghan said as she held out her duffle bag to him. He grabbed it and placed it in his lap.  Meaghan followed Bryan inside. He wheeled straight into the bedroom with her bag and when he came back a few moments he had his AFO’s on.

“I’ve got beginning pressure sores on both my heels, so I’ll be wearing these around the house to make sure I don’t put any pressure on my heels. Hopefully the sores will get better by the time we’re going to North Carolina,” he explained when he saw the questioning look on Meaghan’s face.

“Wear them 24/7 if you need to,” Meaghan said as she flopped down on Bryan’s couch.

“Want a beer?” Bryan offered as he wheeled toward the kitchen.

“Sounds good!”

Bryan disappeared into the kitchen and returned a moment later with two cans of Heineken in his lap.

“So, apart from working, what have you been up to all week?” Meaghan asked as Bryan handed her a beer.

“Eating and sleeping. Exciting stuff,” he said with a crooked grin as he parked his wheelchair next to the couch and transferred to it. “I’m not much fun when I’m working back to back double shifts. What about you? What’s been going on in your world?”

“Apart from working 12 hours a day I’ve managed to squeeze in a dinner with Kelly and I’ve watched a lot of TV. I haven’t really had the energy to do much else.  I’m so ready to have some time off and what makes it even better is that I get to spend that time with my sexy boyfriend.”

Bryan scoffed at her. “I think you’re at the wrong apartment.”

“Will you please stop being so self conscious Bryan. You’re a very attractive man.”

“I guess I’m not too bad from the hips up, but you can’t honestly say my legs are sexy or those damn braces I’m stuck wearing for god-knows-how long…and in bed forever…”

“Honey, it’s all part of the package and as a whole it’s a damn good one. You’re not getting rid of me anytime soon, so you better get used to me calling you sexy.”

Bryan just shook his head and grabbed his can of beer from the coffee table.

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Saturday turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day and they decided to spend it lounging on the couch Bryan had on his deck. Meaghan loved it; it was made of dark wicker with soft beige cushions and a chaise lounge on one end. Meaghan settled in on the end with the chaise and Bryan ended up on the other end with his feet resting against her thigh. He felt a bit self-conscious when he realized she had his AFO’s so close to her, but she didn’t seem to pay attention to it at all, so he decided not to say anything and put his sunglasses on and focused on his book. Bryan had a Sonos sound system installed in his apartment and they’d brought a portable speaker with them and plugged it in outside. Meaghan had grabbed his iPad and put on a piece of soft jazz. After about half an hour she noticed that Bryan dozed off. She gently took the book from him, put the bookmark in place and put it on the seat of his wheelchair. Meaghan settled back on the couch with her book and without thinking about it she absentmindedly started fingering with one of the Velcro closures on his right AFO. The first time she’d seen them they’d seemed a bit scary to her, but now she thought they looked kind of cozy with their soft sheepskin lining. He was wearing a pair of shorts, just like he had the previous day and Meaghan grasped the opportunity to study his legs without his knowledge. They were thin, almost only skin and bone. His knees were very prominent. His fragile looking feet looked like they were safe inside the braces; his toes were sticking out from under the wide piece of sheepskin that covered his foot. Meaghan noticed that his toenails looked well cared for.

Bryan woke up nearly an hour later. He yawned and stretched his arms over his head.

“Hey there, enjoy your nap?” Meaghan asked when she realized he was awake. Her arm was resting across Bryan’s ankles and she was still fingering with a Velcro closing on the right AFO.

“Yeah, I actually feel pretty rested now. Wanna go down to the café and grab some lunch? I don’t feel like cooking, but I’m getting hungry.”

“You have really cute toes.”

“Huh?” Bryan’s jaw almost dropped to the floor from the non sequitur.

“Well, I’ve had plenty of opportunity to study your feet while you were sleeping and I realized you have cute toes.”

“Um…thanks I guess,” Bryan replied, seeming a bit unsure about how to respond to that. “Anyway, are you hungry?”

“Getting there. I need to freshen up a bit before we go out,” she said, looking down at her outfit that consisted of a worn tank top and a pair of sweatpants she’d cropped off mid thigh.

“What’s the problem with what you’re wearing?” Bryan asked as he lifted his feet to the ground and then he moved the book from the seat of his wheelchair and lined it up next to him to transfer to it.

“I’m not even wearing a bra Bryan. I’m not leaving the apartment looking like this.”

“Let’s go get ready then. I need to pull on some jeans and shoes before I leave the apartment,” Bryan said as he unplugged the Sonos speaker and put that and the iPad in his lap and headed inside.

To be continued....