"Jenna & Luke" - Chapter 2

When Luke woke up Saturday morning he didn’t feel great. He’d struggled to sleep; he was more nervous about his dinner date with Jenna than he wanted to admit. Inviting for dinner at his house had been a spur of the moment thing and over the past couple of days he’d second-guessed that decision several times. He realized there was no turning back and he’d just have to make the best of it.

......

“So, what’s your plan for tonight?” Kevin asked over breakfast. Luke had told him he’d invited Jenna over a couple of days earlier and he’d offered to help him prepare dinner.

“Jenna’s coming over at seven and I figured I’d make lasagna and a salad for dinner. I have to admit I’m nervous. And my neck is killing me today.” Since the accident Luke had dealt with almost chronic pain around the site of his injury. Most days it was just a dull pain he was able to ignore, but from time to time it flared up and today was a bad day. He rolled neck and leaned his head against the headrest on his wheelchair, and then he adjusted his chair so he was sitting more reclined.

“Want a painkiller? Or the collar?”

“Get the collar first, please. The painkillers makes me fuzzy and today isn’t a good day for that.” Luke’s doctor had suggested that wearing a soft cervical collar to support his neck might work as a pain reliever and it had proved to be pretty efficient. Luke knew that wearing the collar for extended periods of time wasn’t good for him, it would weaken the muscles in his neck, but he wore it for a few days from time to time when the pain was bad. Kevin returned to the kitchen with the collar in hand and he quickly put it around Luke’s neck and adjusted it.

“Does it feel okay?” Kevin asked once he was done

“Very good. Thanks.” Luke reclined his chair a bit more and closed his eyes, while taking deep breaths. About 15 minutes later he opened his eyes and adjusted his chair so he was sitting upright again. Kevin put down the paper he was reading and looked at Luke questioningly.

“Feel any better?”

“Yeah, it’s getting better now. I think the worst of it is over.”

“Let’s head out and get the grocery shopping done then,” Kevin suggested.

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

...

Jenna was nervous as she walked up to Luke’s front door. His house was nice; it was single level and a decent size. It appeared to be well maintained and the planters with colorful flowers on either side of the front door made it look warm and inviting. She quickly straightened out her dress before she pushed the doorbell.

Luke opened the door a couple of minutes later. He was dressed casually in a pair of jeans that appeared to have been through the wash a few times and a plaid shirt in different shades of blue and brown. He had sneakers on his feet and the five-o-clock shadow on his jaw gave him a rugged look. She was surprised to see him wearing a collar around his neck; it looked like the collar her mom had worn after a whiplash injury when she was a kid, except it was black instead of white. She wondered why he needed it; as far as she could recall she hadn't seen him wear it before.

“Hi Jenna, good to see you. I hope you didn’t have too much trouble finding the place.”

“Good to see you too, Luke,” Jenna said with a smile as she impulsively leaned down and kissed his cheek. “It was pretty straightforward. Can I leave my car there or do you need me to move it?” She gestured at her silver Prius that was parked on the right side of the driveway.

“It’s fine,” Luke assured her. “Come on in.”

She followed him inside and closed and locked the door behind her. The hall was spacious and the décor was modern and masculine, but warm.

“Nice house,” she said as she followed him through a spacious living room and into the kitchen. She noticed it was obviously adapted to fit Luke’s needs; lowered counters that were open under so he could access them from his wheelchair.

“Thanks,” he said. “Do you want a drink? Is red wine okay?”

“Oh, lovely,” she smiled.

“Help yourself,” he said, gesturing to a bottle and two glasses on the counter. “And would you mind pouring me a glass too?”

“Not at all,” Jenna replied. She realized pouring wine, or any beverage, probably was a challenge for him. She poured two glasses of wine and handed him one. He managed to grab the stem of the glass between his thumb and fisted fingers and brought it to his mouth and had a sip. Jenna followed suit.

“This is nice,” she complimented the wine. “Italian?”

“I made lasagna for dinner, so I figured Italian wine was appropriate. I hope you like lasagna.”

“It’s one of my favorite foods, especially when it’s homemade.”

..........

An hour later they had finished their dinner and after clearing the table they’d moved to the living room. Jenna had settled into one of the two recliners in front of the TV and Luke had parked his wheelchair next to her. She watched quietly as he adjusted his chair so he was sitting in a reclined position. She noticed he looked tired.

“If you’re not feeling well I can leave,” Jenna offered.

“I’m fine. My neck hurts less when I’m sitting in a more reclined position and I needed to shift my weight too.”

“Oh…right…” Jenna didn’t know how to respond.

“I invited you here because I wanted to talk to you in a more private setting than the coffee shop or a restaurant. I like you Jenna, I like you a lot. You’re easy to talk to, smart, funny, pretty… I think I fell for you the first time I saw you, when you held the door open for me. Something told me you were special and I really wanted to get to know you.”

“Why didn’t you approach me?” Jenna asked. “I know you wanted to. I didn’t miss the smiles and looks.”

“Busted,” he chuckled, then he got serious. “Honestly I doubted a beautiful woman like you would be interested in a man like me.”

“Why would you think that? You’re good looking, smart, funny, it seems like you have a decent job, a nice house...”

“And a cripple. There’s no way around that, Jenna. I’ve got a pretty severe physical disability. You can’t deny that and I know you have questions you’re dying to ask me.”

“I’d lie if I said I didn’t,” Jenna said. “But I want you to tell me when you’re ready. We’ve been on two lunch dates, the questions I have feel too intimate to ask at this stage.”

“I broke my neck seven years ago, two days after my 24^th birthday. I was visiting my family in Michigan and my cousins and I went to a small lake to swim. I dove in without checking the depth first and the next thing I remember is waking up at the hospital in a halo brace.”

“What’s a halo brace?” Jenna interjected.

“It’s a metal ring that’s attached to your head with four screws. The circle is attached to a plastic vest your wear on your upper body by four metal rods. It completely immobilizes the head and neck.”

“Sounds uncomfortable.”

“It is. And it’s also pretty scary. Back then I couldn’t even move my arms, so I was completely helpless. It took a lot of hard work to get the movement I have now. The initial prognosis was that I’d always be completely dependent on other people. My stubborn streak kicked in pretty fast and now I can manage with minimal assistance.”

“What do you need help with?”

“I need help to get out of bed and get ready in the morning and I need help to go to bed in the evening. I don’t have the strength to transfer in and out of my chair or dress myself. The reason I’m strapped into my chair is that I don’t have any muscles in my torso. I can’t sit upright unaided.”

“So you have a nurse or something?”

“I’ve got assistants. Kevin is my roommate and my main assistant.”

“You need a live-in assistant?”

“Not really. When Kevin isn’t here I have someone that comes in the evening to help me go to bed and someone come in the morning to help me shower, dress and the other stuff I need to get ready. Once I’m in my chair I’m able to do most things for myself.”

“So why does Kevin live here?”

“When he graduated from UCLA a couple of years ago he needed a place to live and he ended up moving in. It was supposed to be a temporary arrangement, but it works well for both of us. I’ve converted the master suite to a small apartment. It has a bathroom, a bedroom and a living room with kitchenette. I understand if you wanna bolt for the door, Jenna. I am pretty crippled and I know it must seem overwhelming to you.”

“I’m not ready to bolt,” Jenna assured him. He carried on.

“My diagnosis is that I’m a C 5-6 incomplete quadriplegic. I’m paralyzed from the chest down. I can move my shoulders and I have limited movement in my arms and my hands are paralyzed, except for a little movement in my thumbs. I don’t have much strength in them though. Without the splints on my wrists my hands are pretty useless. The reason I’m wearing this,” he gestured to the collar around his neck, “is that I woke up with a bad neck ache and having the collar support my neck relieves the pain. It’s either that or a strong prescription painkiller that makes me fuzzy. I didn’t wanna be all drugged up for our date.”

“It must have been hard to adjust,” Jenna said quietly.

“It was. I went from being a professional football player, an athlete, to being severely disabled and somewhat dependent on assistance. On a level I’m not used to it yet. I still wake up some mornings and want to jump out of bed and go for a run.”

“You were a professional football player?” Jenna asked, puzzled. She followed football pretty closely and couldn’t remember his name.

“I played football from I was a kid. Was pretty decent in high school, more than decent I guess. I was the starting quarterback my junior and senior year. I was approached by several college recruiters and landed on UCLA, that’s how I ended up here in LA.”

“You played for the Bruins?”

“Yep and after I graduated I played two seasons for the Chicago Bears.”

Realization dawned on Jenna. “Oh my gosh…are you Lucas Stevenson? I thought you looked familiar, but I didn’t connect you to him. And you looked different back then...longer hair… He just sort of vanished. News reports said he was in an accident and wouldn’t be able to return to football, but the family asked the press to respect their privacy and I guess the story just died…”

“Guilty,” Luke said with a sigh. “Hillbrook is my grandmother’s maiden name. It was just easier to vanish. Right after it happened I got several inquiries from the media, I declined every single one of them, but they just didn’t back off. When I was transferred to rehab I signed in under a different name and I ended up changing it permanently.”

“I can’t wait to tell my sister I’m dating Lucas Stevenson,” Jenna giggled. “She’ll be so jealous. Her room was wall-to-wall posters of you.”

“Really? And what about you? Was I on your walls?”

“I’m not telling,” she said with a teasing smile.

“I’m not that guy anymore though,” he said, suddenly a dark shadow came over him. “And I’d appreciate if you don’t call the press and tell them where I’m hiding.”

“I’d never do that, Luke. Your secret is safe with me,” she said as she placed her hand on his. “I won’t tell my sister either.”

“Thanks,” he said quietly. They sat in silence for a moment, then Jenna spoke.

“So how did you end up working as an accountant?”

“I graduated from UCLA with a degree in economics, my grades weren’t great, but they were decent and while I was in rehab a social worker suggested that I go back to school. I ended up pursuing a Masters degree in accounting at the University of Michigan, back in Ann Arbor. I figured I didn’t have many other options and did that. I didn’t want to end up living off disability.”

Luke changed the position of his wheelchair so he was sitting upright again.

“I haven’t been in a relationship since the accident, so this is unchartered territory to me,” he said.

“We’ll figure it out together. I’ve never dated someone disabled, so it’s unchartered territory for me too.”

Luke smiled and awkwardly put his arm around Jenna’s shoulders. She leaned over and kissed him on the lips. He invited her to sit on his lap and she eagerly accepted the invitation. It hit her how thin his legs were as she wrapped her hands around his neck and kissed him again. She was aware of the collar he was wearing, feeling the softness of it under her hands, but as the kiss deepened it faded into the background and they were lost in their own little world.

“Wow,” Luke said as they pulled apart. A smile graced his handsome features and his brown eyes were sparkling. “That was possibly the best kiss I’ve ever experienced.”

“Ditto,” Jenna said warmly, her arms were still around his neck and she was absentmindedly toying with the Velcro closing on his cervical collar. “You are an amazing kisser.”


To be continued...