Jenna & Luke 2 .0 - Chapter 5

Just as Luke heard the front door open and close an unpleasant smell hit his nose. “Damn it,” he thought. “Could that bowel accident have come at a worse time?”  He was well aware that Harry wouldn’t be back until 10 pm, when his shift was scheduled to start, and with Kevin out of town he really only had no choice. He had to ask Jenna to change him, sitting in a messy diaper for over four hours wasn’t an option.  The smell was unpleasant and it was very bad for his already fragile skin. He let out a slow, calming breath as he heard Jenna’s footsteps approaching. A moment later she stepped in and immediately walked around the bed and kissed him on the lips.

“Hey babe,” she said with a smile when she pulled away. “How are you feeling?”

“Well, the headache is gone and generally I feel better than I did this morning. Won’t know for sure how the neck is until I’m back in my chair. It generally doesn’t bother me when I’m laying down.”

“Well, are you ready to get up?”

“Yep, but…” Luke’s voice trailed off with embarrassment and he felt a blush creeping up his neck and cheeks.”

“What?”

“I…eh…I had an accident and need my diaper changed. I hate to ask you to do this, but I don’t see another option right now. I’m sorry.” Luke averted his glance; he was too embarrassed to look Jenna in the eyes.

Jenna was a bit taken aback by the fact that her boyfriend had just asked her to change his diaper, but she was resolved to help Luke without making a big deal about it.

“Don’t worry about it Luke,” she said firmly. “You’re gonna have to talk me through the steps and we’ll figure it out together.”

“I’m so sorry about this,” Luke repeated.

“Stop with the apologies Luke. It’s not your fault.”

“Still. This is the pits. I really hate the fact that I have to ask you to change my messy diaper and clean my ass. You’re my girlfriend and you deserve better than that.”

Jenna sat down on the edge of the bed and took Luke’s face in her hands. “I know you hate this, which I completely understand.  I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry, so lets get this over with so I can help you get back in your chair and ready for dinner.”

“Okay,” Luke sighed. “The diapers are on a shelf in my closet, on the right hand side. There are chucks there too, to protect the bed while you change me.” He listed the supplies she’d need and a few minutes later she returned to the bed with everything she needed and got to work. 

Luke was immensely relieved when Jenna secured his chest strap and the seatbelt across his lap about half an hour later.

“Are you comfortable?” she asked him as she straightened up. “How’s your neck?”

“I’m good. The neck is much better, but still a bit sore. I think I should put the collar back on.”

“Which one?” Jenna asked, pointing to the three cervical collars that were sitting on the dresser next to the closet door; one were in a flesh toned color, one was white and the final one was black.

“Doesn’t matter.  They’re pretty much identical, apart from the color.”

Jenna grabbed the flesh toned one and put it around Luke’s neck and as she secured the Velcro closure in the back she pecked him on the lips. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down into his lap.

“Thanks babe. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I’m so thankful to have you in my life. I know we’ve only been together for six weeks, but I think I’m falling in love with you.”

“I’ve never had the kind of feelings I have for you for any man.  I’m pretty sure I’m falling in love with you too, Luke,” Jenna said as she kissed him again.

They made their way to the kitchen where Jenna got started with preparing dinner. She boiled water and poured over the couscous and let that soak while she warmed up the chicken in the microwave.  It didn’t take long to get dinner on the table.  Jenna cut Luke’s chicken into bite-sized pieces before she put his plate in front of him.

“Looks just as delicious as yesterday,” Luke said as he speared the first piece with his fork.

They finished most of the meal in a comfortable silence; they were both hungry and focused on their food.  As Jenna placed their plates in the dishwasher Luke spoke.

“My mother called this afternoon. Her and Dad are coming to LA for a friend’s birthday party in a couple of weeks. They’re going to be in town for a few days and they’re staying here. They really want to meet you. And I want you to meet them.”

“I’d love to meet your parents, Luke.  I just hope they like me.”

“They’ll like you,” Luke assured her.

. . .

“Stop fussing, Jenna,” Luke admonished her. She was standing in front of the full-length mirror in his bedroom, checking her appearance yet again.

“Are you really sure this is an appropriate ‘meet-your-parents’ outfit?”

“Very much so. You look amazing,” Luke said with a smile as he rolled over to her and pulled her down to sit in his lap. She buried her head in the crook of his neck and inhaled the scent of his aftershave and the scent of him. It instantly calmed her down; being close to Luke had that effect on her.

“Thanks. I’m just worried and nervous and I want to make a good first impression.”

“As I’ve told you several times, you’ve got nothing to worry about. My parents already like you.”

“I hope you’re right,” Jenna sighed as the doorbell rang and she scooted off Luke’s lap after kissing him quickly on the lips.

. . .

A couple of hours later Jenna did her best to have a good time in the company of Maryanne and Thomas Hillbrook. She’d liked Luke’s dad almost immediately; he was an older version of his son, in both looks and personality. His mother was a tougher nut to crack and Jenna had a feeling she didn’t approve of her.

“So, Lucas told me you run your own business in the graphic design industry,” Maryanne queried when she got Jenna to herself. Luke and his dad were deeply engrossed in a conversation about football. “Men,” Jenna thought.

“I own half of it, the other half is owned by my business partner and college friend Sarah. She contacted me a while back and asked if I was interested in going into business with her here in LA. I studied arts at UCLA and I’d wanted to move back for a while, so when Sarah contacted me it just seemed like a perfect opportunity.”

“How’s business?”

“Slowly, but surely picking up. We had a slow start, but Sarah’s got lots of contacts and they’re finally starting to prove to be useful.”

“That’s good. So you’re financially independent I suppose?” Maryanne’s voice was suddenly a bit cold.

“Excuse me?” Jenna was confused; she didn’t get what Luke’s mom was getting at.

“Lucas has a good job and makes good money. You’re not taking advantage on him to provide for you while you’re trying to get your business going, are you?”

“What? No, absolutely not! I can provide for myself just fine. Luke and I don’t even live together.”

Luke was in the middle of a conversation with his dad, but when he heard Jenna’s voice rise he looked over at her and his mom. He noticed that his girlfriend seemed tense and upset. “This can’t be good. I wonder what Mom has managed to say this time.”

Luke excused himself from his dad and drove his chair over to where Jenna and his mom were seated opposite ends of the couch.

“Mom, what did you say to upset Jenna?” he asked in a no-nonsense tone.

“Nothing, we’re just chatting,” his mom replied. Jenna remained silent.

“Cut the crap, Mom. I know something is going on. Spill it.”

“I was just making sure Jenna isn’t taking advantage of you,” Maryanne said in a clod tone, glaring at Jenna.

“Mom! What the fuck? I’m a grown man and I don’t need you to look out for me like that. I’m perfectly capable of watching my own back.” He moved closer to Jenna and held out his left hand; she immediately laced her fingers with his curled ones, but he noticed she was still tense. Just as Maryanne was about to say something Thomas joined them.

“Lucas, that’s not a way to speak to your mother,” he scolded his son.

“When she accuses the woman I love of taking advantage of me it’s not only insulting to Jenna, it’s also insulting that she suggests that I’m not capable of looking out for myself and that there’s something wrong with my judgment.”

“You are in a more vulnerable position than most men, dear,” Maryanne said to Luke, ignoring both her husband and Jenna.

“Why? Because I’m crippled? The accident broke my neck, not my brain.”

“You know what I mean…” Maryanne insisted.

“No, Mom. I don’t. Yes, I’m very aware that I’m rather severely physically disabled, but mentally there’s nothing wrong with me; I have a Masters degree and I’m part of the management team at a large insurance company. I wouldn’t be doing that job if I were retarded too; there’s nothing wrong with my brain. I don’t have to take this shit and neither does Jenna.”

A long, rather awkward silence followed. Luke didn’t budge and from the looks of it, nor were his parents. He closed his eyes and with a sigh he leaned his head against the headrest on his wheelchair. He wasn’t happy with the way things were going, but at the same time he wasn’t surprised; his mother had always been rather protective of her boys and after his injury the level of protectiveness had increased significantly. It was the main reason he’d decided to move to LA.

Jenna didn’t know what to do with the awkward silence that had fallen after Luke’s speech to his mom about not being retarded. He sat with his eyes closed and his head tipped back slightly, it rested against the headrest of his wheelchair. The expression on his face was neutral; unreadable. Their laced hands were resting on the armrest of his wheelchair.

His parents were seated next to each other on the couch; with their hands clasped together and their expressions as unreadable as their son’s.

Part of Jenna wanted to just get up and leave, but she didn’t want to give Luke’s mother the satisfaction of driving her away. And although she hadn’t had the courage to say it to Luke yet she knew she loved him. “I love this man. He’s the best thing that has happened to me in a long time and even if he were dirt poor I’d want to be with him. It’s Luke I want, not his house or his money.”

She lifted their entwined hands to her lips and kissed the back of Luke’s hand. He slowly opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her with a tentative smile on his face.  Jenna placed a kiss on his cheek before she turned to his parents.

“Maryanne, Thomas,” she said in a firm tone. When she was sure she had both their attention she carried on. “I love your son. He’s the best thing that had happened to me in a long time. I’m not going to lie; I found his disability a bit scary at first, but as I got to know him it faded into the background. He’s an amazing person. I want Luke. Not his house or his money. I want him. It’s a simple as that.”

“You love me?” Luke asked, sounding a bit surprised.

Jenna turned to him with a smile on her face and before she spoke she kissed him gently on the lips. As she pulled back she nodded. “Yes, Luke. I love you. I think part of me fell in love with you the day I met you. You’re the best thing that happened to me in a long time, Luke Hillbrook.”

“I love you too, Jenna. I’ve wanted to say that for a while, but I’ve felt it’s too soon. We haven’t been going out for that long.” Luke pulled Jenna into his lap and wrapped his right arm around her waist. “Mom, you owe Jenna an apology,” he said firmly.

Maryanne seemed rather shocked by the turn of events and she reluctantly apologized to Jenna, who in turn accepted it. She wasn’t convinced that Luke’s mom meant it, but she didn’t want to cause more tension.

…

Luke’s landline phone ringing on the nightstand woke them up Saturday morning. It was voice controlled and Luke answered the call groggily. It was Warwick, the PCA that was scheduled to come help Luke with his morning routine. 

“Sorry man. There’s been a huge wreck and I’m stuck in traffic for God-knows-how long. I have no idea when I’ll be at your place. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Warwick. It’s not your fault there was a wreck. Don’t stress about coming in today. I’ll manage.”

“I thought you said Kevin is out of town? That he’s visiting family or something?”

“He is, but my parents are here. Mom knows my morning routine and my dad can deal with the heavy lifting.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Okay, thanks. Have a good day.”

“You too,” Luke said; then he ended the call. He noticed that Jenna was looking at him.

“I’ll help you with your morning routine. I don’t want your mom to think I’m not capable of it,” she said.

“Jenna…”

“I get that you don’t want me to be your caretaker, babe. I’m your girlfriend and that’s the role I’ll have most of the time. The thing is; when things like these happen and there’s no one else around I’d like to be able to help you get ready for the day. And I really think it would make your mother see me in a different light.”

Luke closed his eyes and sighed. “I guess you have a point. Okay, if you’re sure you can deal with this I’ll try to talk you through it. I would’ve preferred to have Kevin teach you, but I’ll admit I’m not keen on asking my parents for help.”

“We figured out the diaper situation a few weeks back. I’m confident we’ll figure this out too.”

…

“Okay, so you know the next part,” Luke said to Jenna, she had helped him transfer back to the bed where she had somewhat awkwardly helped him with his range of motion exercises and now it was time to get him dressed.

“Diaper and leg bag, right?” she asked.

“Yep, that’s it. Then it’s time to dress me, which will be the tricky part.”

“Got it,” Jenna said as she walked over to the closet and grabbed a diaper and a leg bag with a holder. 

A few minutes later Jenna finished strapping the leg bag to Luke’s calf and looked up at him. “What do you want to wear?”

“Just some jeans and a t-shirt. Casual, since I’m not going to work today.”

Jenna grabbed a pair of dark jeans that looked like they’d been through the wash a few times and a charcoal grey crew necked t-shirt from the closet and walked back to the bedroom. “Is this okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, looks great.”

…

Twenty minutes later Jenna had finished dressing Luke and she used the transfer board to get him into the wheelchair. After she’d strapped him in to the chair she asked what shoes he wanted to wear.

“Since I’m going casual I think sneakers.”

Jenna fetched a pair of black Nike sneakers from the closet together with a pair of black socks.  After she had put the socks and sneakers on she made sure Luke’s legs were straight and his feet were positioned like he liked on the footplate of his chair. When she stood up and looked at Luke he was smiling at her.

“You’re amazing, Jenna. I love you and I’m so grateful I have you in my life.”

“Thank you for trusting me. I feel the same way about you.” Jenna kissed him soundly and then she excused herself to get dressed and ready for the day.

…

“How did you get ready this morning, Lucas? I didn’t hear a car in the drive,” his mom said, taking a sip of her coffee while Jenna and Luke worked together on preparing breakfast.

“Jenna helped me. Warwick was stuck in traffic because of a wreck.”

“Oh. I could have helped you.”

“True, but Jenna is fully capable of assisting me when something like that happens and Kevin isn’t around. He has been training her for a while.” It was an outright lie, but Jenna had managed well and he hoped learning that she was capable of assisting him would gain her some respect from his parents.

“Really? And you’re okay with that, Jenna?” Maryanne asked skeptically.

“I don’t mind assisting Luke when he needs it. I actually wish he’d accept more assistance from me, since it would give us more privacy, but he’s adamant that I’m his girlfriend and not his caretaker.”

“You do realize you’d better get used to having PCAs around if you’re serious about your relationship with Lucas?”

“Oh, I don’t mind having the PCAs around, I’ve gotten used to it. I’m sure it was harder for you,” Jenna looked at Luke and squeezed his shoulder before she carried on. “Than it is for me.”

Maryanne didn’t respond to Jenna and she and Luke turned their attention back to preparing breakfast. Luke smiled warmly at Jenna and mouthed “Thank you.” Jenna winked at him and popped two more slices of bread into the toaster. She felt like they’d both just won a small victory with Luke’s parents.

…

A much as Luke loved his parents and enjoyed spending time with them he was relieved when they left Tuesday morning. He’d taken Monday and Tuesday off work and he spent most of the late morning and early afternoon reclined in his wheelchair, listening to the audiobook version of “Life of Pi”. Kevin had been raving about how brilliant the guy that read it was and he’d been right. Luke was hooked pretty fast.

When part one ended little after two in the afternoon he decided it was time for a break. He was getting restless and cabin fever was hitting him; he’d spent most of the time since his parents’ arrival the previous Friday at home and he decided to take a drive to get out of the house.

After about half an hour of driving around rather aimlessly Luke found himself on Jenna’s street. He felt a bit silly; it was just before three in the afternoon and she was probably at work. He was very surprised when he spotted her stepping out of the front door of her building, dressed in gym clothes with a duffle bag slung over her shoulder.

…

Jenna had just closed and locked the front door behind her when she spotted the familiar black van parked a few feet away. The disabled plates on it confirmed that it was indeed Luke. A smile spread across her face as she hurried over to him. He lowered the driver’s side window and smiled back at her.

“Hey you,” Jenna greeted him. “What are you doing here?”

“My parents left this morning and since I’ve spent most of the past few days with them, mostly at my house, I was restless and decided to go for a drive. Somehow ended up here. Why aren’t you at work?”

“It’s slow,” Jenna shrugged. “I cleared my to-do list by lunchtime and decided to call it a day.  Sarah had an appointment this afternoon, so she’s manning the office. Figured I’d do some laundry and go to the gym. I need to get my exercise routine back on track. I’ve been lazy lately.”

“Makes sense. Well, don’t let me stop you. We can talk later.”

“I can skip the workout, if you had something else in mind.”

“Honestly, I don’t have any sort of plans. I just got restless and needed to get out of the house.”

“I missed you too. Okay, here’s my suggestion; you park your car, there are several handicapped spots in the lot around the corner, and I run in and change my clothes and we can go to the café down the block for a late lunch. Then we come back here and I can pack my bag and I come back to your place with you and spend the night.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me,” Luke grinned. Jenna gave him directions to the parking lot and they agreed to meet outside her apartment in about 15 minutes.

…

“Thanks for lunch,” Jenna said as she and Luke headed back to her apartment. Despite her objections he had insisted on paying, like he always did.

“My pleasure,” he smiled.  “So, you’re coming back to my place?”

“Yeah. If you give me a few minutes to get some things together I’ll catch a ride with you.”

“If you’re sure you don’t want to bring your car it sounds good to me.”

“I won’t need it,” she shrugged. “I can catch a ride to work with you, right?”

“No problem,” Luke said with a smile.

“Um, I’m not sure how accessible my apartment is, but I think you’ll be okay in the living room,” Jenna said as they approached her building.

“Don’t worry about it, if I can’t get in I’ll just go get the car while you pack.”

“Yeah, I guess that will work too.” Jenna was embarrassed that her apartment wasn’t accessible, but at the same time she knew it was a bit ridiculous. It wasn’t like she knew she’d be dating a disabled guy when she signed the lease.

“Don’t worry about it, babe. I’m used to not being able to get in to places. I’d like to see your place, but if I can’t get inside it’s not a big deal. I won’t be offended,” Luke said as if he was reading her mind.

…

Luke followed Jenna into her apartment. The front door was a tight squeeze, but he got in and before he could think more about it he found himself in her small living room. He was grateful she didn’t have much furniture. It made it easier to get around the small space in his rather bulky wheelchair. The apartment was run down and in desperate need of an upgrade and the furniture appeared to be old and worn.

“It’s a shit hole, but it’s what I can afford right at the moment,” Jenna said as she tossed her keys on the kitchen counter and leaned against it.

“How much do you pay in rent?” Luke asked without thinking.

“$1,700 a month.”

“For real?” Luke said, disbelief lacing his voice. He couldn’t believe Jenna was paying that kind of money for her crappy apartment.

“Yeah, and believe it or not it was one of the cheaper options in my preferred area.”

“Move in with me instead,” Luke blurted out. He had thought about suggesting it for a while, but he’d decided it was too soon. Seeing Jenna’s apartment and hearing how much she paid in rent changed his mind.

“You want me to move in with you?” Jenna asked, she sounded surprised.

“Yeah. We love each other, right?”

Jenna nodded affirmatively.

“I’ve been thinking about it lately. We love each other and enjoy each others company. Living together makes perfect sense to me, but I understand if you think it’s too soon tho.”

A smile spread across Jenna’s face. “I think it’s a great idea, Luke. I’d love to move in with you.”

TBC…