By the
time Jenna and Luke arrived back at the bungalow it was early afternoon. It was
clear that Luke was tired; as many quadriplegics he had trouble with regulating
his body temperature and spending a lot of time in the sun wasn’t great for him.
Jenna had brought a large umbrella and had attempted to keep him in the shade
as much as possible and Luke had said that the sea breeze helped keep him cool
too. He still felt rather hot when she touched his cheek.
“Are you
okay? You feel a little hot and you look tired.”
“I feel
a bit uncomfortable,” Luke admitted. “And I am tired.”
“Come
into the bathroom. I’ll try to cool you down with a few cold towels. If that
doesn’t work a cold shower might.”
“Sounds
like a plan,” Luke said with a small, tired smile. He followed Jenna into the
bathroom and watched as she filled the sink with cold water and put several small
towels into it. Then she unstrapped the straps across his chest and pulled off
his shirt. When that was done she he
placed a rubber sheet behind his back so the backrest of his wheelchair
wouldn’t get wet and instructed him to recline his chair a bit.
When
Luke was sitting slightly reclined Jenna deftly wrapped a cool towel around his
neck so it was covering his shoulders and upper back, and a second one across
his upper chest. She kept replacing the
cool towels for the next half hour or so, until she felt him getting cooler.
“You
feel like you’ve cooled down,” Jenna stated as she removed what she hoped was
the final towel from Luke’s neck.
“I feel
a lot better now. Thanks, babe. You’re the best.”
“No need
to thank me. I’m just glad you’re feeling better.”
“I’m
still kinda tired and need a nap. A couple of hours in bed in an air
conditioned room sound very tempting right now.”
Jenna
nodded as she dried his damp skin with a soft, fluffy towel and then she
strapped him into the wheelchair again before she headed into the bedroom. Luke adjusted his chair so he was sitting
upright and followed her.
