When that Saturday came, Ronnie was awake with the sun, visions of making love to Rose over and over dancing in her mind. It was a particularly lively image that she focused on as she slipped out of bed and sauntered off to the bathroom.
“Oh, Son of a bitch!” The shouted exclamation woke Rose from her sleep.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Another muffled curse, then the sound of water running.
“Ronnie?” Rose picked up her crutches and made her way to the bathroom. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” Ronnie answered from the other side of the door. Her underwear ended up in the sink with water running over them. She cleaned herself up then opened the door. “Guess what I got?” she said as she walked past, treating Rose to the sight of firm cheeks wiggling below the gray Tshirt.
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope.” She jerked a clean pair of panties out of the drawer and pulled them on. “Talk about lousy timing.” She leaned over and gave Rose a quick kiss. “But you should be done,” she whispered in a husky voice, her hands slipping under the hem of the Dartmouth shirt in search of twin mounds. The young woman backed out of reach.
“Wait a minute there, Missy…I couldn’t touch you when I had mine.”
“B-but…” The executive pouted, realizing where the conversation was headed…and she wasn’t.
“Rose…you know that just because you can’t touch me that doesn’t mean…”
“Don’t even think about trying that. It didn’t work when I tried it, remember?” The young woman’s eyes took in the athletic body before her and sighed. “I was looking forward to it too, you know.”
“But…but…” Ronnie was silenced by Rose’s fingers against her lips.
“I hope you get over it quickly, darling,” the young woman cooed. “Maybe next month you’ll reconsider when I want to touch you.”
Rose wished Ronnie could be in the room with her when Doctor Barnes removed the cast but an important meeting forced the executive to stay at work while Maria drove the young woman to the appointment. The small reciprocating saw sliced through the plaster, ticking her in the process. “Just a little more,” the doctor said. The saw was set down and a pair of scissors cut through the cotton and released the cast’s hold on Rose’s leg. The first thing she saw when looking down at her leg were the long strands of blonde hair sticking out past dried, flaky skin. She wiggled her toes, frowning at the tinge of pain that went through her ankle. She had been doing it for several weeks and the response had always been the same yet Rose had somehow believed that when the cast came off the pain would go away. After all, it didn’t take that long for her right leg to heal up and take her weight. “When can I start walking on it?” She flexed her foot, hissing at the agony it caused.
“I’m afraid walking isn’t something that’s going to happen for a while yet, Miss Grayson.”
“But…” She looked at the physician fearfully. “You said no more casts.”
“That’s right, no more casts,” the physician reassured. “But your ankle suffered a great deal of trauma and it hasn’t healed as well as I had hoped. It can’t be left unsupported. You’ll need a brace.” She crossed the room and retrieved one from the drawer. Dark blue canvas covered flat metal rods and Velcro straps held everything together. Rose looked at the object with disdain. It represented the crushing of her hope and yet another reminder of the accident. She listened quietly as the doctor explained the need for physical therapy and stressed that the ankle was too weak to support any weight yet and a dozen other things that Rose did not want to hear. Her only consolation was that she could remove it to take baths. As much as the blonde woman had been looking forward to soaking in a hot tub of water, it seemed insignificant now.
Maria’s attempts to get her to talk on the way home were met with mumbled answers or silence. Once inside, Rose announced she was tired and retreated to her room. Hoping against hope that the doctor was wrong, she set her crutches against the wall and let her left foot rest against the ground. There was a twinge of pain but nothing she could not live with. She leaned forward, putting more weight on the tender ankle. Blinding pain shot through her and she collapsed onto the floor. The pain was the catalyst as the tear ducts opened and her breath came out in wracking sobs. Maria came in and helped her into the bed where Rose quickly cried herself to sleep.
Ronnie entered a short time later, having been called home by the worried housekeeper. It took only a brief explanation of what happened at the doctor’s office for the executive to realize why her lover was so upset. Rose had been excited at breakfast about the prospect of having the cast gone completely. Drawn into the young woman’s good mood, Ronnie never gave any thought to the possibility that they might replace the cast with a brace. In fact, she had been more focused on the knowledge that her period was finally over and after a week and a half she would finally be able to make love to Rose again. Now looking at puffy eyes and the telltale wet spot on the pillow, she felt a sliver of guilt. All amorous thoughts far from her mind, Ronnie kicked her shoes off and climbed into bed beside her lover.
Rose felt a gentle rubbing on her shoulders as consciousness returned. She inhaled the scent of Ronnie’s perfume and smiled, knowing her beloved was there with her. She rolled over and winced at the pain in her ankle. “Hi.”
“Hi yourself,” Ronnie replied. Her brow was furrowed with concern. “Did they give you anything for the pain?”
“More Percocet,” she shrugged, her tone low. “I can take a bath now but not much else.” She let herself be drawn against the taller woman and buried her face into the silk blouse. “I still have to use the damn crutches.” She snuggled closer, her fingertips tracing the outline of Ronnie’s bra. “I tried to put weight on it,” she admitted. “But it hurt too much.” Her legs shifted against each other. “And now it itches.” Ronnie nodded, remembering when Rose’s right cast was removed.
“Anyway,” Rose continued. “How was Laura’s final day?”
“Good. She loved her going away slash baby shower party.”
“Good, I’m glad she enjoyed it. Sorry I wasn’t up to coming.”
“Shh, she understood. She loved the baby outfits and blankets, by the way.” Ronnie’s knuckles brushed against the softness of Rose’s cheek. “But right now I don’t want to talk about her. You’ve had a pretty rough day of it. Look, your cast is off and she said you could take baths now, right?”
“Right…”
“So how about we let Maria go home early today and you and I take advantage of that obscenely large tub I have upstairs, hmm?” Sensing Rose’s hesitation, she added, “I have a full bottle of bubble bath just waiting for you. If you’re a good girl I might even be convinced to join you.”
“Are you done with…?” Ronnie’s eyes twinkled with mischief as she nodded. Rose gulped.