“What—”
“It would be good for you to drink some water so you won’t get dehydrated while you can’t have your IV. This will help you not spill and not drink too fast. Hopefully that will help your tummy not get upset.”
Oh. Well, that made sense. And if she was being honest, she liked the bright colors and the fun print on the cup. And the sippy didn’t feel bad in her mouth when she tipped it back to take a drink. She supposed it made sense that the opening was small so it wouldn’t spill even if the cup got dropped but it also meant she had to suck as she held the little handles on either side of the colorful plastic.
“That’s a good girl. And that’s probably enough for now. You can take more sips in between getting ready, okay?”
She nodded, slipping into a space where it was easy to do what Eric told her to.
Her whole life, people had praised Devaney for being smart which was great. She had a master’s degree in consumer psychology to show for it. But she’d never been great at life. Mortgages and insurance and taxes and all those grown-up things had always been struggles—being a mom had come pretty easily though.
Not that the boys didn’t give her a run for her money every day but caring for Logan and Chase had never stressed her out the same way figuring out retirement accounts or reading her apartment lease or dealing with lawyers or contractors had.
She didn’t love cleaning but she kept a tidy house and she really did enjoy cooking. Didn’t even mind carpool duties and managing everyone’s calendars and yet the things she did take care of never seemed to come up.
Carter had always been angry at her for everything she struggled with—You’re an intelligent woman, Dev, why the fuck don’t you understand this? For god’s sake, do I have to do everything around here? Seriously, I have to deal with this too? You’re so goddamn useless.
But Eric didn’t seem to mind helping her, at least not for now.
She turned her head as he slipped the IV needle from her forearm and covered it gently with a band-aid—one that had unicorns on it and it made her smile.
“Take another sip, Devy,” he said, handing her the sippy cup back and she obeyed, handing it back to him after she was done.
“Did you go potty in your diaper overnight?”
Ugh, she’d forgotten that she was wearing a diaper. How mortifying.
“Um, I don’t think so?”
“Then it’s a good idea to take care of that before getting you changed.”
He put a large, warm hand low on her belly and pressed firmly but gently and she gasped as she felt the sudden urge to go to the bathroom.
“I—I have to go!” she whispered urgently, trying to hold back because she couldn’t, justcouldn’t, wet adiaper.
But Eric put his other hand on her shoulder and held her down while pressing harder on her belly. “I know you do. So be a good girl for me and let go. Come on, Devy baby. Just relax. You know you’ll feel better if you relax.”
It was too much to fight against. Between how crappy she felt and the firm pressure holding her down and on her bladder, her resistance crumbled and she did as she was told and let go.
She’d changed what seemed like a million diapers between Chase and Logan but she certainly didn’t remember using them herself. But there was something not entirely awful about the wet warmth between her legs and the way she’d been forced into doing it. Especially the way Eric petted and praised her, peeled her hands away from her eyes because she’d buried her face in her palms.
“There’s my good girl, using her diaper the way she’s supposed to. Doesn’t that feel better?”
Unfortunately for her pride, it really did so she nodded and Eric beamed at her. He had such a nice smile, the way his eyes creased at the corners and his full lips spread to reveal his straight, white teeth. She’d never felt someone’s approval as viscerally as she felt his and it made her squirmy and warm in the best way.
He gave her a little more water and made quick work of her diaper while she drank. She actually missed the softness cushioning her bottom when it wasn’t there anymore—it made her feel more naked than she did when she took her panties off.
What also made her feel naked was the way Eric flattened the bed and rolled her face-down onto the wedge to take her temperature again. Her face flamed as he snapped on gloves, lubed up her bottom and pushed the thick tube of glass inside her but she didn’t protest. Didn’t protest either as he “fed” her again, pushing two more doses of the nutrition solution through the large syringe and into her rectum, or when he finished with another two suppositories.
She couldn’t remember if they’d made her feel better last night, but she had fallen asleep quickly. Although sometimes her migraines hurt so bad she had trouble falling asleep so maybe the medicine had worked? At least it didn’t make her throw up like pills sometimes did.
After he’d had her rest for a few minutes, he scooped her up and carried her into the attached bathroom and set her on her feet so he could untie her flimsy gown.
“We only have time for a shower this morning, but next time I’ll give you a bath,” he told her, and then pressed a kiss to the crest of her shoulder. “Do you need to wash your hair or just brush it out?”
“Just brush,” she said absently as his arms circled her waist and he continued to sweetly attention her neck with soft, lingering kisses. Those were nice. Very nice.
And because the man seemed to think of everything, Eric pulled a shower cap from under the sink and twisted up her hair before tucking it under the cap and urging her into the shower.
It was tiled in pure white walls with gleaming chrome fixtures, and grey-blue tiles on the floor that were definitely prettier than your usual institutional shower but somehow didn’t feel like something you’d find in a home. Made this all feel more clinical in a way Devaney found she didn’t entirely mind.
She was Eric’s special patient, of course he would take care of her. Why wouldn’t he soap her up from head to toe and rinse her off with the hand-held shower head?
And when she got out, obviously he’d brush her hair and plait it into a loose braid that didn’t put any extra strain on her scalp. It seemed natural, too, for him to brush her teeth and smooth moisturizer into her skin and help her get dressed as well.
When she’d woken up this morning, she thought he’d been a dream. She pinched herself on the underside of her wrist just to make sure she really was awake, and felt the sharp sting of pain, then looked up to see Eric smiling at her gently in the mirror.
“Okay, baby. Time to go get those boys to school. Can’t have them being late.”