#personal nurse

“Normally, we don’t allow one of our on-staff nurses to help out with at-home care, but we know that Calvin works full-time, and that you are a mailman.”

“Carrier.” Calvin shot Gardner a look as if to say ‘there’s the Gardner we all know.’

“Regardless. Clearly, this is going to inhibit your ability to do your job properly, so that is where Y/N comes in. She’s already been cleared through your office and ours, so she will be helping you both at home and at work. Obviously, this is covered by insurance, but don’t think of her like that. She’s there to help you and be your friend, too.”

“Um, okay. I guess since you cleared it with my boss.”

“Great. Now, all I need for you to do is take these papers to the front desk, and you are good to go. I’ll see you in eight weeks to remove the cast. Nice meeting you both.”

The doctor made his way out of the room, which left Gardner and Calvin alone with the new face. They were both staring at you in somewhat a state of shock, which made you a little uneasy. But, you had worked with worse clients than two guys who were about your age, so you felt like you could handle them.

“Well, I think you two have clearly had enough of the hospital atmosphere for the day, why don’t we get going so I can make sure you’re situated for the night, Gardner?”

“Okay.”

“Wonderful. Calvin, you can lead the way to the front desk with his paperwork. I’ll push him in his wheelchair behind you.”

Calvin picked up the paperwork and started to make his way to the front. You were left alone with Gardner, and you reached over to help him stand and he retracted himself from you. Physically moved away so you could not touch him. It was as if nothing about the situation had been explained to him.

“Gardner, you do know that I will have to touch you in order to help you, right? You need someone to balance on.”

“I know. I’m just not very good with other people. Especially them touching me.”

“I understand, hon.” You let out an adoring sigh. “But you’re going to have to trust me. Sure, there are certain things you can do without me or with crutches, but sitting and standing, doing your job, those kinds of things are not doable with crutches. If anything, they’ll make you less stable, and you’re not allowed to put weight on the cast.”

“I know,” Gardner practically whined while looking down at the floor. His face pained you, because it was a clear mix of emotions. He was obviously upset with himself for allowing a dumb injury like this to happen, but he was also dealing with an internal battle regarding you. And you did not want him to hate you by the end of this experience – he seemed like a nice guy after all. You dropped the floor in front of the bed where Gardner’s legs were hanging, opting for this method of looking at his face versus grabbing his cheek to avoid crossing a boundary before he gave you the okay.

“Calvin is probably wondering if we got lost on the way to the front, so I think it’s about time we go. Do you trust me, hon?”

Gardner made eye contact with you, shaking a little bit from embarrassment. He nodded his head a little bit, giving you the okay that you needed, and you lightly patted his knee, beaming up at him to show him how proud you were for overcoming that hurdle. You had been informed of Gardner’s condition, and you were not going to push him too far. You just wanted to get him to trust you, and he confirmed that he did. You stood up in your place, and grabbed the folded wheelchair placed next to his bed, opening it for him. Once all the proper motion-locks were in place, you walked back in front of him, extending your arms forward.

“Just pretend like you’re going to hug me and wrap your arms around my neck so I can get my arms underneath yours. That way I can balance you while you turn and sit down using only one leg. Remember to only put weight on the non-broken one.”

Gardner took a deep breath in, and ever so gently, like you were made of glass, placed his arms on your shoulders, hands lightly plopped on the back of your neck. You took most of the initiative and grasped the underside of triceps, the entirety of your arms pressing upward against his, bringing him to stand at his full height, which was much taller than you. Then you carefully instructed him on how to turn around on one foot, and changed the way you grasped his arms when he went to sit on the chair. Once he got himself situated and comfortable, you propped his leg up on the leg rest, unlocked the motion locks, and crossed your arms in front of him, smirking.

“See? That wasn’t so bad. Now the hard part is done until we get to the car. I’ll just push you around from here.”

You went behind him to grab onto the handles of the wheelchair, slowly pushing so as not to move him too harshly at first. You gathered up momentum, and before you knew it, you had caught up to Calvin, who was attempting to score a date with your coworker who was at the front desk.

“Calvin, she’s married, hon.”

“Oh, I-I wasn’t trying… to… yeah.”

You smiled pitifully at him, laughing a little bit, and took Gardner’s discharge papers from his hand. You helped him fill them out before making your way to Calvin’s car. Once there, he looked at you as if waiting for instructions.

“Alright. I will get Gardner in the car with you, and then I will fold up his wheelchair and bring it with me to his place. Once there, I’ll take everything on myself, you won’t have to worry about a thing, Calvin.”

“But what about meals?”

“I’ll always arrive early to cook and stay as late as he wants me to.”

“So, I’m useless in this equation?”

“No, honey. There are just certain things I have to do for Gardner that you aren’t medically qualified to do. If you wanted to cook him breakfast one day, that’s totally fine, I just have to help him get to the kitchen and whatnot. But for now, let’s get Gardner into the car so you two can show me the way to your place.”

With that, you helped Gardner get into the passenger seat of Calvin’s car, instructing them to not leave the parking lot until they saw you drive up to their car. Once you flashed your lights at them, he pulled out of the lot and you made your way to the house. Stepping out of the car and grabbing Gardner’s wheelchair, you noticed the boat parked in front of the house.

“I live on that boat.” Gardner blankly told you once you got him in the wheelchair and started pushing him toward the house.

“You’re joking, right?”

“How do you think he broke his leg?”

“You fell off the boat? Is that why you looked the way you did back at the hospital?”

Gardner’s eyes went wide and he was thankful that you were behind him and you could not see his face and how red it had gotten, embarrassment resurfacing. You could see his shoulders tense up at your question, and you wanted to think of something that might make him feel better about how he got hurt. Then it dawned on you.

“Gardner, hon, I have helped people who have injured themselves in much more embarrassing ways than tripping. Remind me one day to tell you the story about the guy who was having just a little bit too much fun with himself using a plant, of all things. I have some real doozies for you, I promise.”

You could see Gardner’s shoulders slump back to their original posture, and he actually turned around to face you. Still pretty red, but awkwardly smiling, too. It was adorable. Unconsciously, you decided to smile back and ruffle his hair a little bit, a little bit more than stunned when he did not shy away and even smiled a little bit more warmly.

~

After getting Gardner settled in for the night the night before, which was a doozy in and of itself because he did not want to change in front of you, but he was having trouble doing it on his own, you told him that you would be around bright and early to help him get ready before work. He had snuggled down into his bed, and you had ruffled his hair one last time for the night, wishing him a restful sleep. You left Gardner for the first time since you met, and drove home. Gardner, meanwhile, looked down at his leg, a constant reminder of the new presence in his life. The new distraction. He was snapped out of his thoughts when the hatch of the boat flew open, revealing a loud-mouthed Calvin wanting to know what he missed once you two were alone.

“Calvin, nothing happened.”

“Don’t lie to me, brother. I know she had to help you with everything. That means she helped you change. Was it steamy?”

“What?”

“What yourself! You seriously cannot tell me you don’t think Y/N is cute?”

“I don’t distract myself with stuff like that.”

“Well, I for one think she’s just as beautiful as her friend at the hospital. Just, y’know, warn me before she comes in the house. Just in case.”

“Calvin, if I’m in the house, so is she. The only time she won’t be with me is when I’m sleeping. Which I would like to do now. Goodnight, Calvin.”

Calvin shrugged his shoulders and sighed, not understanding how his friend could not even find you the least bit attractive. What Calvin did not know, though, was that Gardner was thinking about you like that. That was part of the reason he looked so embarrassed at the hospital. Sure, most of it was actual embarrassment from how he got hurt, but a little portion of it was insecurity. You were stunning to him, and he never really thought most girls were even cute, and he was just him. He knew there was no hope for him to try anything, considering he was already shy to begin with. He just wanted his leg to get better so he did not have to think about the inevitability of rejection later on.

~

The next morning, you arrived at Gardner’s boat when you had told him you would, and you helped him get ready for work. This mainly involved getting him dressed and making him breakfast while he watched. Toast with butter and jelly. He always had the same thing every morning, and never changed it. Except this time, he told you to make some toast for yourself, too. His way of saying thanks for what you would have to put up with these next few weeks. You had reminded him that it is your job, and you would not do it if you did not want to. Gardner informed you that he always ate his breakfast while he walked to work, and you told him that that was completely fine.

“I can hold your toast so you can push me, if you want.”

“That’s sweet of you, Gardner, but I think I can manage.”

You could see his face flush red when he turned away from you, as if you embarrassed him again. You did not mean to do so, you just stuck the piece of toast between your teeth lightly, and used the hand that was not pushing his wheelchair to run your fingers through his hair. Something you realized calmed him down whenever he got flustered. He admitted to you that no one is allowed to touch him the way that he let you, and you felt a sense of pride. It made you feel warm and fuzzy that a client trusted you that much. Especially one as cute and passionate as Gardner. You had made it to the post office, where you were greeted by his coworkers. You explained the story, thus embarrassing Gardner again. You felt bad each time it happened, but something like this for Gardner is not easily forgotten or gotten over. But he grinned and bared it for you, appreciating your calming demeanor and hands that would stroke his hair anytime you sensed he was overwhelmed. You even did it in front of his coworkers, and even he had to laugh to himself when he saw the looks on their faces. Once Gardner had grabbed his bag and all the mail that was due out for the day, the two of you started his route. You had established while walking over to the post office that you would push him as close to the mailbox of each house as you could. If it was at the door to a house that had some steps, despite breaking postal code, he would just instruct you on how to place everything in the mailbox for the purpose of keeping up with the time he has established these past six years. Despite your legs being marginally shorter than his, you managed to keep up the pace he wanted and you made it back to Calvin’s at the usual time. Something Gardner mentioned in your conversations was that when he got home from work, Calvin would usually be cooking dinner and he would shower away the grime and sweat he accumulated throughout the day. This could possibly be the hardest challenge both you and Gardner would have to face throughout these eight weeks, but if you could get through it once, you could get through it every day. You two had not discussed how this would happen, but you had an idea from previous clients about what the best plan of action would be. You just were not exactly sure how you wanted to bring up the idea to Gardner. You decided on forwardness.

“I was thinking… why don’t I help you sit down on the floor and you can lean back against the bathtub. I’ll wash your hair that way, and then I can move you to be sitting on the ledge of the tub and I’ll give you a sponge bath. Everywhere except the places that would make anyone uncomfortable. Would that work for you?”

Gardner’s breathing had increased tremendously, but he understood why he could not sit in the tub – his cast would get wet and he would just extend the tortuous process of remaining in the cast an extra day.

“Y-yeah.”

Once you and Gardner managed to make your way up the steps, you helped him sit down on the floor by the ledge of the tub. You were about to unbutton his shirt for him, but then you remembered you only needed to do that for the clients you helped that had broken arms. You had to physically stop yourself from grabbing his shirt, and this time it was your face that flushed with color.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. It’s… force of habit.”

“It’s okay. I basically have to get used to it anyway, right? Sponge bath, and all?”

“R-right.”

You let Gardner take off his work shirt while you started running the water. While you continually checked the temperature, you felt his one arm bump you while removing the white tee shirt he wore underneath his uniform shirt. He was going to just toss it to the side like he normally would, but for some reason, he could not let go of it. He lightly toyed with the sleeves while it laid across his stomach. You turned to look at him, realizing that he had gotten redder once his bare chest was out for you to see. He almost seemed insecure about the way he looked, which you felt was endearing. Contrary to how he felt, you though his little tummy was cute, just like the rest of him. You turned back around to check on the water, but ran your hand through his hair, this time tugging lightly. Reassuring him that he had nothing to be embarrassed about. You made a mental note to tell him about the one unruly man you once had to do this for while you washed his hair. When you tugged his hair, you thought you heard him whimper slightly, but pushed it out of your mind because the water had reached the temperature that you wanted. You stood up to unhook the showerhead from the wall, and to grab Gardner’s shampoo and conditioner. You confirmed your suspicions of the whimper, despite all efforts to push it out of your mind, because you felt him whine lightly against your leg when you stood up, as if he missed the close proximity you two were sharing. When you knelt back down, you realized that he had been staring up at you watching all of your motions. You returned to the comfortable spot next to him, smiled sweetly and ran your hand through his hair again, earning you yet another whine. What had gotten into him?

“Alrighty, hon, lean your head back as far as you can without hurting your neck. I’m going to start washing your hair, okay?”

“Okay.”

Gardner leaned his head back, and soon after felt the warm gush of water from the shower soak his auburn locks. You had ceased running your hand through his hair while the water drenched it, and you just watched the water run off the ends of his hair into the tub, as well as the relaxed face he had on. He really looked at peace for the first time since being in the hospital yesterday, and it made you really happy with yourself that you were the one to get him to this point. You were really starting to like this boy, and you hated yourself for it. This was a work companionship, you were not allowed to have feelings for your patients… were you? The more you thought about it, you realized that almost all of your patients were older people, people way out of your age range to date. The few that you had been assigned to that were remotely close to your age were in committed relationships, or people you did not find attractive or had bad personalities. Gardner was none of these. He was kind, shy, right around your age, grounded, and a little quirky – just how you liked your guys. You could not help but wonder about the possibilities. But you had time to daydream another day. The sweetheart relaxing at your side needed to have his hair and body cleaned after a long day of working in the sun. You did, too, but you were not as worried about yourself as you were Gardner in that moment. You carefully laid the showerhead down in the bathtub so as not to have a fountain splashing all over Gardner and Calvin’s bathroom. You squeezed a dollop of Gardner’s shampoo into your hand, rubbed it between your palms and fingers lightly to coat them, and started massaging the liquid onto his head. Immediately the whines returned. But this time, they were not as breathy, or high pitched. They came from a place much deeper in his throat that made them lower in tone and much clearer to the ear. No longer whines, but moans. Quiet, but moans nonetheless. That did not stop you. You realized that the way you normally ruffled his hair would not cut for cleaning it, and he seemed to like the light tugging you did when you ran your hand through his hair to calm him down, so you figured working that into this would not be all that bad of an idea. Each time you ran your fingers through his hair, you tugged lightly at the thickest point and then massaged his scalp lightly. You looked down at his face for a split second, and the boy looked like he was completely in heaven, blissed out beyond comprehension. It almost looked like the face he would make while in a state of ecstasy, not that you minded his expression. You smiled, and moved your eyes back to his hair. Once you felt that his hair had been properly cleaned, you rinsed your hands in the water that had accumulated in the bottom of the tub, and proceeded to pick up the showerhead to rinse out the suds.

“There was this one time I had to work with this guy who had broken his dominant arm.” You spoke at a whisper, earning Gardner’s hazel eyes flittering in your direction. “I had to do just what I am doing for you, except that I don’t mind doing this for you. This guy was… disgusting, frankly.” Gardner chuckled, but it was cut short when you ran your fingers through his hair again to make sure the water ran over each and every strand. “He was unruly, and just not a clean guy. I was so happy that he had his other arm to clean his body. I don’t know if I would have ever recovered from washing him. His hair was enough – matted and curly. If it would have been properly taken care of, I’m sure his hair would have been gorgeous. Except he didn’t and it was always greasy and looked like a bird’s nest.”

“Why are you telling me this story?”

“Because I saw the way you toyed with your shirt when you first took it off. Like you were nervous to not wear a shirt in front of me. I need you to know that you are the last person who should worry about that.”

“Why?”

Shit. You backed yourself into a corner. What would you tell him? That you thought his body was cute, especially his tummy? That he was clearly the last person who needed to worry about his weight since he walked like ten miles a day and looked healthy? You decided to just be forward with him again. It worked last time, so who is to say it would not work again?

“Honestly? You’re just really cute, Gardner. Everything about you.”

Gardner could feel his face flush, and not from the hot water running through his hair, sense that his pupils dilated, and that his heart was beating loud enough to hear it in his ears, but for once he did not turn away. He faced the compliment head on, hoping that you would appreciate the braveness.

“Ditto.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Ditto. Calvin taught that word to me. It means ‘I feel the same about you.’ I don’t think it’s an actual word though.”

Had Gardner just called you cute? Everything about you cute? Well, you’ll be damned, maybe this could go somewhere once he was better and no longer in your care. You repeated the process from moments ago with Gardner’s conditioner, earning a few more whines and groans from your new favorite mail carrier. Once his hair had been thoroughly cleaned, you turned the water off from the showerhead and let it flow freely from the spicket. You placed a hand on the back of Gardner’s neck to brace it for the initial stiffness it would surely feel from hanging over the edge of the tub like that for a while. Once his head was up, you lifted him up to sit on the edge of the tub. He stared at you with half-lidded eyes, looking sleepy, while you grabbed a small towel to rub on his head. His legs were spread apart lightly, so you stood in between them, his eyes level with your chest, but that was not where he was looking. His eyes peered right up at yours, shining like all of the galaxy’s stars were within them. You had placed the towel on his head and started to massage the towel around, gathering up the water that would drip down his back so he would not get the shivers. He simply watched you focus, adoring the way that your eyes squinted a little bit and you pulled your lips in upon one another. Once you felt that his hair was dry enough, you removed the towel from his head, laid it across the back of his neck, and pulled lightly on either end, bringing his head the slightest bit closer to your body. You smiled down at him, pleased with how sleepy you were making the boy look.

“Feel good, hon?”

“Mhm.”

“Good. I realized that there isn’t a real need for me to give you a sponge bath when you have the use of both of your arms, so I can leave while you do that and sit –”

“Would you still do it?”

“What?”

“I was… kind of looking forward it. You have a very relaxing touch, Y/N.”

“Oh, um, sure. Just let me know if I get to a spot that makes you uncomfortable, okay, hon?”

“Mhm.”

You told Gardner you would help him stand so he could remove his uniform shorts, and then he could sit back down in just his underwear. Giving you access to everywhere you needed to clean him. You walked over to the linen closet and grabbed a plush washcloth, and picked out the soap that Gardner liked to use, wetting both under the hot water. Then began the part that was sending both of you into overdrive. You had to wet his body before applying the soapy water to it, so you just went for it. Starting at his shoulders, you lightly rubbed the washcloth down his arms, and came back up to his chest. Slowly you made your way down his entire torso, stopping about five inches above the hem of his underwear, to avoid making his boxers wet and to make him uncomfortable. Then you added the soap to the mix and lightly scrubbed his skin to get off any grime that accumulated over the course of his shift, despite you doing most of the walking. His eyes continued to glare at you, but in the most loving and sleepy of ways. You rinsed off the soap from his body and he made a motion as if he was going to try to stand, thinking you were finished. You pushed him down by the shoulders, earning a sharp intake of breath from him, and now wide-eyes. Still sparkling with all the stars in the night sky, though. You proceeded to wring the washcloth of its dirty components, running fresh water over it. Then you kneeled down, still in between his legs, and brought his face down to look at your own. The next thing Gardner knew was he felt the damp cloth all over his face, gently stroking to open up his pores to clean the delicate skin of his face. His face had already been red, but the close proximity and the fact that the washcloth was hot made it worse. He did not mind, though. He just continued to watch the look of concentration on your face, until he was snapped out of it.

“Close your eyes, sweetheart, don’t wanna get soap in them.”

Gardner did as he was told, and let the suds run down his face, reveling in the feeling of you washing them away and patting his face like you were telling him he was your good boy. Once all the soap had been properly rinsed off, you grabbed the larger bath towel and began to dry off Gardner’s body. You left his face last again, and when you got to that point, you unknowingly had inched closer on the floor to him, so that when you removed the towel from his face, your face was a mere few inches from his. You both stopped breathing momentarily, not realizing how close you really were. Gardner then lightened the mood by flashing a dorky smile at you.

“Thank you, that felt really good. I hope that wasn’t weird of me to have you do that.”

“Oh, no, honey, not at all. It was my pleasure.”

“You’re really good to me.”

“All part of the job, lovebug.”

The nicknames you continually gave Gardner were a habit of yours with practically everyone you met. Honey, hon, and sweetheart were you go-to’s, so where the hell did lovebug come from?

~

Calvin had written a note that told you that dinner had been done for a while, and he had plans to go out that night, so he put portions for each of you in the refrigerator. You did not mind, and Gardner suggested that you eat in his boat so you two can tell each other work stories. You loved the idea, so you wheeled Gardner outside to the boat and carefully got him inside using his crutches. Once you got him situated at the small table inside, you told him that you would be back in ten minutes with dinner for two, courtesy of Calvin. You ruffled his now almost completely dry hair one more time and made a beeline for the kitchen, where you were pleasantly surprised to find some homemade pizza slices. While you were heating up your dinner, Gardner noticed a note on the table of the boat, left by Calvin.

“G, I heard you making those sweet sounds in the bathroom. I told you I knew you thought she was cute. Make a move, brother! -C”

Gardner flushed with embarrassment, ripping the note to shreds so that you would never see it, despite the fact that one could argue actually hearing the sounds he made was worse than reading the note. It did not matter. He had to just think of you as his nurse. Nothing more. despite how hard that was becoming. As if on cue, he heard the hatch of the boat open and the smell of fresh, warm pizza entered the boat.

“Ready to eat and gossip, Gardner?”

“Yes ma’am.”

While the two of you ate your dinner, you told Gardner a bunch of stories relating to all the quirky patients you encountered through the years, including the man with the pleasurable plant. It made Gardner laugh so hard that he almost choked on his pizza, earning even harder laughs from both of you when he could breath properly again. Gardner told you the small bits of gossip about the people on his route that he could gather from their mail, and showed you his stamp collection. You hung on to every single word he said about it, which made the feelings he was trying to subdue hit him full force on the head, because no one ever really cared about his stamps. Not before you. Before you knew it, it was almost time for you to ‘clock-out,’ so to speak, from helping Gardner for the day. You took everything back into the kitchen and washed the few dishes really quick to help Calvin out, then made your way back to the boat. You half expected sleepy Gardner to make a full return and him already be passed out by the time that you got back, but to your surprise, he was sitting straight up against the makeshift headboard, which was really just a wall, of his bed. Looking like he was thinking hard about something.

“Lovebug, you oka—”

“Would you spend the night?”

You were positive your jaw hit the floor.

“Sorry, I’m sorry. That was… completely uncalled for. You can leave, I’m good. I can make it to the bathroom on my own and –”

“If you want me to stay the night, I will.”

“Really?”

“Mhm. I might just need to borrow your clothes, and I would need to run home and grab some stuff. I only live a few blocks over, wouldn’t take more than fifteen minutes.”

“Can I ride with you?”

“You sure can, hon. C’mon…”

You lugged Gardner in his pajamas back outside and into your car, and he waited patiently while you gathered what you needed. Once you were back in the boat, you helped Gardner settle back into bed, while you got ready for the night. Despite going home, you were insistent that the least he could do was let you borrow one of his old tee shirts, so you would have less laundry to do the next day. He did not mind, and tossed you an older, worn shirt. You crawled into bed with him, not even considering the couch as an option, and laid down right beside your boy, eyes fluttering shut at the warmth spreading throughout the bed.

“Y/N?”

“Yes, hon?”

“Can you make me a promise?”

“Depends. What’s the promise?”

“That once this cast is off we can still be friends. Hang out like this.”

“Gardner?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll make a vow to remain this close to you for the rest of my life.”

~

Eight weeks had flown by, each day following the same pattern, just the way Gardner liked to live his life. Back at the hospital, Gardner had his final x-ray and was allowed to have his cast removed. He made sure that you were present, because frankly, the little saw scared him. But all went well, and you helped Gardner stand for the first time on his noodley leg. It had lost most of the muscle from all the walking he did, but the doctor reminded him that it would come right back as he continued to use it. He remembered the vow you made him, and as you were walking him and Calvin back to their car, he had a smug face adorning his features.

“Why so giddy, lovebug?”

“I think my leg is going to be pretty weak for the first couple days, and the doctor told me you don’t work tomorrow.”

You could see where he was going with this, and you were completely fine with it.

“Seeing as that you are no longer my personal nurse, I would love to know if you would care to join me on my route tomorrow, Y/N?”

“I did make a vow, didn’t I?”

“One I plan on making you keep one way or another.”

“It’s a date, Gardner.”

Meanwhile, Calvin was staring at you two with the happiest of expressions, which quickly turned sour.

“Hey! Why can Gardner get the girl but I can’t? Hmpf. Well, at least you two are sickeningly cute.”

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