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Chapter 4

Annie felt slightly liberated as they strolled back to the hotel. She had lost the frustrated feelings of the day before and hadn’t thought about the inconvenience of the morning, but had instead enjoyed her bizarre experience. As a result she had a change of heart about Nate’s plans for the rest of the day.

“I was thinking about the spa, it sounds like a nice idea.”

“Good, I was hoping that you might, you are here to relax after all.”

“I don’t have a bathing suit though,” she commented.

“Yes you do, I have that sorted,” Nate grinned at her from over her shoulder. Leaning in, he gave her a kiss and felt her reciprocate.

After lunch, Nate and Annie went to the pool. They were both dressed for the occasion, with swim gear on under their hotel robes. Nate had on the slippers as well, though they had left Annie’s feet bare. They went down to the spa reception and checked there was a hoist for the pool, which the woman on the desk confirmed there was.

“The changing areas are separate though and the way into the pool is through the changing rooms. Will you need some assistance Ma’am?”

“Yes please. Just to get to the pool, I’ll get a shower back in the room later.”

“Just a moment, I’ll get someone to take you through,” the woman replied, getting on the walkie-talkie.

Moments later a female lifeguard strolled out of the ladies changing room in traditional red and yellow with flip-flops on her feet. Nate explained that she just needed to push the chair through but to be careful as Annie had no control of her body if she hit anything. The lifeguard was especially careful as a result, clearly not wanting to be responsible for tipping her charge from the wheelchair. It was just a minute later that they emerged out of the poolside door and met up with Nate again. This time it was Annie giving the thanks for the help.

The pool was empty apart from one middle-aged lady swimming laps in the lane marked off for that purpose. The rest of the pool was empty. The hoist was prepared by the lifeguard while Nate helped disrobe Annie. He had already emptied her leg bag and removed the diaper in their room, but the leg bag was still strapped to her calf and the catheter tube remained clearly visible. She flushed a little as it was revealed, though she remained relieved that he had packed a swimsuit rather than a bikini for her. Lifting her from chair to hoist, Nate was careful to use the harness provided, then he dropped into the water as the lifeguard gingerly lowered Annie to meet him.

Annie was very nervous as her feet entered the water. She imagined sinking like a stone and not being able to fight her way back to the surface, however she needn’t have worried. The moment her legs hit the water, they began to float. Nate asked the lifeguard to halt the hoist as the water hit Annie’s hips. Slipping a long buoyant tube under her knees, Annie’s knees bobbed in and out of the water. Nate undid the harness and asked the guard to continue to lower the hoist. Eventually, with the water at her ribs, Nate tugged her body free from the hoist and held under her shoulders. Annie watched her arms just float out to the sides away from her body, as Nate put another tube float under the small of her back and a final one under her arms. She was now fully buoyant without his help, and she simply bobbed a little under the influence of the ripples from his motion in the water. It felt heavenly and she was so relaxed, she just let herself forget any stress or tension that had existed in her life until then. It was the most liberating experience she had ever had after feeling like a dead weight for almost twenty four hours, she felt light as a feather now.

They spent over an hour floating around. Nate spent every moment right there with her, despite the floats, he was still worried that she might go under the water and not be able to do anything about it. He tickled her feet which drove her insane with giggles as she had no escape, leaving her begging for mercy. One or two guests came and went during that time and watched in surprise at the pair, not quite sure what to make of them. One glace at the wheelchair was enough to make it obvious who it belonged to. Annie wasn’t thinking about anyone else for a change though, she was simply existing in an imaginary world that despite her fears the night before was turning out to be quite pleasurable.

Eventually Nate checked her fingers and his own. Holding her hand up so she could see, he wrinkled his nose. “We’re both all pruney,” he smiled. “Time to get out?”

“Shame, it’s lovely in here, but I suppose you’re right.”

Nate caught the lifeguard’s attention and waved her over. She immediately went to the hoist and lowered it into the water to reverse the earlier process. Annie was pulled into the seat using the water to support her still. Once there Nate pulled out the floats, one by one and fastened the harness over her, leaving her limp arms folded in her lap. The hoist was then raised and swung over to the waiting wheelchair as Nate quickly pushed out of the side of the pool. He lined the seat of the wheelchair with the towels he had picked up earlier and then lay Annie’s robe on top of them, so the wheelchair seat would stay dry. It was harder to get Annie back in the chair as she was wet and slippery. When he picked her up, both arms fell loose and made it more awkward until he had her seated again. The lifeguard hovered around, not sure whether to help or not, deciding eventually to help lift Annie’s feet in place while Nate tried to wrestle her arms into the sleeves of the robe. Eventually he managed, with a lot of tugging and pulling, and Annie, feeling like a rag doll, laughed at his repeated curses every time her errant arm got caught up the material of the sleeve. He realised that threading his arm up the sleeve to pull hers through was a much better idea and having done that the other was soon sorted, leaving him to secure her arms on the rests and fasten the chest strap.

They left the pool behind and back in their room, Nate got Annie showered and in bed for a lie down while he had his own shower and once dressed himself, he set about helping her get ready for dinner. As they were going to eat in the restaurant, Annie insisted he help her not only dress, but sort her hair and make-up as well. She had a simple but elegant black dress which proved relatively easy to get on as it was made from slightly stretchy fabric. Once it was on, Nate cradled her in his arms and lay her gently in the seat of the wheelchair. He pushed the chair to the vanity so he could help her with her hair.

“You’re going to have to give me some tips here, I’m not used to dealing with hair,” he laughed at his own close cropped fair hair. “I don’t suppose a comb through is going to cut it with you?”

“Hardly,” she snorted. “Brush it out first,” she told him. “Be careful not to yank too hard or you’ll pull my head off!”

He fiddled with the headrest on the chair and eventually got it to come off altogether so he could get to the back of her head comfortably. The long silken strands were still damp and wavy from the shower, but at least smelled of shampoo instead of chlorine from the pool now. He took her round bristle brush and swept long pulls through her shoulder length blond locks. When he was done he looked for the hair dryer in a drawer and found the switch. Annie told him how to use the dryer to make sure the roots were dry first then to brush out as he dried the rest. It wasn’t rocket science and he soon got the hang of it. When it was dry, he looked expectantly as though there was something else important that needed doing but she asked him to fasten it back with an elastic hair band away from her face. Normally she would have left it loose for dinner, but the thought of not being able to tuck it behind her ear when she felt like it, would be too annoying. He fiddled around with the band and she was unhappy with his first attempt, so he undid it, brushed her hair out again and then tried a second, successful time.

He coped well with her foundation, but the blusher and lipstick proved more tricky and he used way too much, so both required a second attempt as well. Annie, was vaguely amused at the stress Nate went through to get them right, and laughed constantly at his efforts. She even told him he left her looking like a prostitute at one point, the blusher was so thick. She decided that the light skim was enough and mascara was just too risky so she went without anything else. The pale blush on her cheeks and lipstick gave her face a bit of a lift and she thought she looked respectable at least now. There was no need for a purse as she wouldn’t be using it, but she insisted on shoes. The only suitable ones to go with her dress were the black pumps she had worn from work on Friday. Nate put them on, but when he sat her feet on the rest, her ankles fell sideways and they looked awful. He tried to adjust her legs and feet to make them sit right, but the same thing happened again; the weight of her legs pushing down on unresisting ankles just made them fall to the side. Standing and thinking for a moment, Nate wondered if he could strap her ankles in somehow, but that wouldn’t look great either. He tried to adjust the footplates and found he could raise and lower them. He played around for a moment with different lengths and found which looked the best, then matched the other side, finally pushing Annie to the mirror so she could check them. She seemed happier with them now, though the heels dropped off the rear of the rest, pushing her toes up a bit so they still looked a little unnatural, but at least sat side-by-side. The headrest was reattached and the chest strap fastened, her hands and fingers stretched out to sit neatly on the pads and she was ready at last. Nate added his tie and jacket, before pushing Annie out the door and making their way to the elevator.

The restaurant was busy without being packed. A pianist played a mellow jazz song in the corner of the room, adding a calmness to the gentle buzz of quiet conversation. As they approached the greeter, Nate gave his name for the booking. The greeter looked at Annie and asked where she would like to sit. Unable to point, Annie nodded towards a table by the window which looked out over the grounds and the lake in the distance. Nate pushed Annie over following the greeter, who discreetly removed the unnecessary chair and allowed him to park her next to him. The waiter left two menus, but Annie’s remained untouched on the table. They looked at the wine list and decided on a bottle of rose. The menu was eclectic, what you would expect of a large hotel and Nate read the list to Annie. She decided on a salad followed by salmon and he went for soup and steak for his main course. Their waiter arrived and they gave their order. Annie had been positioned facing the window, with her back to the room. Although she was feeling less nervous about this than she would have been earlier that day, she was still relieved that she didn’t have to face the room when she was being fed.

The waiter returned shortly with their wine and poured a little for Nate to taste. He nodded for the waiter to go ahead and pour it for the both of them. They relaxed and enjoyed the view, laughed about their encounter with Timmy, the dog and waxed lyrical about the lovely hotel. Annie once again, was lost in a state of relaxation when she thought about their time at the pool. Their time together so far was the longest uninterrupted by Annie’s incessant work ethic and had done much to bring them closer together in an intimate way.

Dinner was very pleasant and Annie had found it far less intimidating that she had anticipated. She knew of course that other guests were staring at her from time to time, but instead of worrying, she became a little exhibitionist about the whole thing. The wine, being drunk through a straw, went down quicker than Annie realised, and maybe it was the Dutch courage, but she found herself talking in a very animated way, even joking with the waiter about signing the check at the end of the meal with a pen in her teeth. Nate laughed at the waiter who had almost fallen for her joke, before taking the check and scribbling his illegible scrawl of a signature. “Even I could sign better than that with the pen in my teeth,” Annie laughed as she saw the typically bad doctors handwriting. “Do they give you bad handwriting lessons in medical school?”

Even the waiter was laughing now.

They finished their coffee slowly and watched the lights shimmer on the lake, with Annie’s hand securely in Nate’s as he stroked it with his thumb. His other hand over the skin of her upper arm in light caresses. They sat and talked until it was after ten o’clock. Annie turned her head as far as she could to look at the other diners. She was aware of a few people turning away, having been caught staring at her. The only time she could ever remember being the centre of attention this way was when she was in court.