“Easy now,” Mrs. Miller whispered. “You took quite a knock to your face.”
Sam tried to open her eyes, but they weren’t cooperating with her. She cursed inwardly, the pain in her jaw too much to bear. She wanted so badly to be out cold again so she didn’t have to deal with it. At that point, she decided, with no small amount of disdain, that it would be the last time she went chasing rams around for a bit of sport.
A few slow moments passed, and finally, she managed to peel her eyes open. Everything was blurry at first. The light in the room hurt, but, eventually, things started to come into focus.
She was back in her room, lying on the bed. Mrs. Miller was sitting next to her holding an ice pack to her jaw. Daniel stood next to his mother. He had his head bowed, holding his chin in his hand and was sheepishly looking at her through his eyelashes. His brows were pinched, distress apparent all over his face.
“It doesn’t look like your jaw is broken and I couldn’t see any broken or missing teeth,” Mrs. Miller explained. “But you did split your lip, so that’s going to smart for a while.”
That’s comforting, Sam thought sarcastically, Daniel’s mum has been poking around in my mouth, no doubt right in front of her son. I bet that was pretty. Then she swiftly reprimanded herself. Why should she care what she looked like? She’d just been knocked out by a ram, her jaw hurt like a son of bitch, her lip was split and she was worried about what she looked like. Sam, you really have to sort out your priorities, she told herself sternly.
“Here, you can take some pain pills now; this should ease it a bit.” Mrs. Miller said, lifting Sam’s head up and popping them in her mouth.
Sam tried to sip some water, but most of it ran out the corner of her mouth and onto the pillow. She wished the bed would swallow her up. She must look horrific, and there stood Daniel, watching avidly. He did look worried though, she gave him that.
There was a noise from the front deck. The front door had just squeaked open, then clunked as it closed. Mrs. Miller looked up and her face flushed with anger. She turned back to her patient.
“I’ve told Daniel what to do. He’ll look after you tonight. I have some other business to take care of.”
Sam smiled with a wince. “Thank you,” she spluttered.
“No worries, my dear. You’ll be right as rain in no time,” Daniel’s mum replied with a warm smile, patting Sam on the shoulder as she stood up.
Sam watched as the portly woman walked to the door and closed it quietly behind her, then heard a bellow down the hall. “Paul Miller! I want a word with you!” Her prominent footsteps stomped off in the direction of the kitchen.
“I’m glad I’m not on the receiving end of that.” Sam whispered when Daniel sat next to her. She attempted another smile but winced again and gave up.
Daniel looked at the door his mother had just exited through. “Me, too,” he mused before turning back to face his charge. “Sam, I’m so sorry,” Daniel muttered.
“About what?”
“I should never have let you go in that pen. This is all my fault.”
“Don’t be daft,” she mumbled, trying to move her jaw as little as possible. “Your dad asked me to go in that pen, not you.”
“That’s no excuse. I should have said something.” He dropped his gaze to the bed sheets.
“Hey, don’t beat yourself up about it. I’m not blaming you.”
He looked slightly more relieved for hearing that.
“I bet I look like something the dog dragged in, don’t I?” she asked hoping he wouldn’t agree with her.
“Sam, you could be covered head to toe in bruises, and I would still think you looked beautiful,” he whispered while gently stroking the hair off her forehead and leaving his cool hand there. Sam closed her eyes for a moment; the coolness felt so good.
After a while, she looked up into his beautiful blue eyes, so full of kindness. No man had ever looked at her like that. At that moment, she felt cared about for the first time in her life, and the feeling was overwhelming.
The only experience she had ever had with a man, was to be treated with contempt. Humiliated at every available opportunity, and, eventually used for his enjoyment. By the time she realized what she was allowing to happen, and after ending the torment, the damage had been done. At this point, she seriously doubted if it could ever be repaired.
Quite unexpectedly, big fat tears started leaking from her eyes and continued rolling down her cheeks. She tried so hard to stop them, but it was too late. The floodgates were open, and there was nothing she could do about it.
“Sam, what’s wrong?” Daniel asked. His voice mirroring the pain she was feeling. “Apart from the fact you went ten rounds with a sheep,” he added.
“Please don’t,” she whimpered.
“Don’t what?”
Sobs wracked her body. She tried to turn away from him, but that would mean lying on the injured side of her face. She soon realized that was not going to happen. She had no choice except to lie there and look at him.
“Sam?” he whispered, “Don’t what?”
“Be so nice to me. I don’t deserve it.”
She was feeling sorry for herself. Right then, she didn’t think he could have said anything to make her feel better, so the tears kept coming.
“I’ve done nothing but push you away ever since I met you, and you just keep coming back for more…” she paused. “Why do you do that?”
“Think about it, Sam,” he replied. “You honestly can’t answer that question for yourself?”
She stopped crying for a moment and looked at him.
“You know your eyes go the most incredible shade of blue when you cry.” he whispered.
She frowned, and then smiled. “You think so?”
He nodded.
Sam smiled again.
“That’s better,” he said with relief.
Sam tried to sit up, but when she got half way, it felt like some invisible entity had shoved a stake through her brain. The room started to swim.
“Urgh,” she said, falling back onto the pillow. She closed her eyes.
“Take it easy, you. No sudden movements.” Daniel’s soft voice drifted in her head. A few moments of silence ensued. It was not awkward silence, though. It actually felt very comfortable, something else she wasn’t used to.
Usually, if there was a silence, it made her nervous; she’d want to make conversation to stop it. Being silent with Daniel didn’t make her nervous, and she found that she really liked the feeling. But, then again, she was finding that there were many feelings she liked when she was around this man.
“Sam?” Daniel asked.
She cracked open her eyes again. “Yes.”
“What happened to you to make you build such a high wall around yourself?”
“I can’t tell you,” she murmured.
“Yes, you can,” he said softly.
“No, honestly, I can’t. My mouth hurts like the devil, and I just want to rest my jaw for a while.”
“Oh, of course, I understand,” he said.
Relieved that he believed her story, she closed her eyes again. The painkillers were kicking in at last. She started to feel drowsy and drifted off to sleep.
The next thing she knew was soft pressure being applied to her shoulder.
“Sam?” She heard. “Samantha? I’m sorry, sweetheart. I have to wake you up now, Mother’s orders.”
“What?” she grouched, unable to hide being annoyed at being woken up and having to deal with the pain in her jaw again, “Why?”
“I need to make sure you don’t have a concussion. Mum says I have to wake you every hour to make sure you’re not unconscious,” he explained.
Sam started to open her eyes again, pushing back the thought that she would like to show Daniel what a concussion felt like. This time, it wasn’t just her jaw and head that ached, it was her whole body. She also realized that she was still in the clothes she was wearing when she got injured. She was filthy
, covered from head to foot in dust and muck. Sam felt disgusting.
Daniel was standing over her, his face inches from hers. She could feel his hand softly stroking her cheek. It took a few seconds to focus, but, eventually, her eyes fixed on his intense gaze.
“There you are,” he sighed with relief as he saw her eyes focus on his.
Tears welled up again. She tried biting them back, but it was no good. A few escaped down the side of her face, probably leaving track marks in the dirt that she could feel there. Sam admitted that she could be quite pitiful when she was feeling sorry for herself, and, right then, she wanted more than anything to have a bath.
It would make her feel so much better, but she knew she couldn’t manage one on her own. She also knew that she couldn’t let Daniel help her, and Mrs. Miller would be in bed by now; it must be nearly midnight.
“Hey, you,” Daniel whispered. “Please don’t cry. It makes me so sad to see you cry.”
Sam bit back her tears, and after a couple of moments, managed to push herself up to a sitting position. She was still fairly dizzy, but it wasn’t as bad as before.
“I would die for a bath right now,” Sam finally admitted.
“Well, that’s easily solved.” Daniel smiled and turned towards the door that led to our bathroom.
“No, it’s not,” Sam blurted.
He stopped and turned back “Why not? I can run you a bath.”
“I don’t think I can take one by myself. I don’t think I can balance.” Sam looked at him, tears pricking the backs of her eyes again.
“Well, I’ll help you. It’s no problem.”
“No.” Sam mumbled, hanging her head to look at her knees.
Daniel kneeled in front of her. Very gently he eased her chin up with one of his long fingers until her face was directly in front of his. Fear hit her in the gut. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him.
“Sam, look at me,” Daniel requested, warmly. Sam slowly, warily, brought her eyes up until they met his. “Why don’t you want me to help you?”
Tears were tumbling down her cheeks as she replied. “Because I couldn’t survive the look of disgust in your eyes if you saw me with no clothes on.”
Chapter Fifteen
Sam’s heart started hammering in her chest. That was the first time she had ever given anyone a glimpse of the pain she felt inside. She couldn’t pull her tear soaked eyes away from Daniel’s. Her whole body and mind had gone numb. She watched as his eyes, usually so full of life, filled with sadness.
“I can’t even begin to imagine what you must have been through to say something like that,” Daniel murmured as he cupped Sam’s soggy face in his warm hands.
Sam stared at him, unable to move. She should have kept her mouth shut. He didn’t need to know, nobody needed to know how she felt. It was something that should be kept locked away inside and never let out. Why did she have to meet someone like him? Someone that she could not resist having feelings for. She wanted to be left alone. She didn’t need the complication of someone else in her life. Someone who, if she let them in, would have the power to crush her heart again. She knew without doubt that it was not strong enough to survive a second round. Now all she was worried about was that she’d ruined everything. That he wouldn’t want anything to do with her now; he could see she was broken. Why did this have to happen just when she was beginning to enjoy the way she felt when he was near?
A moment passed; although, it seemed like a lifetime. Suddenly, his expression changed and he smiled.
“Right then,” he said, standing up and pulling her gently with him. “We’ll address this issue later, but right now, we need to get you in the bath.”
“No way! Didn’t you hear me?” Sam cried. “I can’t do it. You can’t make me!” At that moment, fear had her in its embrace and Daniel could see it in her face. She pulled out of his grip with a forceful jerk. She stumbled and sat back on the bed. Daniel’s expression changed again from cheerful to serious in a split second.
Sam dropped her focus to her knees.
“Sam, listen to me.” Daniel shook her gently by the shoulder. “Look at me,” he said.
She brought her focus up to meet his intense gaze.
“I wouldn’t ever do anything against your will, Sam, ever!” he exclaimed. “Whatever you went through at the hands of someone else, will not happen with me. I promise you.” Daniel paused a second to make sure what he was saying was sinking in before he continued. “Sam, not all men are jerks. You have to believe me, and you have to trust me.”
Sam looked at him, desperately wanting to believe him even though fear had her held fast in its steely grasp.
“There is more than one way to skin a cat, you know.”
Sam raised her eyebrows and gave him a look that showed she was listening.
“I have an idea how you can have a bath and still feel safe,” he started. “I promise I will only intervene if you fall unconscious or hurt yourself, but you will have to promise to talk to me the whole time you are in the bath. Is that something you would feel comfortable doing?”
“You mean you won’t see me without any clothes on?” She asked sheepishly.
“No, sweetheart. I won’t see you without any clothes on, unless you want me to. I promise.” A smile crept across his lips.
Sam’s body relaxed and her mind started functioning again.
“How do you propose we do that, then?” she asked, desperation for a warm bath taking over now.
“Well, I’ll start the bath for you. Then I’ll come and help you off with any clothes if you need me to. I’ll stand outside the door until you have finished undressing and put on your bath robe. Then I’ll help you to the bath. If I put a chair next to it you’ll be able to sit down if you start feeling wobbly, but you should be able to get in okay. There is one condition, though.”
“You never said it came with conditions.” She cast him a wary glance.
“Everything comes with conditions,” he said, shooting her a wry smile.
“Alright, what is your condition?”
“I have to be in the bathroom while you are in the bath...”
“No way!” she cut him off again.
Daniel held his hands up. “Let me finish. You can’t see through the shower curtain so when you are in the bath, pull the shower curtain across. I’ll come and sit on the chair and we can talk the whole time you are in there. That way I’ll know you’re okay. That’s my final offer, take it or leave it.” He finished talking and looked at her, waiting for her response.
Sam thought about it for a moment. A bath would do her a world of good right now, and she believed Daniel could be trusted enough to keep his word. Hadn’t she been alone with him for hours at a time before now? He had never tried anything untoward, why would he start now?
“Okay,” she said, a smile creeping its way across one side of her face. The other side was too swollen to move. “That sounds good.”
Daniel smiled back and let out a sigh, “Good. You’re one tough cookie to bargain with.” he said, before heading for the bathroom. Sam could hear the squeak of the taps as he turned them, then the inviting sound of gushing water hitting the enamel tub. A minute later, Daniel returned.
“Right, so what do you need help with?” he asked.
“Please, could you put my robe beside me?” Sam pointed to where it was hanging on the back of the door.
“Anything else?”
“Um, I could use some help pulling my socks off. Every time I bend over, I feel really dizzy and nearly fall off the bed.”
“Done,” he said as he kneeled down in front of her.
He picked up her right foot and rested it on his knee, running his hands up either side of her ankle until he reached the top of her sock. His fingers ran along her skin as he pulled the sock down, sending ripples of electricity up her leg to her very core. Sam shifted slightly, a bit uncomfortable at her body’s response to his touch. He pulled the sock off and returned her foot to t
he floor.
Daniel looked up and smiled. “One down, one to go.”
Sam returned his smile.
Daniel did the same with the other foot. The familiar feeling shot up her leg again and parts of her warmed up considerably. She could feel her cheeks redden at her body’s response to Daniel’s touch. It was completely beyond her control, but if he noticed, he didn’t let on.
“Right, then,” he said, after returning her left foot to the floor. “You’re on your own for now. I’ll be outside if you need me.”
He stood up and was almost through the door.
“Daniel?” Sam whispered.
He stopped and turned. “Yes.”
“Thank you.”
“No worries.” He smiled and closed the door behind him.
The only piece of clothing Sam had trouble with was her jeans. She wiggled around on the bed for a bit and got them to her knees. From there it was plain sailing. Sam didn’t dare stand up on her own to push them down as she was still pretty wobbly. She felt a pang of chagrin at the thought of her body not being able to do what she wanted it to. It made her very uneasy when she wasn’t in control and had to let someone help her do something as simple as taking a bath. Sam took a couple of moments to take a few calming breaths to steady her nerves and sighed with resolve.
“I’m ready to be escorted to the bathroom now,” she said in jest when she had her robe tightly wrapped around her. Hoping that he wouldn’t hear the abject fear she was trying to subdue that lay just beneath the surface.
Daniel came in and offered his arm for her to lean on. She accepted it.
“Your bath awaits, my lady,” Daniel joked.
Sam tried to laugh but pain won out, and she winced instead.
He held out his arm like a true gentleman and she wrapped hers around it. She moved slowly, every step making her head spin. Sam was relieved that Daniel was so patient, allowing her to move one small step at a time as she clung to him with all her strength.
Summer Down Under Page 11
