My Clarity

Chapter twenty eight

A hip bath was brought in at Jack's request later that day, and once it was measured against the limited space in the room, it was placed beside the bed and filled with a little hot water and left to cool after the doctor had given his blessing for Jack to be aided in his wash carefully.

Rolling up the sleeves of her dress to the elbow, Rose dipped her arm in to test the temperature. The ship wasn't in usage of central heating, only electric lighting and now Jack's fever had broken, the room was cooler than he was used to. Turning to face him, with a nervous perspiration, she smiled knowing this would be a difficult task with a stubborn male on her hands, but somehow, as she glanced at him, there seemed to be a

''I think that should be all right."

''I will not need an aid.'' Jack turned his legs to the ground, and eased himself forward with a little more ease than before, although the pain within his face was evident.

''Then, how shall you lower yourself into the bath when you struggle to simply get to your feet?''Jack closed his eyes, wrestling with the stubborn streak. ''After what we discussed earlier, I thought that we had passed the point where you felt that I pitied you and understood that I merely wish to help you.''

''It isn't that.'' Jack fiddled with the sheets, moving them away from his legs and exposing them to the cool air of the room in the dimming light. ''I was trying to save your eyes from--''

''Your modesty went when I had to strip away your soiled clothes and washed every part of your body thoroughly, twice daily for two days, Mr. Dawson.'' Her cheeks were flushed, she could feel. ''And my eyes are no longer innocent to the sight of your entire body, just as yours are no longer innocent to mine.''

Rose felt steely in herself. Standing with her hands upon her hips, unbeknownst to her, had thrust her breasts upwards and they heaved as she heavy breathed through the thoughts of him naked beneath the sheets and recollecting just how brazen she had been to request of him to sketch her nude. The dress she had borrowed from another passenger was ill-fitted across the bodice, but it would suffice until they reached Boston and she could hopefully be fitted for another, or at least, borrow one which didn't come unstitched at the seams when she breathed in or out.

''How could you find any happiness in helping to bath a man who reeks of God knows what?''

''I assure you; I could find plenty, but I will not.'' Her eyebrows raised as she stepped towards him, and he grasped the covers across his lap tighter. Long, lean legs were bare to her, with the prickling hair which had tickled against her own. How she had touched them, only briefly but marvelled at their hardness and shape. How muscular and toned. A woman hardly got to see a man's lower body, not one as defined as his. There was also something intimate about his bare feet, and how the sight of him there even half nude arrested her.

''How you are revelling in my misery.'' Jack's glance went from her watery eyes, down to where her breathing was shifting between shallow and excessive. ''Why are you wearing a dress like that?''

''B-because my own was ruined. This was kindly borrowed to me by another passenger who had managed to rescue her suitcase from the sinking.'' Her breathing turned shallow. ''I shall not enjoy not any of this whilst you are in pain.''

Rose's eyes met his, sensing his discomfort at something there between them, as though there had been a shift in gear during the course of the last hour or two. His cheeks flushed, as his eyes darted for the floor and then back to her once he had stopped speaking.

With all of her heart, Rose wished that she had the guts to ask if her naked body, soaked in water, would affect him in such a way. The actual thought of it stirred feelings within her that she never even knew existed. It was terrifying but exhilarating as the same time. The air was thick once more almost as though something hung over them. With a fleeting glance over her, he toyed with the ends of the linen blankets, as though he was in two minds whether or not to actually remove it.