Trauma of the Forest (Meadema)

~ Chapter 41: Positive Developments ~

While Beth and Viv enjoyed lying in bed together, sharing loving touches and soft kisses, they were interrupted by a knock on the door, after which it was opened and the cart with the hot meal was wheeled in. 'Good evening ladies. What would you like? We have a choice of a tuna pasta salad or a spinach quiche with a cucumber salsa'. They both chose something different, and since Viv was quite nauseous and was also on the sin food, it was Beth who probably had to eat almost two portions herself.

The plates of food were placed on Viv's side table by the restaurant employee, while Beth moved from the bed to the chair, so that eating would be a bit more comfortable. 'Would you like your bed a bit higher, darling? That way you can eat a bit more easily'. Viv nodded enthusiastically, grateful for the amazing care Beth was giving her. 'Look, on the other side of the alarm button there are buttons with which you can adjust the bed. Then you can do it yourself. Then you don't have to lean all the way forward to use the remote control at the foot of your bed'.

Viv raised her bed a little, of course not too high, because then, despite the painkillers, she would still have some discomfort from the stitches in her vulva. 'Are you sitting comfortably, darling?'. A friendly smile appeared on Viv's face. 'Yeah. Would you like to move my oxygen tube back a little? Then I can eat a bit easier'.

Beth seemed to have forgotten the harsh reality for a moment when she saw that Viv was doing better because of the painkillers. But yes, she was still on oxygen, she was still being given fluids and nutrition. She was still in a rib brace and with all kinds of stitches. It was difficult for Beth to realize that there was actually still so much wrong, that there was still such a long way to go in this recovery. But oh, how grateful she was that they could sit together like this now.

'Yes, of course, darling'. Beth slowly got up from her chair to stand on the other side of Viv's bed, where all the tubes ran. She had never looked at it so consciously before, she always sat on the other side, in her chair, she never actually came to this side. She had never consciously noticed that there were so many tubes entering Viv's body in all sorts of places. That there were so many devices that caused Viv to be in such a stable state at this moment. To be honest, that made quite an impression on her, which made her swallow hard.

Very carefully, with quite a bit of anxiety, she moved her shaking hand towards Viv's nose, where the oxygen tube ran in. With her other hand she got a grip on the tube at Viv's shoulder, to put it down in such a way that Viv wouldn't be bothered by the tube while eating.

'Does that tube no longer bother you if it lays like this, darling?'. Viv looked at Beth with a smile. "Yeah, thank you," she then pulled Beth towards her and rose a little to give her a soft kiss, which of course caused her oxygen tube to get stuck under her pillow again. 'Vivi, you know how much I love kissing you, but now your tube is stuck again, darling.'

Viv turned her head to actually get a view of the tube that was stuck under her pillow and was completely twisted in her fluid tube. 'Oh no... Can you do it again please???'. A big grin appeared on Beth's face. She didn't answer Viv's question, instead she leaned forward to give Viv's lips a soft kiss several times, about 15 times. 'So, now I'll do it again for you, because now you're provided with enough kisses for a while'.

Now Viv's gaze matched Beth's. 'Oh, is that so?'. Viv immediately grabbed Beth's hand, to very gently stroke it. The grin on Viv's face grew bigger and bigger. She knew Beth's weak spots, rubbed her fingers exactly over those weak spots in Beth's hands, which caused butterflies to gather in her stomach. 'Vivi, I know what you're trying to do, but it's not going to work, because otherwise our food will get cold. After dinner, you'll get kisses again, as many as you want'.

Viv, happy enough with the answer, let Beth untie her tubes again, after which she had more freedom of movement. And this time she left it like that, she didn't grabbed Beth's head again, knowing that Beth had a point about the temperature of the food. 'So, which one do you want, darling. The pasta or the spinach quiche?'. Since Viv was still a little nauseous, she decided to go for the spinach quiche, tuna was still a bit too heavy on her stomach for now.