Bittersweet

Chapter 4

The water was warm. It was crossing every curve on her body. Steam was everywhere in the bathroom. Alex finally relaxed. She enjoyed standing in the shower as water moved over her skin. She felt tension leaving her body.
Three hours before...
While Nicolas was sleeping, Alex went shopping to buy some of the ingredients they needed. When she returned, Nicolas was awake and he was reading a book. He looked somewhat paler than before. I must be imagining things. She thought.
Alex went to the kitchen. She left ingredients there and went back upstairs. She told Nicolas she was going to take a shower, so if he needed something he should shout.

Alex was now done showering. She took a towel and wrapped it around her body and took a smaller one to dry her hair with it. She started to get out of the shower but she stopped suddenly. She heard some sound as if something fell. She began to listen a bit more carefully and heard it again. Nicolas!
She released her towel with which she had dried her hair with and rushed out of the bathroom. She went to the couch as quickly as she could and stopped when she saw Nicolas on the floor. She came to him and touched his shoulder.
"Nicolas, are you okay, what's the matter?" she looked at him worried.
She helped him get up and she sat him on the couch.
"Nicolas?"
"I'm fine. I just got a little dizzy that's all."
"Do you want me to bring you a glass of water?" He nodded.
Alex rushed into the kitchen and poured him a glass of water. When she got back upstairs Nicolas was looking over her body. Only then did she remember that she still had only a towel on her. She blushed.
"Here, your glass of water." He nodded in gratitude.
He drank half of the glass and put it on the table.
"Are you a little better now?" Alex asked him.
He looked at her avoiding her eyes.
"Yeah, I feel better. You should go dress up. You will catch a cold like that."
Alex looked at him, feeling embarrassed.
"Y-yes of course." she turned and headed back to the bathroom.
There she dressed in a dress in which she slept and she washed her teeth. When she was finished she returned to the living room. Nicolas was staring into space and he seemed to be deep in thought. Alex came closer to him.
"I'm done. Nicolas, are you going to take a shower too? Do you need my help with something?"
Nicolas looked at her but this time he did not avoid her eyes.
"I'll need help in the shower because of the bandages."
Alex started to feel nervous. If she is going to help him, that means, she will see him completely naked.
"O-of course." she said, feeling her voice shaking.
She took Nicolas to the bathroom and went to his room to take some clean clothes. When she returned he was just in the boxers and was leaning on the bathtub. Alex tried to behave normally but it was difficult. Of course, Alex had seen naked men before and knew what they looked like. She was a no virgin for god's sake. Why did she feel so nervous then. Maybe she felt that way because she had never seen Nicolas naked before. Nevermind. She decided to stop thinking about it.
She let the water run and she turned to Nicolas. She helped him remove the bandages he had around his waist. He had several bruises in the area of his ribs. She assumed someone hit him hard and cracked down several of them. She started to take off the bandages he had on his leg, but Nicolas stopped her.
"What's wrong?" she wondered if she had done something wrong.
He shook his head. I guess he doesn't want to take them off. She nodded. She got up and took a shampoo. She gave it to Nicolas. He started washing his body. While he was washing his front, she began to wash his back. While she was washing him she noticed he had a lean yet muscular body. She noticed a large scar that runs diagonally from the center of his abdomen to his right thigh, as well as numerous small ones all over his body. Good thing he was wearing boxers, because if he wasn't she would feel completely uncomfortable.
Nicolas started washing his hair. He made a painful facial expression. Probably because of the pain from his injury. Alex stopped him.
"Nicolas, can I wash your hair?"
Nicolas looked at her for a long moment and then nodded. Alex took a shampoo and began to wash his hair. She was standing behind him. His hair did not look soft but it was. Her fingers passed through his hair and gently massaged his skull. She felt how Nicoas relaxed. He began to lean slightly on her body. He didn't even noticed what he was doing. When she was done washing his hair she washed away the shampoo out of his hair with warm water. She gave him a towel and while he was drying his body, she dryed his hair off with another towel.
She left him alone in the bathroom to dress his new boxers and pants. After that she helped him walk to his room.
Nicolas was now sitting on the edge of the bed. He still had no t-shirt on himself. Alex helped him put new bandages. When she was finished she helped him dress the clean t-shirt. Nicolas was now lying in bed.
"Good night, I'll see you in the morning." she told him, and just when she was about to turn around, she heard Nicolas.
"aLeX."
She turned around and looked at him. He was lying on the bed with his face towards her. He had a small smile on his face that was barely visible.
"tHaNk yOU." he told her and turned to the other side of bed so that Alex could only see his back.
Alex began to feel some warm sensation in her chest and she felt her eyes fill with tears. She smiled at herself as she closed the door.
"You're welcome."