Just The Way You Like It - Under Construction

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Two

Blake opened Alice's door, ushering Dr. Tunstall in ahead of him. Strangely, Alice curtly ordered for the door to be left open. Blake didn't think that it was the best idea, but obliged. He would do anything for Alice. He had gotten back to her room fifteen minutes later than he had promised, and even though he knew she couldn't see the clock, he still felt incredibly guilty. His meeting with Dr. Willub had taken a lot longer than Blake had expected. Hopefully, Wallace would be down soon, and they could all talk about getting Alice the care she would require at Blake's house.

Seeing Alice's face, Blake knew something was wrong. She looked pissed. Blake gave Tess a questioning look, wondering what had happened since his previous departure. Tess only shrugged her shoulders, the room now becoming extremely uncomfortable. Blake was the first to break the silence. “Alice.” She didn't respond, it was almost as if she hadn't even heard him. “Alice, you okay?” Alice didn't even move, her brow was in a deep furrow, making her look lost in her own thoughts. She had managed to cross her arms over her chest, despite the I.V.s that were hooked up to her. It reminded him of how his niece looked during one of her tantrums. Alice looked like a sulking little girl, mad about not being allowed to eat ice cream right before dinner. Blake approached her bed, putting his hand on her shoulder, hoping to pull her out of her stupor. Quick as a flash, Alice's hand snapped up, pushing Blake's hand off of her.

“Don't touch me.” She said, her voice as cold and as sharp as ice.

Blake stood there stunned. He could only imagine that his kiss with her had not gone over so well with Alice. Deep in regret, Blake felt ashamed of himself now. How could he have been so bold with such a broken woman. He knew he shouldn't have done it. Alice was going through so much, and he had taken advantage of it, something he had sworn he would never do. How had he ever thought that kissing her was a good idea? She obviously had issues with men, and now she had to deal with her doctor being an overly egotistical bastard. Blake felt like a complete idiot, and had no idea how he was going to patch this one up.

He quickly decided to try and change the subject. He introduced Dr. Tunstall to Alice, explaining that she was hopefully going to help get Alice back up and moving. Dr. Tunstall came forward, holding her hand out for Alice to shake. Blake shook his head, and began waving his hand in front of his own face, silently letting Dr. Tunstall know about Alice's blindness. Dr. Tunstall stuck her hand back into her pocket and gave Alice a warm greeting.

“Hi Alice, its such a pleasure to finally meet you!” Her voice was cheerful and warm. Dr. Tunstall had been in charge of Alice's physical therapy from the beginning. Even when Alice was in a coma, Dr. Tunstall had been down every three days to see her. It was next to impossible to keep a long-term coma patient's muscles in working condition, but Dr. Tunstall had done her best. “I feel like I already know you, it's nice to see you up and alert.”

“It's nice to meet you too.” Alice responded, her voice still came out sounding curt. Blake had never seen Alice like this. Granted, he had only known her for a few days, but still. In just over an hour, Alice had apparently gone through a huge mood swing. Blake again looked over at Tess. Tess only smiled back at him, she could be so hard to read sometimes.

“Now that you're awake, we'll have you start in on your physical therapy as soon as possible. I'll have you up and running in no time.” Blake saw Alice smile just a little at that, and he hoped that she would warm back up to her normal happy self.

“What do I have to do?” Alice asked, unfolding her arms from her chest.

“Oh, basically just a lot of exercises. Its actually quite boring and repetitive stuff, but it teaches your muscles how to work again. You've been lying in bed for four years, and your muscles are weak. Our job is to strengthen them back up again.” Alice nodded her understanding, once again becoming quiet as she thought. Blake smiled, it was so cute to watch Alice's brain work as she tried to understand what was going on around her.