This story follows on from "A Second Life – Chapter 6".
Once again, all the characters, places and events in the story are pure fiction and straight out of my active imagination. I do not accept any responsibility for any resemblance to real people, places or events that occur anywhere.
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The dull throbbing ache in Zach's head was the first thing he felt as he slowly regained consciousness. It took him several minutes to figure out where he was after he slowly opened one eye. The hospital gown, unfamiliar room and its surroundings just didn't make sense, and the ache in his head seemed to be getting worse. Warm sunlight streamed through the window with its lace curtains. There was an armchair next to the wall a few feet away. Zach tried to sit up but the aches from one side of his body prevented him from doing anything. It also didn't help that one arm was in a sling. A familiar face appeared at the glass pane on the door, then the door opened.
"Oh thank god you're awake. I was beginning to get worried."
Julie rushed across to the bed and took Zach's good hand in hers. With her other hand she pulled the chair closer so that she could sit and still maintain physical contact. The worry lines showed clearly across her brow, and Zach could tell she had been crying.
"What happened? Where am I? What am I doing here?" Zach was struggling to understand what was going on.
Julie carefully explained that he was in the local hospital. He had slipped and fallen off the roof earlier that morning after clearing some birds' nests and leaves from the gutters of the cottage which housed Julie's sex toy business. He had landed awkwardly and gashed his forehead quite badly just above his left eyebrow. Luckily she and Melanie had heard Sam's urgent barking and scratching at the door, and came out to find Zach unconscious and bleeding. They had wrapped a pressure bandage over the wound, then rang Chelsea at her work to let her know what had happened. Between the three of them they agreed that Julie should immediately load him into her Audi and drive him to the hospital while Melanie stayed at the shop with an agitated Sam and rang ahead to let the hospital know what had happened.
Zach listened quietly to everything Julie said. He could vaguely remember trying to stagger between the two women towards Julie's car, but it was like looking at these images from his memory through a thick fog. He couldn't remember the drive in the car, nor the arrival at the hospital.
Fortunately it had been a quiet Friday morning at the hospital's Accident and Emergency ward, which meant the medical staff could deal with Zach's injuries almost immediately. The doctor on duty was a friendly woman in her thirties that Julie recognised from one of her sex toy parties. She was aware of Julie's and Zach's home circumstances, and even of Chelsea and Melanie, so reasoned that she could fill Julie in on Zach's condition. She explained that Zach's injuries were not too serious.
The cut on Zach's head was large and deep enough to need stitches, and it looked like he might be concussed. He had also landed on his left side, and while a quick check showed there was no obvious damage other than a few minor grazes, it was very likely he would have quite a bit of bruising to his shoulder and ribs. It was also likely he might have a small muscle tear around his ribs from the rapid swelling in the area, but they would only know after doing an x-ray to confirm any damage or otherwise to his ribs. He would need to spend a couple of days in hospital so that they could keep an eye on the wound in case of infection as they had to clean quite a bit of dirt out of it. He would be given VIP treatment, since he was responsible for the design and layout of the soon to be built maternity ward.
Julie had sat with an unconscious Zach in his private room overlooking the town square and wept quietly. She had never felt so worried or concerned about someone else before. But what surprised her most was that she had never felt so overwhelmingly protective of someone. She realised that with Zach out of action for the next few days she would have to wear the mantle of the head of the household. Now that he was awake she was still worried, but she felt much better.
"Don't you ever do something like this again. You gave me a real scare. When I saw all that blood and you lying there with your eyes closed, my heart skipped several beats." Julie said as she held Zach's hand tenderly. She could see that the skin under the bandaged area on his left forehead had started to swell.
They spoke quietly for a few minutes. Julie brought Zach up to speed on what the doctor had said. She told him he would be a guest of the hospital for a short while. She wanted to stay with him but had to get back to the shop to help Melanie. Before she left she promised to be back soon, and made him promise not to be a difficult patient.
The quiet time Zach had in hospital gave him the opportunity to think more clearly about his idea and plan what he wanted to do. At the end of the following week it would be exactly a year since he had first met Julie and Chelsea at Mrs T's cafe. And shortly after there would be another milestone for a year since he asked them both to move into the house with him. And that would be followed closely by yet another milestone with the one year anniversary of Melanie's inclusion into their cosy little family. He had decided that the one year anniversary of Julie and Chelsea moving in would be the right time for them to celebrate officially becoming a family unit.
He reflected on how much had happened since the end of winter. They had celebrated the each of the women's birthdays in true style, with good food, plenty of laughter, and great sex. Melanie had turned twenty during her first semester of study at the local community college, and had shown herself to be a smart and hardworking student. She had been voted the class representative because of her friendly and helpful attitude towards her fellow students. Her blossoming self-confidence was very evident to everyone.
