Chapter 16

I was bedridden well into the afternoon before my limbs were steady enough to support me.  Lance was good enough to carry me to the tub so that, with Jasmine’s help, I could bathe away the sweat and vomit in a most welcomed rose scented bath.  He surprised me by depositing me into the tub and then leaving to wait outside of my bedroom door until Jasmine called him back in to carry me back to bed.  After so many nights of passionate love making, I was sure that he knew every inch of my body.  His display of polite chivalry where my modesty was concerned felt out of place.

He sat with me for a while during the day and even played a few games of checkers with me. 

To both my surprise and annoyance, Jasmine never left the room.  I longed for the privacy needed to speak on certain topics with him.  At one point, I suggested that she go rest while Lance was with me, but he claimed the necessity to exercise propriety for his mother&rsq