My Saving Grace

When I woke up in the hospital, what I saw first was Grace, asleep in a chair next to my bed. My head was still pounding a bit, my face still a little swollen, but I managed a smile as I admired her sleeping form with my unbandaged eye.

I tried turning a bit, letting out a soft groan as my body was still a bit sore. This woke up my savior with a start.

"Oh, dear," she said softly. "You're awake. I'm so happy for that."

"I..." I started, but my throat was dry and it came out more as a croak than anything.

Grace jumped up from her chair and grabbed the cup of ice water sitting on the bedside table and adjusted the straw to that I might take a sip.

"Shhhhh..." She whispered. "You just need some time to ad-just, dear."

I slowly sipped the water and a nurse came in to check on me. With Grace'

"Welcome back to the world of the living, Mrs. Adams," the nurse greeted.

"Wha...I couldn't...How long..." I stammered, trying to get my bearings.

"I'll take it from here, Nurse Johnson," Grace jumped in be-fore the nurse could utter a word, nodded and left the room, clos-ing the door behind her.

I looked at Grace, the concern clear on my face and she sat down on the edge of the bed and gently placed her soft hands on my shoulders, to brace me for what was to come next.

"Grace?" I whispered, blinking my good eye to focus on her beauty, despite the worry on her face being masked by a warm smile.

"Desiree, dear," she began, taking in a deep breath before continuing. "You've been in a coma for three days. You had a nasty concussion."

My face lost all color and I began to cry. Grace gently and carefully held me as it all came rushing back to me. David's as-sault, Grace's intervention, the darkness overwhelming me.

"David?" I asked in a soft, fearful voice. Afraid that he either was gonna come after me again, or he was dead. I tried to brace myself for either option.

"He's in jail, sweetness," Grace assured me. "He won't be beating you ever again."

Just then, the doctor stopped in to check on me and talk to me about my condition.

"Well, hello, Mrs. Adams," she said, cheerfully. "It's nice to get to meet you awake. I'm Dr. Lyndsey and I am the surgeon that took care of you when Ms. Demming's brought you in."

I started to offer my hand to her, but she waved it off kindly.

"No need to shake hands in your state, Mrs. Adams. I'm just glad to see you're alright."

She picked up my chart and glanced over it, then smiled.

"All vitals are back to normal, the swelling has gone down and there's no infections. You will have to be on bed rest for a few more days, but I think you'll be ready to go home tomorrow, if everything continues to improve. We want to keep you here one more night for observation, just to be sure."

"Than...Thank you," I managed to croak out.

Grace was quick to offer me another sip of ice water as the doctor smiled.

"You have a wonderful friend here, Mrs. Adams," Dr. Lynd-sey added. "She's been here since you were brought in, never leaving your side...except during surgery, of course. But she paced in the waiting room all the while. I think we might have to replace some floor tiles, though," she laughed.

I tried to laugh, but it hurt too much. Grace shushed me, a sparkling gleam in her bright green eyes.

Dr. Lyndsey apologized for her little joke but Grace assured her everything was alright and that she would take good care of me.

The next day, I was finally released and Grace insisted on me staying at her house so she could watch over me while I re-covered. She served me meals in bed; made sure I took all my meds and even gave me a sponge bath (which was both soothing and embarrassing at the same time). She was like my mother, very strict when it came to getting better.

Grace had me set up on one side of her queen-sized bed "So I can keep an eye on you," she had told me in no uncertain terms.

Grace was ever the gracious and tentative host, never once making any moves on me while I was recovering. Always tending to my every need...rather, my normal needs in order to recover, that is.

As the days past and I got to where I was finally able to get out of bed, Grace and I got closer. I insisted on helping her put away more of her stuff, since it was my fault for her not finishing moving in. This upset her just a tad as she told me it was David's fault, not mine.

It was a couple of weeks later when everything was where Grace wanted things. She had even set up a place for some of my clothes so she would not have to make so many trips across the street for things I needed. I had also gotten many cards and flowers from the neighborhood during that time, wishing me well.

I had finally gotten the eye patch off of my right eye and my bandage removed from my head, my hair had been cut off for surgery, but it, too was growing back. It was still on the butch side of things, but Grace assured me that my hair would more than cover the surgery scar.

"How would you like to get out of the house for a bit, Desi-ree?" Grace asked, smiling.

"I sure would. No offense to you or your hospitality, but I'm getting stir crazy," I laughed.

"No offense taking, sweetness," Grace chuckled. "I have reservations at 'Chez Paz' this evening, but I thought maybe you'd like to go to the mall and do some shopping."

"Chez Paz?" I gasped. "I've never been there. Always wanted to, but David was too cheap to take me anywhere so fan-cy."

"Well, my dear," Grace replied. "It's time for a treat. A friend of mine told me about it and I thought it was a great idea to share the experience with...a friend."

Chez Paz was one of the best (if not the best) Italian restau-rants in town. They are well known for their Agnolotti and Melan-zane alla Parmigiana. I've never had either, but tonight, I planned on trying one of them, not sure which, though.

I dressed lightly, since it was a warm day out, the sun was shining and there were hardly any clouds in the sky. I put on a loose tank top and cut offs, a sports bra with matching cotton panties. Grace dressed in a t-shirt (no bra) and a short skirt. She also put her hair up in a ponytail with a green ribbon that accentuated her red hair.

"What shops are we going to?" I asked.

"It's a secret," was all she would tell me.

We hopped into Grace's Vette and zoomed off to the mall. She was all smiles as we drove down the parkway, but never once letting on what her intentions were. We made small talk all the way, though. Not even on clue came out, regardless how hard I tried to trick her into letting the cat out of the bag.

When we arrived and found a parking space close to the main entrance of the mall, Grace and I put the top up and locked the doors. Grace took my arm into mine and escorted me into the mall.

We passed several shops, Grace never looking into any of them. She was on a mission and I knew it. Halfway through the mall, Grace stopped and turned to me, smiling wide.

"Now, from this point on, I want you to close your eyes and do NOT open them until I tell you to. Okay?"she warned me. "If I even think you're going to peek, I have a blindfold in my purse and I'm not afraid to use it."

"Okay, okay," I giggled as I closed my eyes. "I give up."

After making sure I wasn't going to cheat, Grace took my left arm and guided me around a corner and halfway down the walkway before turning me into a store. I knew from the sound of the bell that we had crossed the threshold.

"Okay, sweetness," Grace whispered in my ear. "Open your eyes."

I slowly did as she asked and gasped. We were in Fredrick's of Hollywood. I turned a bright red and covered my mouth. I had never even dared come into this place.

"Grace?" I asked softly. "What are we doing here?"

Grace nearly laughed out loud at my embarrassment.

"You need now undies, my dear," she told me.

"But...I've got plenty of undies," I whispered, hoping nobody else could hear the tremble in my voice.

"You forget, my dear," Grace began. "I've seen your undies. You need something more...how should I say...sexy!"

Grace walked me around to look at the different displays and picked out a few sets for me to try on. They were the Legendary Lace Thong set in black cherry, Chinoise Brocade Thong set, Satin and Lace Holiday Thong in stormy night black, and the Eyelash Lace and Mesh Panty.

(Author's Note: these can be viewed on the Fredrick's website)

"I can't possibly wear these, Grace," I blushed furiously.

"You can," she told me in no uncertain terms. "And you will. You deserve some sexy lingerie, sweetness."

Surrendering, I followed Grace to the back where the chang-ing rooms were and we found one in the very back that was emp-ty. I opened the door and stepped in, closing the door behind me. Grace waited outside while I sorted the new lingerie out to try on.

"You're gonna look great," Grace assured me from outside the door.

"If you say so," I replied as I began to undress.

"Trust me," Grace said from the waiting area. "You'll thank me for this later."

I looked over the lingerie and decided to try on the most covering pair of panties and matching bra. It was a little tight, but not uncomfortable as I had thought it would be.

"Come on, dear," Grace begged anxiously. "I wanna see it."

Nervously, I cracked the door a little, hoping that she would just peek in to see what I looked like. But Grace wasn't going to have none of that as she yanked the door wide opened and pulled me out into the waiting area and held me at arm's length.

I quickly tried to cover myself as I looked around to see if anyone was looking at me. Luckily, nobody was.

"Come on, sweetie," Grace encouraged as she gently took my hands and eased them to my sides. "Let's see the whole package."

Nervously, I turned around slowly, letting Grace appraise me like a fine crystal statue.

"Hmmmm," Grace said, with her right hand resting on her left arm which was crossed over her tummy, rubbing her chin with her right hand.

"Does it look ok?" I asked, blushing brightly.

"It looks wonderful, except..." Grace stepped up to me slow-ly. She reached out to straighten the panties and then the bra. Stepping back, she looked me up and down again before smiling sweetly.

"I think those are wonderful," Grace replied. "You should get them. Now, go try the thong."

Grace turned me and patted my butt towards the dressing room. I had to admit, this was kind of nice. But I was worried about the thong as I had never worn one before and was a little embarrassed at showing my butt to Grace, not to mention anyone else that happened to be in the area.

Secretly, I was getting a bit aroused and I was hoping that it would show in the skimpy black material of the thong. I quickly swapped over to the thong set and slowly stepped from the dressing room, looking around first to see if anyone else could see. Luckily, it was just Grace and me so, with a little more confidence, I stepped away from the door and did a little twirl in front of Grace, whose mouth was agape and eyes bulging out at the sight of what I was wearing.

"You look fabulous, Desiree. Not to mention sexy as hell." Grace praised in a soft voice.

"Thank you," was all I could say as I turned a deeper red than I was before.

"Let's get both sets and get going. We have to go get ready for dinner," Grace concluded as she hurriedly ushered me back into the dressing room so I could get dressed.

It didn't take us long to purchase the lingerie and leave the store. Grace led the way to the nearest exit and after about ten minutes, we found her car and were on our way back to home. Grace had a bright sparkle in her eyes the whole trip, which made me a bit nervous but I also felt a little aroused also.