“Holy shit,” he whispered, immediately trapped in the dark stare of the man on the screen. He should be thanking God that he wasn’t bad looking. At all. Ben finally named the strange feeling he had as jealousy. And it was hard telling himself this would soon be him when his brain kept thinking his wife would soon be with him.
Those eyes. Dark as mocha, reminded him of his wife’s but even darker. Could have been the picture. She’d probably not like that because she loved his blue eyes. That made Ben feel better. But where was his bio? He finally found it. “Frank James Ward,” he muttered, scanning the skimpy info. Electrician. Finished high school. Trade school welder. From Havana Arkansas. Only living relative is a mother and one older sister. No wife, no kids.
Ben looked for anything indicating he was getting a better head than the one he currently had but found nothing impressive. He was a couple inches taller than Ben but pretty much the same build. Which was…miraculous, Ben was sure. There were a million kinds of heads he could be looking at in his situation. This guy could’ve easily been bald and short or even some other nationality. Maybe they had to have a close match. Which made it more miraculous to Ben.
He clicked out of the picture at hearing footsteps. Opening the file with the operation information, he glanced toward the door only to be hit with an ice-pic of pain at the base of his skull. Fuck these small head movements were getting brutal.
“You okay?” she whispered. Judging by the fast advance of her voice, she ran to him. He didn’t dare move as he sat with his eyes closed, waiting for Gorham to settle back down. Her fingers stroked along his arm, offering him a distraction while the pain gradually subsided.
“You ready?” he faintly said, opening his eyes carefully.
“Your drink first,” she said, presenting the water bottle to his lips with a straw. He drank, surprised as usual with how thirsty he was. Sometimes he felt like his body was working overtime without him even being aware. Would explain why he was always exhausted and thirsty.
Now horny, he realized when his cock stirred at glimpsing her hard nipple under the white silk robe. He followed her with his eyes as she made her way around the bed and climbed on next to him. “I’m ready.”
Her cheery tone made him nervous. He wasn’t sure how he’d feel about her response. “I’m going to show you him first, so we can get that out of the way.”
“Good idea.”
“Ready?” he asked.
She nodded, watching the screen. “Ready.”
He clicked the minimize button to the operation info and his pic was there.
“Oh boy,” she whispered. She looked at him. “What do you think?”
The excited wonder in her tone rolled off him. “No, what do you think?”
“I asked you first,” she fussed lightly.
“I think he’s not bad to look at. And as much as I want to be grateful about that…”
“I mean…”
He carefully turned enough to see her profile. “What? Just say it.”
She glanced at him, obviously curious over the edge in his voice but he couldn’t help it. She stared at the screen again. “I think… I’m getting ripped off, but what other options do I have?”
He couldn’t stop his grin at hearing her honesty. And it was definitely honesty, he knew what that sounded like by now with her.
“His eyes,” she said, sounding bothered.
“They’re dark.”
“Very. Like…”
“Dark chocolate?”
She gave him a furrowed brow. “If you say so.”
He smiled more. “What?”
“I was just…I mean I don’t want to insult your new mug Ben,” she scolded, like he was forcing her to by asking for her honesty. It made him laugh. “It’s not funny,” she whispered, making him chuckle more until she regarded him. “I don’t want to stop you from laughing but don’t get too worked up. I can’t stand when you get taken by those…bouts of pain.” She looked back at the screen and gasped. “Maybe you can get blue contacts!”
“Kiss me,” he whispered after staring at her for a few seconds. She turned in mild surprise then got serious as she moved in.
“I promise I don’t care that he’s not… cute. Looks aren’t everything.”
He reached up and pulled her to his mouth, pushing his tongue inside to reach hers. He moaned at the delicate sound she made and the way she met his tongue with hers, timid yet hungry.
“I love you,” he whispered, pulling back.
“I love you too.” She smiled, touching the growing hair along his upper lip. “I can shave you if you want. If you trust me.”
“Oh dear,” he muttered, smiling a little, watching her bite her lower lip. “And risk getting nicked by a razor before having my head removed?”
She went suddenly sober with mild wonder. “Oh God,” she said, seeming to think more about that. She looked at him then. “What will they do with your… head?”
He did a metaphorical shrug. “Donate it to science, I guess. Maybe they can get in there and find out what’s going on. Find something that will help others. Or we can bring it home and put it on a pike in the corner of our bedroom.”
He chuckled at the look of horror on her face. “Kiss me again.”
She moved in, still perturbed. “That would be so weird, you weirdo,” she whispered, kissing him.
“We could have a taxidermy fix me up. Maybe can put it on a doll body.”
“Ben! That is a horror story, stop!”
“We can let him sleep with us.”
“I mean it, stop it! You’re going to give me nightmares.”
“You could talk to him when we fight. Imagine me just sitting there listening while you went on and on, not a word.”
Her mouth remained open in appalled shock before she covered her laugh with a hand.
He grinned more. “Kiss me again before I…” His mind went suddenly blank. He stared at her, realizing it. “Never mind.” He didn’t want to tell her his brain glitched.
“What? Oh no, you can’t tease me like that! Kiss you or you’ll what?”
He eyed her, then like a computer coming out of a lag, his brain resumed normal function, handing him back the memories it had just stolen.
“Are you okay?” she wondered.
He looked at the computer. “Guess we should finish this. Then I’d like a shower.” He hadn’t had one in days, not a real one. Sponge baths only got you so far.
She gave a happy gasp. “I did get a shower chair! I can help of course.”
Damn. He wasn’t sure he could handle being in the shower with her.
“What?” she wondered, ever perceptive. “Bad idea?”
“Maybe.”
“I can go in clothed.”
“I would need you clothed,” he was sure, smiling a little. “I don’t want to have a heart attack or an aneurism before I get a new head.”
She knelt before him and petted his face, her eyes filling with tears. “I don’t want to lose you.” She pressed her lips on his, without moving them for many seconds. She pulled back, wiping the tears from her face. “You think…this is possible? All of this?” Tears spilled again and she quickly swiped them away.