"Honey what's wrong?" Maddy asked from their bed.
Philip rolled over to her side and reached out to cup her cheek. He had taken his shower and put on a pair of cotton boxers. She could smell his favorite body wash on him, and she immediately heated up. God this man was sexy and all hers, yummy.
"I love you Maddison, no matter what happens between us, whatever issues we face, the love I have for you is what keeps me going."
"Philip?" Maddy's eyes teared up.
"I need to walk again, not for me because at this point, I really don't care, but for you and our children, I need to be able to get up and get things done and not feel like a deadbeat dad."
"No! I will not let you do this out some sordid notion of responsibility for our family. I can walk for both of us, you may die and leave us here!"
"Baby, calm down, please, I'm sorry, I don't need you to be upset. We will talk about this again in a few weeks, that is when I need to make a final decision."
"Why do you want to do this to us? Did I ever give you the impression that your inability to walk makes my love and dedication any less? Do I drop comments that make you feel useless?" Maddy said softly, her tears now flowing down her face. "No honey, no. Call it a man thing, ego trip, whatever but when you fainted at our wedding, someone else had to help you while I sat in the damned chair and watched."
Andre looked at her husband and her heart broke for him. "You were scared for us."
Philip hung his head to his chin.
"Look at me Philip Martins Kilian."
Philip smiled as he heard his wife say his entire name. "You can get the operation done on one condition." "I'm listening."
"We go with you." "Absolutely not!"
"Please my love, let me share your pain. You married us, we are your support, don't make me stay here while you go off and let someone cut you up. Let me get my health and strength back up so I can care for you, even if is just to sleep next to you at night, just don't leave us here without you." Philip realized whenever she spoke, she always told us, not him and her but her and the baby. Their baby, they were his responsibility, and he was theirs. The Kilian Trio against the world. He loved the sound of it.
"Okay tell you what, I will go for the operation in a month, you will go with me, but only to sleep next to me. Everything else will be done my hired caretakers." "Agreed, will Andre come with us?"
"No, she will stay and watch Dalton." "HA! She isn't gonna like that."
"I know but I need her here in case anything goes wrong."
"Okay, the nutritionist will be here later today, I also need a personal trainer, Doc gave me some light exercises to do but I need the trainer to help me do it right."
"No problem, I have to call the doctor who will perform the surgery and let him know we are coming. I will get Andre to book a hotel close by."
Maddy looked at her husband, although he was sharing his plans, she felt the scared man in her soul.
"Are you scared my love?" "Yes and no. I'm scared of leaving you and never
seeing our baby but I've been through over forty operations, this is just one more but now that I have you, I am second guessing my decision." "I don't need you to walk "Philip. Let us be your feet."
spend much time together, she will want a family some day and I will have to let her go, better to start now."
"You are so considerate, okay, we do this and pray for the best." "Who are you letting go?" Andre's voice came from the doorway. "Crap." Philip muttered as he turned to face Andre. "I was telling Maddy, you and Jacob need some time alone and you will want to start a family, you can't work in the current capacity forever."
"You're firing me?" Andre shrieked. "Slow down Andre!" Philip raised his voice.
"Maddy and I have decided I will do the last operation; I need to be able to walk and take care of my family. You and Jacob just got married and where are you? Here, at our side."
"It's my JOB!"
"Okay look at it this way, you are a fantastic fighter, marksman, everything… but if one day you are protecting me or Maddy and you get hit or shot. It will affect all of our lives, especially if you become pregnant and lose the baby. My conscience would kill me, you would be hurt, so would Jacob and Maddy would never forgive herself, even if she were a million miles away. You are not just my employee, you are my best friend, always there for me when I need you. Now you need me to protect you, so let me do it the best way I know how. After my surgery, you will take a vacation for you and Jacob, I
will pay you for that time. When you come back, I will find a different role for you in Dalton am I clear Andrela?"
Andre stepped back when she heard her given name. That meant he was serious. She felt hurt no matter how right he was.
"Don't Andre. You know how special you are to me, to us now that Maddy and the baby are here but we need you… to be safe and happy as well."
"Yes sir." "Andre." Maddy said from the bed with tears in her eyes. "Hi Maddy."
"I love you like a sister and I agree with Philip on this, you mean the world to us and dedication like yours is rare and real. Don't think of this as a demotion but a promotion from employee to family."
Andre smiled at her friend.
"I like the sound of that Maddy, thank you."
"Wait, hold a minute. I just delivered one of my best speeches and you smile at her?" Philip grumbled.
"Jealous much?" Maddy stuck out her tongue.
"Man, whatever. That's settled. Go home Andre, send replacements for you for the rest of today, go grab your husband from work and remind him who he is married to." "Sir." Andre grinned as she left.
"Philip honey, I forgot to ask you what Sam had said about your assessment. So many things had gone on since then."
"I know and I never said anything because I didn't want you to worry." "Humph, Well go on."
"I saw several Neurologists, the one thing they focused on was the pain I was feeling."
"Wait, what? When did you feel pain?"
Maddy watched as Philip everted his eyes and looked at the ceiling. She felt embarrassed and put her hands to her face.
"You see, that's why I didn't tell you. You would never want to be with me again!" Philip was becoming angry.
"So you would rather endure pain rather than not be with me? You stupid man."
Philip flinched at her words.
"What if you reverted any progress you had? I'm not a size 2 Philip, I don't ever want to know that I caused your pain."
"It only happens when I reach climax, not before. It's no big deal. I would endure anything to feel you Maddy, you know this."
"Oh my silly husband, I love you."
"I love you too, wanna see if it hurts this time?" Maddy blushed.
"I don't need you to do anything, just be still, I just need to feel you again." Maddy nodded slowly.
Philip climbed on to the bed and a familiar scent alerted him.
"You wicked woman." Philip said as he lifted her dress, her panties had a wet spot already.
Maddy blushed and looked away.
"My husband turns me on, what can I say." "We will take it easy; I promise."
"I'm not afraid of you hurting me."
Philip got on top of her as she spread her legs. There was no need for romantic words or actions, this was need but as they couldn't really act on it, Philip eased into her and groaned out so loud, Maddy shivered at his response to her body. She felt honored.
"I can't wait until you have this baby."
"Maybe we should have thought this through." Maddy said sheepishly.
"Hell no, I can wait, I would wait forever for you." Philip growled as she clenched him tightly.
He pushed into her and immediately came. His entire body shuddered and his arms trembled under his weight.
"Philip, are you okay?"
A groan left his lips but it didn't sound like pleasure. "Ahh..., babe, my back, it hurts."
"Ease up honey and lay flat."
He did as he was told and lay flat on the bed, groaning again as his back went into serious spasms.
Maddy grabbed a cell from the side table and punched a number. "Boss?"
"Andre, help me, Philip is in pain, well we… and he…" Philip groaned loudly.
"We will be there soon, tell him to hold on."
Andre and Jacob arrived at the house in ten minutes, as they didn't live far. She pushed the bedroom door as the pained groans of Philip were loud.
She put her bag on the side table and asked Maddy to leave. "No! I can't leave him!"
"Jacob, take her outside please, I can't do this with her here!"
"Come on Maddy, you need to relax, let her do her job." Jacob said softly as he gently pulled her away and closed the door.
They were about ten feet from the bedroom door when they heard an awful yell. Maddy froze and went to turn back but Jacob stopped her. "It gets worse, come on."
For almost half hour, Philip screamed in pain and then, everything was quiet. Maddy was laying on the sofa, with tears in her eyes and as Andre came into the room, Maddy sat up.
"Calm down, the worst is over, but we need to take him to the hospital, I've already called Sam and he will be waiting with the Neurology team to operate."
"Operate? What happened?"
"He is in pain Maddy." Andre said with a smile.
"Why are you smiling? Why is he in p…" Maddy stopped.
"Ahh, she gets it now." Jacob said softly as he kissed his wife on the lips. "But he said the op would be in a month."
"Maddy, don't you know your husband by now? He would suffer through any amount of pain it if meant your happiness in the end. He was getting worse but you were put on bed rest, so he needed to take care of you. He told me when he would get the pains and I know this is an intimate issue but his orgasm triggered the pain in the worst way this time. The ambulance will be here soon, Jacob will follow us in the car." "Please let me go with him."
"Maddy, I wasn't even gonna let you leave here but I'm not in the mood to argue with a woman over her husband." "Okay, I will pack a bag for him." "Already done."
"I will order some food for us." "Already done." Said Jacob.
"So what do I need to do?" Maddy asked in a frustrated tone." "Nothing!" Andre and Jacob said.
"Bastards." Maddy grinned at her two friends.
"Just then the blinking lights filtered through the house and Jacob left to open the door.
Philip was unconscious, the pain was too much for him. They got him into the ambulance and off they went.
Nine Hours Later
Philip felt like he got hit by a Mack truck at full speed. He was on his stomach. He tried to turn over but a soft voice stopped him.
"Honey don't move, I'm here."
She was here, his love, his lifeline. "Maddy." He whispered.
"Yes, it's me. What do you need?" "Home. I want to go home."
"Philip, you can't, the facilities are better here, you know how you suffered last time." Andre said softly.
"Have… Maddy, now. Take… me… home." Philip drifted back to sleep.
"Andre, speak to the doctors, if we keep him here, he won't recover properly. Get all the equipment he needs and find a doctor we can keep on call, two nurses for the next two weeks, and an orderly. They can use the guest houses for now. Let them know I will not tolerate any negligence, lewd behavior or disrespect of any kind, they will be there to work, end of story." Maddy commanded in a soft voice. She tried to stand and felt dizzy.
Andre held on to her.
"You need to rest Maddy, let Jacob take you home. I will deal with everything and bring him home; you need to take care of the baby."
"I know. Oh, hire a full time Chef and a housekeeper." "Done."
"Thanks Andre." "Anytime."
Maddy kissed her husband on the forehead and left.