Returning to the house, Trixie Belden was looking forward to the quiet.

While some would think the house where eight college-aged adults resided would be party central, that was far from the truth. They were all responsible, making certain they focused on their studies so they would graduate. The house was well looked after, everyone having chores and remembering to clean up after themselves.

Sure they had parties, but it was never to the extent that the police would be called. They were all well-behaved, knowing there was a lot of eyes watching them and they didn’t want to disappoint any of their family.

It had been a long day and she needed some time to herself. She had been stressing over a couple classes where she had tests and being fearful that she didn’t know the material. Extra hours had been spent studying that she had pushed taking care of herself to the back burner.

Knowing that everyone was going to be gone for several more hours, she was planning to take over the bathroom and soak in a warm bath for a bit before falling into bed to sleep for several hours.

Her brothers, Brian and Mart Belden, and Dan Mangan were working. Di Lynch, Honey Wheeler and Jenn Glenn were still on campus with their study groups. Her fiancé had a late afternoon class, leaving her the solitude she needed to recoup her energy to face another day.

She knew she shouldn’t have been burning the candle at both ends, but her fear of not doing well weighed heavily on her. Taking tests was never her strong point, second guessing her answers, but she hoped she did well enough to keep her GPA up.

Making her way inside, she locked the front door. She prepared a small snack and went up to her room. She set her books on her desk and looked at her planner to see what needed to be turned in the next day. Glancing at the time, she knew her bath and a nap would still leave her plenty of time to finish up what was due.

She walked to the bathroom and started filling the tub with water, adding in some bubbles to create a comfortable atmosphere. She reached over and turned the radio on. She rolled a towel so she could rest her neck against it instead of the hard porcelain. Removing her clothes and tossing them into the corner of the room, she stepped over the edge of the tub and lowered herself into the soothing warmth. Her head rested against the edge of the tub, letting out a sigh of relief.

Closing her blue eyes, she focused on the slight movement of the water rolling over her skin whenever she shifted.

She focused on her breaths to keep her mind clear to really allow her to relax.

The sound of a door closing on the first floor alerted her that someone had returned to the house. Glancing at the clock radio, she saw she had been in the tub for well over an hour and finally noticed that the water had cooled.

She pulled the drain plug with her foot and allowed the cool water to run out before turning the warm on so she could take a shower to get rid of the remaining bubbles from her skin.

When enough water had drained and the worry that the tub would overflow if she showered too soon was gone, she pulled the towel she had been using as a headrest away and set it to the side so it wouldn’t get soaked from the shower.

Reaching over, she turned the warm water on. She went to stand up, but slipped, smacking her right shoulder into the side of the tub.

“Ahhhh!” Trixie cried out as she cradled her right arm with her left. The pain was more than anything she had ever felt before. She couldn’t move her arm.

She took several breaths to calm herself and to get her heart rate down. Trixie tried to move in the tub to get up herself, but she knew she needed help.

Not knowing who was home, she took hold of the towel she’d been using as a pillow and covered the parts of her body that someone might not be comfortable seeing.

Knowing someone was in the house, she called out, “Hello? Is someone there?”

She listened hoping to hear them coming up the stairs. She didn’t hear anything. She knew what she had to do.

“SOMEONE!!! HELP!!!”

At that moment she heard feet thundering up the stairs.

“In here!”

“Trixie!”

She let out a breath that it was Jim.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Trixie said. “I fell and I think I dislocated my shoulder.”

She heard him take hold of the knob and turn it, but the door stayed closed.

“Trix?”

“I fell in the tub and I can’t get out,” Trixie said. “You need to come in and help me.”

“Are you dressed?” Jim asked.

Trixie groaned in frustration. “How many people do you know that shower in their clothes, Jim? I need you to come in now.”

“Let me call the medics,” Jim said.

“HELP ME!” Trixie yelled, her frustration and pain taking over.

“Okay,” Jim said, pushing the door open.

She looked at him and could see that his eyes were closed.

“I get you are trying to be a gentleman, Jim, but you need your eyes so you can actually help me,” Trixie said. “Besides, I have a towel covering me the best that I can.”

Jim slowly opened his eyes.

“Hello,” Jim said.

“I slipped in the shower and I think I dislocated my shoulder.”

“Not surprising. You have no safety mat or adhesive stickers to allow for purchase on a surface with a low coefficient of static friction.”

Trixie looked at the tub and then back at her fiancé. “What?”

“Tubs are slippery.”

“I know. I slipped.”

“I have a series of whimsical duck stickers on the bottom of my tub.”

Trixie stared at him. She had no clue as to why he would put that on his tub. “Really?”

Jim nodded. “I didn’t put them on there. Mart did.”

“That explains a lot,” Trixie said.

“I figure if I take them off, he will just put something else in its place to annoy me, so I’m just going with the flow.”

“Yeah. Whatever. Can you just turn the water off and help me up?”

Jim moved to the faucet and shut the water off.

“They’re holding umbrellas.” Jim said.

“What?”

“The ducks in my tub.” He helped her to her feet and then over the edge of the tub.

“Uh-huh.”

“They’re whimsical because ducks have neither the need nor the ability to use umbrellas,” Jim said.

“Oh my gosh, I need to go to the emergency room,” Trixie said, clutching the towel to her body.

“I honestly don’t think you want to go dressed as you are, so we need to get you some clothes before we leave,” Jim said, wrapping his arm around her to help her back to her bedroom.

They went inside and Trixie sat on the edge of the bed as Jim rummaged through her clothes to find her something suitable to wear.

“Just grab me a pair of sweatpants and a hooded zipper sweatshirt,” Trixie said. “I’m not going to be able to move my arm to put on anything that goes on over my head.”

“Here,” Jim said reaching behind him with a pair of underwear and the sweatpants that she suggested.

She accepted the clothing for the lower part of her body and maneuvered to get it on unassisted. While Trixie was touched Jim was trying not to peek at her, being the true gentleman she knew him to be, she was a little hurt that he wasn’t trying to look at her body, causing her to wonder if she really wasn’t beautiful enough for him to look at.

“Okay,” Trixie said.

“I have a shirt for you to wear,” Jim said. “They will probably have you take off the sweatshirt and I know you don’t want to have your chest flapping in the wind.”

She knew he was right. “Okay. Now you’ve gotta help me get my arm into the sleeve.”

“Okay.” Jim turned to her and once again his eyes were closed.

He shuffled toward her with the shirt and reached for what he thinks is her arm.

Trixie bit her lip and glanced up at him with a smile on her face knowing he was going to be embarrassed. She asked, “Is that my arm?”

Jim patted it and then stopped. ”Doesn’t feel like an arm.”

“Then maybe you should let it go.”

“All righty.”

His face almost matched the color of his hair. Jim finally found her arm and assisted in getting her dressed. Once the shirt was on, she told him he could open his eyes.

She saw him squeeze them tightly shut. She knew he was uncomfortable with what had happened. She tugged his hand, pulling him down. Trixie gave him a kiss on the lips.

He opened his eyes when they broke apart, their gazes locked on one another.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Trixie said. “I know it was awkward, but you helped me. Like I said, if it had been Brian, he would have gone into doctor mode and lectured me while trying to help me and if it was Mart, the teasing would have been non-stop. Once again, you have proven what a gentleman you are to take care of me when I get into an unfortunate scrape.”

“That’s what couples do for one another,” Jim said.

“Exactly,” Trixie said. “But I think we need to go and get this tended to sooner rather than later. It really hurts and I don’t want it to be more serious.”

“Gotcha,” Jim said. “Let’s get your shoes on and off we will go.”

Trixie sat down on the bed and Jim got her sneakers on her feet. As he went to stand up, she kissed him again.

“You are definitely my prince.”

“Anything for my queen,” Jim said once he was upright. “And tomorrow I will go find something for the bottom of the tub. Maybe some crowns?”

“Whatever you want.”

Jim kept his arm around Trixie and they left the house together.

Author’s Notes: Once again I want to thank everyone for all of the support you have given me over the past two decades. I have so much fun being a Jix author and am honored with all the friends I have made during this time. Jix means family and we are always there for one another, through good times and bad. That means a lot to me.

This story was written for CWE #25 and incorporates elements from CWE #24 (Read a Book or Watch TV?).

I want to thank Jedi1ant for the edit and for Mary creating my page for this story. Your assistance is greatly appreciated as I celebrate my 20th Jixaversary (6/11/2022).

Graphics note: Images obtained from Google searches and used in accordance with stated usage rights; background image from pixabay.com.

Disclaimer: This is an unauthorized fan fiction site and is not affiliated with Random House in any way. No profit is being made from these pages.

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