Perilous Assurance

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  Mattie pulled the stopper up, and pushed the rubber nozzle up onto the spigot, and as the water swirled down the drain, leaned her head down in front of her, and sprayed the shampoo out of her hair with the hot water from the rubber hose attachment. She hadn't realized how sore she was from the riding this morning. She rinsed herself off, then cut off the faucet and twisted the water out of her hair. The hot water had felt so good. She sighed as she reached for the white towel on the chair next to the tub, and wrapped it securely around her head, then scooted herself up and sat on the edge of the tub, maneuvering herself onto the towel-covered chair. She grabbed a third towel and dried herself off, then leaned over and towel-dried her hair. She turned and hung the two damp towels neatly on a drying rack behind her, then reached for the crutches and held them under her arms as she stood and made her way back into her bedroom. After pulling on her underwear, she bandaged the stump, then pulled the sock up over that, and thought about what she wanted to wear as she attached the prosthetic, and pulled the corset above her knee. Hmm...she knew. Her full-length, loose black skirt and long-sleeved, rust pullover peasant blouse with the beaded embellishment on the rounded neckline, and of course, her brown boots. That would be perfect. Ten minutes later, she peered at her slim figure in the full-length mirror on the back of the closet door, as she knotted the tie around her waist. Not bad. She went into the bathroom, and brushed her hair, leaving it long, and she inserted the dangling gold, rust and turquoise earrings. She applied a bit of powder to her face, mainly to camouflage the light smattering of freckles that still lingered, and added some gloss to her cheeks and lips. There, she was done. She smiled at herself in the mirror, and saw that her eyes were clear, and she sighed, remembering the feel of his bearded cheek against hers and the warmth of his kiss and her heart raced for a moment as she realized how much she was looking forward to seeing him again.