Selling SunsetstarAmanza Smithwasn’t looking for love during her month-long hospital stay from a spine infection, but love found her anyway.
“I had tubes coming out of me — oxygen and an IV, one in my arm, one in my hand, and a catheter,” she tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue.
While longtime friends andSelling Sunsetcostars, includingMary BonnetandJasonandBrett Oppenheimvisited, a newer friend came to visit as well. A short time before she fell ill, Smith was introduced to David LaQua, an international land developer.
When LaQua, 44, learned Smith was hospitalized, he showed up with a card and a bouquet of flowers. “He saw me at my worst,” she says. “It wasn’t about me looking hot, having fancy dinner dates or prancing around at lavish events.” They shared their first kiss in her hospital bed while watching a movie.
Courtesy Amanza Smith

A few days later, after Smith’s first surgery, LaQua, who came to see her everyday she was in the hospital, suggested a “sexy vending machine date.”
“Sometimes a vending machine cinnamon roll sounds better than anything they can offer you, but they won’t get it for you,” she explains.
LaQua showed up in a sports coat; Smith wore a Skims dress with her house slippers. He helped support her as they walked hand-in-hand down the hall where they bought “a bunch of junk food” and went back to her room to watch movies.
“He showed up like Superman,” she adds. “That’s what it feels like to have someone take care of you. I don’t think I’ve had that ever, not even in my marriage.”
Amanza Smith/Instagram

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“I had just been on my high horse about not needing a man,” Smith says. “But sometimes you don’t realize you need something until you get it. Then you’re like, holy sh–, this feels really good.”
For more on Amanza Smith, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribehere.
source: people.com