Page 2 of Flyboy's Nightingale
Placing the pillow and cup of ice down, I reach out hugging her. “Thank you. You have no idea what your friendship means to me.”
“I have no idea what that was all about, but if you ever want to talk about it, or just, you know, hang out, I’m available,” she whispers to me.
“That means so much. I’m okay right now. I promise that I’ll reach out if I can’t handle it.” I feel like a bitch for lying to her.
I know that I should, and could call the girls to talk about everything, but I can’t. How do you tell the women that have come to mean so much to you, that you can’t reach out to them about what haunts you, when they live in the lifestyle that terrifies you?
Or the fact that if all their men were in the same room, at the same time, I would be a weeping puddle on the floor? Even if I’ve come to know that the men of their club would never lay a finger on me, or intentionally hurt me in any way. You can’t undo all the trauma and pain that stems from the past, in one fell swoop.
And until I can be honest with them, I have to keep them at a distance, for both their safety and mine.
The day I can hold it together anytime there are more than three men in a room, is the day I’ll finally know that I can make it at the clubhouse, just hanging out.
A squeeze on my arm lets me know that I’ve gone down the rabbit hole once again. I shake my head trying to dislodge all this menacing shit loose, focusing solely on what’s going on around me, and not the monsters lurking in the shadows.
I smile wide at her, and state, “I have to get to the emergency room for my shift. Please let me know if there are any changes.”
“Sweetie, we both know that if there are any changes, they will let you know before informing anyone else.” Lil’ Red grins, winking.
Returning her smile, I turn, leaving to go start my shift. I know I am setting myself up to be hurt. This can only end one of two ways. One, he doesn’t wake up, ever. Or two, he does, and still wants nothing to do with me, other than being his plaything—no better than a blow-up, sex doll.
Knowing I could never settle for being a plaything… well, never again anyway. I use my time in the elevator to bury the memories of that foul time in my life. Theyare notaround, and I left them behind—hundreds of miles away. They don’t know where I am, and I’ve been beyond careful to make sure of that, tiptoeing around so that they won’t have any reasons to find me.
I’m safe, happy, making friends, and doing what I love. I make it to the nurse’s station just as my best friend, Avery, comes stomping out of an exam room. She spots me, and the sweetest smile spreads across her face, letting me know that she wants something from me.
“I’ll buy you your ice coffee, every day for the next two weeks, if you take room four,” my best friend, Avery, begs, a pleading look bouncing around behind her eyes.
“Why in the heck would I do that? What are you not telling me?” I raise an eyebrow at her in a mocking manner.
“I don’t know, something about the guy just rubs me wrong. He’s a complete fucking tool, and the girl with him, is just too young. It’s just nasty. I can't do it,” she growls, glaring forebodingly at the door.
“Is he from here? What are they doing here?” I ask, shooting one question out after the other in rapid succession.
“No, they aren’t from around here. They were traveling to some resort, and he started to have chest pains. Little Miss, with him, got scared, and made him come here to get it checked. The ick factor is justwaytoo much for me. I just can’t do it. Please!” she begs, giving me huge, round, puppy dog eyes.
“I need more than coffee. Sweeten the deal, what else have you got for me?” I ask, bartering.
“Name the price, you wench. Tell me what it’ll take to keep me from having to go back in there with grandpa, and his jailbait.” Avery makes a crude face as she spits out the description, as she sees it, between the two.
“Coffee, massage, and you take my Saturday shift this week.” I wink, pulling the patient chart up on my tablet.
“Fine, you win. I will give you my first born if it means you’ll deal with the felony in that room!” she shouts.
I turn, looking at her with wide eyes, and chuckling, state, “Avery, you better not say shit like that. You’ll get us both fired!”
“You will completely understand when you get in there,” she reasons.
I shake my head, because this woman is a whole lot of crazy, wrapped in a tiny body. Whoever finally gets her to notice them, and give them the time of day, will have the time of their life. I look over the chart, taking in the information they gathered at intake. I give the door four swift knocks before pushing into the small room, determined to finish getting the data that’s needing to be entered before calling the doctor in here for an examination and diagnosis.
“Hi, I’m nurse Riley. Can you tell me what brings you into the ER tonight?” I question, still checking the chart in front of me.
“Ummm. Well, you see, we were on the way, like to the lake, for a long weekend, like when, my man, started having chest pains, with a really bad headache,” a high-pitched voice explains.
I barely stop the eye roll at her Valley-girl verbiage, before slapping a sincere smile on my face. When my eyes land on the couple in front of me, I’m barely able to stop the laugh from escaping after remembering Avery’s words. She is not wrong, theman in front of me is old enough to be the grandfather to the blonde, sitting next to him.
Something about the man is familiar to me, but I can’t put my finger on why.
“Can you tell me more about the chest pain, and what you were doing when it started? Also, let me know if this is the first time that this has happened.”
