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Myles watched Jessica as the doctor spoke. He noted the way her eyes lit up when she realized she hadn’t been found out. Give an inch, they take a mile. “Can I have something for my head?” she asked. “I must have hit it when I went down…”
The doctor checked the chart again. “Absolutely. I’ll call down to the pharmacy and order something up. In the meantime, we’ll probably keep you here for another hour or so for observation. Just to make sure.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea, doc? The medication, I mean. I wouldn’t want to mask the symptoms if there were an underlying condition.”
The woman gave a hard smile. Clearly, no one questioned her authority either. “That’s a very valid concern. But I’m just prescribing a little something to take the edge off. Mrs. Clemens has been through a lot this morning. The stress of it is likely contributing to the headache.”
Myles nodded. “I see.”
He watched Jessica’s face as his suggestion was shot down. When the doctor pulled the curtain, Jessica winked at him. She held his gaze. “I guess it really is just like you said… it’s pretty amazing how everything comes so easily for me.”
Myles watched her lips as she spoke and imagined giving her a little something to quiet that smart mouth of hers.
Instead, he shook his head and decided that suddenly, he too, needed something to take the edge off.
There’s a certain look a person has in their eye that always tells him they also suffer from what ails him. It could be loneliness, it could be pain—sometimes it was boredom… but whatever it was, he learned to spot it a mile away.
Today it happened to be a nurse restocking hospital rooms. As Myles walked the corridors under the guise of searching for coffee, he noticed her immediately. He noticed right away the way she met his eye and then looked at the floor before looking back up at him again. A sign of submission. He passed her up and then turned back and asked for directions to the cafeteria. A mere ten minutes and a small chat later, he had her bent over a shelf in the supply closet, his hand covering her mouth. When they’d both finished, he watched her re-dress as he disposed of the condom in the appropriate medical waste container. He’d always had a thing for nurses. He straightened himself up and refastened his belt, and then he leaned in and kissed her forehead, telling her that they should meet again. Knowing they never would.
Myles didn’t wait for her to respond. He turned the lock and pushed the door open just slightly.
“You go first,” he’d whispered ushering her out. “I’ll wait here for a minute.”
The girl smiled. This wasn’t her first rodeo.
Satisfied, albeit temporarily, he tucked in his shirt and exited shortly behind her.
Once he was in the clear, he stopped and leaned against the wall. He cleared his mind before making his way back down to the emergency room. He may make risky choices, but at least he was always safe. He had nothing left to lose anyway. And he could stop anytime he wanted to.
This was more than he could say for that boss of his.
“What the hell happened to you?” she’d asked when he returned, her tone giving everything away. Women always knew. He figured they smelled it.
Myles cocked his head to the side and looked her up and down. “I’d ask you the same thing, but I’m afraid I already know.”
They both had their secrets—he was simply better at hiding his. But in her defense, she was smarter than he’d given her credit for. Don’t get too close, he reminded himself. History always repeats itself.
She frowned. “You look like you just ran a marathon…”
He flashed the best shit-eating grin he could muster. “Maybe I did.”
Chapter Nine
“Declined?” She asked.
“Yes ma’am, I’ve tried it twice.”
Jessica dug through her handbag and reached into her wallet. “Here, try this one.”
The clerk gave her a look that was somewhere between sympathy and annoyance.
Jess touched the items she had placed on the counter and then looked back over at Myles, who was sitting in an oversized chair rubbing at his temples. He’d been her permanent sidekick, much to both of their disappointment, ever since the Yoga incident. Jess couldn’t help but notice how unhappy he looked, and wondered how long they would both be able to keep thi
s up. She was a danger—not only to herself but to her children as well, a message her husband, mother, and best friend had so gently delivered a few days following her trip to the emergency room. Her husband by way of Skype. Who hosts an intervention via Skype? Jess had asked Myles at one point. She wasn’t certain, but she was pretty sure he’d whispered, “Pussies, that’s who,” under his breath.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Clemens. This one isn’t working either. We are able to hold your items for up to twenty-four hours…”
“She’s holding up the line,” a young twenty-something said aloud as though Jess herself wasn’t aware of this fact and couldn’t hear her. “But don’t worry. She probably has another one to pull out, as if no one around here has anywhere to be,” the girl continued. A few fellow shoppers murmured similar sentiments. Most just stared.
