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* * *
By the next afternoon,I’d finished cleaning my one-bedroom apartment thoroughly after having gone for a long run and realized it was getting late in the day. I’d done both activities in the hopes I could push aside thoughts of Colby taking a date out tonight, but it wasn’t working. Did he ever have a night out with a woman that didn’t involve sex? The odds didn’t stack in my favor. And what did I have planned at the moment? I resolved that it would not be another Hostess-filled night capped off with Captain Crunch. Nope. I had a mission.
After putting on some makeup and cute clothes, I drove to the grocery store, where I bought a nice bottle of Pinot Noir. The second half of the wine-vibrator expedition, however, involved using Google maps to locate my next destination.
Two minutes inside Pleasure Palace made me realize the purchase decision involving a vibrator was a lot more complicated than I could’ve ever imagined. Looking at the large assortment on the wall, I was at a complete loss for words. Big, small, flesh colored, red-white-and-blue with—huh, were those sparkles? I was looking closer at one, in particular, when the sales person came up beside me.
“Ah, that’s the Star-Spangled Bang-Her edition,” she offered.
She’d said it so matter-of-factly that I had to bite my lip to keep from giggling. “Right. Do you have any recommendations?” That was a normal thing to ask, right?
“Depends on what you’re looking for. Clitoral stimulation, vaginal, both, or double penetration? If your partner is a woman, we have quite a few strap-on varieties. Or if your man enjoys it up the a—”
“Okay, I get the picture.” And, boy, did I. Suddenly, I was in a hurry. I should’ve ordered online or gone with a girlfriend after drinks instead of standing here trying to get images out of my head of the Star-Spangled Bang-Her doing a patriotic duty on anyone. “Um, how about clitoral stimulation that’s somewhat discreet?” Then I could shove it in my bag and be out of here.
“Sure. Over here.” She picked out an egg-shaped one, and I quickly took it to the register. Just like that, I was the proud owner of a baby vibrator. Putting my new-found purchase in my purse, I stepped out onto the sidewalk and began to walk toward where I’d parked a block away.
Lifting my face toward the sun, which would set in a couple of hours, I thought about how much I loved Southern California. I took a deep breath, enjoying the warm night until the scream broke me out of the moment. As if in slow motion in a nightmare sequence, there was a car heading straight for me on the sidewalk. It was the last thing I remembered.
* * *
As I lay there fightingthe pain and nausea, trying to figure out where I was and what had happened, I recalled standing on the sidewalk and then the car coming toward me. It had appeared out of nowhere. One moment it was on the road, the next it had jumped the curb and veered right at me. Considering the amount of pain I was in, it was a good guess I’d survived.
Opening my eyes, I glanced around the small room in which I found myself. There were machines to my left, and when I lifted up my hand, I realized I was hooked up to an IV pole. To the right was a window which revealed the outside world and the fact it was nighttime. Turning toward the sound of footsteps coming in through the door, I saw an older gentleman with gray hair and glasses in a white doctor’s jacket.
“Excellent, you’re awake. Can you tell me your name, miss?”
I licked my dry lips. “Yeah. It’s McKenzie Lane.”
He smiled kindly. “Good. Ms. Lane, I’m Doctor Winters. You were brought in via ambulance to the ER here at Cedars-Sinai Hospital about three hours ago. You were hit by a vehicle on the sidewalk and injured. Nothing is life-threatening, but you’ve sustained a couple of cracked ribs, a fractured wrist, broken ankle, and some deep lacerations on your legs.”
Flashes came back to me of the chaos and people gathering around me. Of the fuzzy ambulance ride and then doctors working on me like a pit crew for a race car after arriving in the ER.
“We had to do surgery on your ankle, but the break was clean. The metal plate we screwed in will help it heal faster, and we’ll cast your wrist now that you’re awake. I don’t have a lot of information about the driver, but you’re one of three who came in here.”
“Did everyone make it?” The tears welled up thinking about how lucky I’d been.
“Yes, as far as I know. I’m confident the police will be here first thing in the morning to take your statement. They’ll be able to provide more information then. In the meantime, you’ll need to stay at least tonight. We need to do a CT scan in order to be on the safe side about any possible head injuries. Do you have a headache currently?”
“I do, but it’s not bad. Maybe from the throbbing in my wrist and ankle.”
He nodded, making some notes in my chart. “That’s fortunate, but we’ll take you for a scan in a few minutes to be sure. Do you have someone you can call?”
“Yes. Did anyone bring my purse? My phone is in there.”
“I believe so. I’ll get the nurse, and she can assist you. I’ll return in a couple hours to check on you. Try to get some rest.”
I lay my head back on the pillow, wondering what time it was and how long before the nurse would come in. Thankfully, it only took a minute.
“Hi, honey. My name is Nurse Charlotte.”
“I’m Kenzie. Nice to meet you,” I replied, watching her bustle around the room. She appeared to be in her fifties, had curly hair and a nice smile.
“How you feeling?”
“Okay, I guess, considering.”
“The paramedics brought your purse in with you. Is your phone inside?”
