“Johnnie Walker will be the end of me,” I said, acknowledging the hangover-induced headache after all the spirits I’d consumed over the past two days. It was Sunday morning, and I’d been with Ariana since Friday after “the meeting.”
“Baby, are you leaving?” Katrina said in her thick Russian accent. It was one of the sexiest things about her, and I loved it, but not enough to start a relationship. I wasn’t ready to settle with any one woman. Every woman I met only seemed to stimulate me sexually. I had yet to come across one that was able to stimulate my head or heart.
“Yep, you know the drill. Gotta go. Tomorrow is Monday, and I've gotta get to work early,” I said, getting dressed quickly.
“Don't you, like, own the company? I want to spend a little more time with my man,” Katrina whined.
“The company belongs to my father, and I am not your man, Katrina. We’re just having fun; you know that. Please, don't make this weird,” I said, picking up my watch and my bracelet.
“Baby—” Katrina started, but I interrupted her.
“I’ll call you, okay?” I said, walking out of her apartment. “Aahh,” I exhaled as I sat down in the Ferrari. My head was pounding, and I needed to get home and have Anderson, our butler, make me a cup of that hot Chinese tea he usually prepared when I had a hangover. It always worked like magic. I honestly wished I had more time to relax at Katrina’s apartment before I had to head out, but Katrina wouldn’t let me catch a break. I couldn’t even sit in my car and catch my breath. The crazy thing was that Katrina had a habit of watching the road to see when I left, and if she didn't see my car driving away, she’d come running down to check on me.
“All right,” I said, “let's get to it.” I started the car and tried to pull my hair back off my face; it was such a hot mess. I felt disoriented and was just ready to get home. I stepped on the accelerator and sped out of the parking garage.
***
“Oh, my goodness, Brian,” Mom said frantically. “Are you alright? How do you feel? Can you speak?” I opened my eyes to see her, Dad, Chris, and Carson. They looked both terrified and relieved at the same time.
“Argh! Damn it!” I screamed and tried to sit up in bed. There was a sharp pain in my left leg that hurt like hell. “Relax, honey. Take it easy,” Mom said.
“Take it easy, Brian,” Dad added.
I did as they advised. I leaned back, looked around, and saw “Blue Lilly Hospital” written on my pillow. “I’m in the hospital? What happened?” I asked, trying to recall the last thing that had happened before I woke up, but I couldn’t even remember going to sleep.
“Wait—did I have an accident?” I asked, trying to confirm the obvious.
Carson responded by telling me I was involved in a car crash. According to reports, I had been driving at an insanely high speed, lost control of the car, and ran into a light pole. I shuddered when Carson narrated what had happened to me.
“And my leg—what’s wrong with it? Is it broken? Will I walk again? I can't be a cripple—what’s going to happen?” I panicked.
“Take it easy, Brian. You fractured a few bones. The doctor said you'll be fine after watching it closely and some physiotherapy. As a matter of fact, the accident knocked you out, but your leg is the only real indication you’ve even been in an accident.
You’re going home tomorrow,” Chris said. His words were the most comforting thing I’d heard since I woke up. It made me wonder why everyone had seemed so worried, but I guess it was only natural for them to worry.
“Oh, thank goodness,” I said, lying back down. As I started to relax, the pain reduced immediately. It wasn't serious, and that was good news. I hated hospitals, so I was happy to hear I would soon be on my way home.
“Sorry about the car, Pops.” I knew how much my dad loved that car. He’d had it custom-designed, and I’d crashed it after a “happy weekend.”
“It's fine, Brian. Just get better soon. I'll go tell the doctor you’re awake now so we can proceed with the paperwork for your discharge,” Dad said as he left the room.
Arianna
“With all due respect, Mr. Burns, I wouldn't have even responded to your call if my friend Claudia here hadn’t talked me into it. I just wanted to forget about anything that had to do with you or your father,” I said angrily as the doctor pleaded with me to have a seat. After the incident with the old man on Friday, I left the doctor's house, vowing never to return. I’d texted the doctor to tell him what had happened.
He immediately tried to contact me, but I hadn’t taken any of his calls. He kept texting and calling, and I think he probably would have come to visit if he’d known where I lived.
Claudia finally convinced me to take his call. She said that he was not his father, and he should not have to suffer for his father's misdemeanors, so I finally answered the call on Monday, and Dr. Burns asked me to come see him at the hospital. Claudia offered to go with me when she saw how pissed I was.
“And I’m thankful that she convinced you to talk to me. I’d like to apologize for my father's unruly and totally unacceptable behavior. This is something I've never seen from him. Please, I don’t want our relationship to end in this manner.” Dr. Burns seemed genuinely to want to make amends.
“He didn't even feel bad when I asked him what he was doing,” I said, and then I expressed my disgust at the situation again.
“Ariana, please take it easy,” Claudia whispered. I don’t think she’d ever seen me that pissed.
“I apologize, Miss Smithson, and I want to make it up to you by offering you another job that pays significantly higher.” The doctor paused and raised a finger as if to stop me from interrupting him. “One where your duties will strictly adhere to the job description. They have a house staff and everything, so you will be working only as a nurse this time,” the doctor concluded.
“House staff? You want me to go to work in another house? No, no, no. It'll be another case of crazy. No offense, Dr. Burns, but I'm not dealing with another strange old man,” I said.