Jennifer
Despite the obvious intentional slickness, Jared wasn’t a bad guy. Over the last few weeks of Frank’s hospital stay; he was polite and well-spoken. And through our conversations, I discovered he was surprisingly well-read. We shared the same love of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Naghuib Mahfouz. Even though he was calculating, there must be a heart in there somewhere. At least a literary one. His passion for romantic and nuanced novels proved it. At least to me. The steaming hot coffee he purchased warmed my hands. All the excitement this morning drained my energy. Four more patients smashed up from a bar fight came in last night. One of them coded this morning, narrowly escaping death. I needed a pick-me-up in the worst way. Bikers had been spotted in every bar on the city’s main strip, starting fights, yelling and harassing women. Some of the nurses that rotate between the intensive care unit and the emergency room were complaining about the influx of new patients. Someone was spreading violence and chaos, and no one was really sure why.
Jared and I started with our usual exchanged pleasantries and light conversation. But I wanted more. I asked him about the bikers.
“How long has this biker thing been going on?” I leaned in and touched his arm. He covered the bewilderment on his face quickly. I drew my hand back. Too much, too soon?
“Um, what biker thing?”
Surely, he’d heard on the news about the recent string of violent crime. “All of the fights and violent attacks. Or do you not watch the news?” I stuck my tongue out to let him know I was teasing.
“Oh, right. Yeah, I’m not sure what’s going on. It seems like someone is trying to shake up the status quo.”
“Shake things up is right. Violent crime has spiked fifteen percent in the last three months. The majority of it can be traced directly to one of the three local biker gangs.”
“One of three? You’re certainly up on biker trivia. I wouldn’t have pegged you for a ride or die.” His jeer was simultaneously disarming and annoying. He was confident he knew everything about me. I decided to give him a one up.
“Yeah, I’ve had experience with bikers. I’m not sure it lived up to the hype.”
“Experience, huh? What kind are we talking? Stand next to one in line at Starbucks?”
Nothing pissed me off more than some guy that thinks all women are either innocent flowers or sluts. It was time to take him down a peg. I leaned in and whispered, “Passionate experience.” Heat rose from his body and his smell invaded my nostrils; spicy, not too sweet, and warm. Why did this man seem familiar? Was it the familiarity of being around his brothers all day? I knew logically it could be that, but it felt like something deeper.
He nodded and winked. “Is that why you’re so offended by the violence? Feeling left out?” Jared winked deeply.
Pig. His sense of humor was awful. Crass. Offensive. Politically incorrect. Hilarious. I decided to tell the truth. “Maybe a little, you know. Someone is having lots of excitement getting their head bashed in during a bar fight and I’m sitting here doing the same thing day after day.” And I’m completely twisted. “But of course, I think what they’re doing is horrible. Fighting is unacceptable past the age of twelve.” Where did that come from? I sounded like a snotty twat. Was I afraid he would see me in a certain light? I hated when I self-corrected like this. Whenever I let a little of myself show, I felt naked, exposed. Jared leaned in and whispered in my ear.
“I won’t tell anyone you’re not a good girl.” His breath tingled and his words gave me a strange feeling. It’s almost as if he was listening to my thoughts. When was the last time I had that type of effortless comradery with someone? A connection unbound by the expectations of adulthood. Like the friends you make in your first year of high school, before you learn betrayal and social ladders. But this was not something I should get used to. Tim knows where I am. Although I had not heard from him, I knew it was only a matter of time. After the window incident, I installed bars and new locks. I was still deciding on whether to invest in a security alarm system. A knife under my pillow allowed me to fall asleep. I was getting on with my life, but I knew I was building on sand. Things weren’t going to last. And I had to be ready to move at a moment’s notice.
In fact, even in the hospital I was always being hunted. It was a part of the job. Getting enough time to eat an actual lunch was difficult. Most likely, someone was looking for me. A ten-minute break was about the most that I could hope for during my shift. I used to love lingering meals with wine and conversation. Now, I choked down my food like a seagull midair. Right now, I was hiding out because I needed to de-stress. Behind the hospital, there is a bench that the staff uses to sit and smoke. I brought Jared out here because I needed to get some fresh air to let out some of this toxic energy built up behind my eyes. The hospital can be suffocating sometimes. As well as the staff’s nosiness. And on top of that, the last thing I wanted was for someone to see us together and draw conclusions. What if those rumors got back to Tim? Or Frank even. Things got crazy around the hospital, but there were still some lines that we weren’t supposed to cross. And getting too close to a patient or his family would cross one of those lines. The hospital didn’t tolerate shenanigans. Show up. Do your job. Save lives. Those were the rules. Although our relationship was exclusively friendly, the sexual chemistry was palpable. His brothers stirred something in me. Something that I hadn’t felt in a long time. Something I wanted to hold on to with a claw or fist if needed.
“Thanks for agreeing to have coffee with me. It’s hard for me to see my brother like that. He’s after all technically older.” Jared’s face was somber. He must be excellent at playing poker. That man has one hell of a bluff. A moment ago I caught him looking at pictures of half dressed women on his phone. He wasn’t that concerned, but I understood why he felt the need to play the part. Don’t we all have a role to perform?
“By a minute?” Although I missed it at first, I later discovered that they were triplets. It was something I teased Jared about quite frequently. Triplets in the movies always look and sound alike. Sometimes they even dress in similar outfits. They looked more alike than your average brothers, but they still were distinctly individuals. For some reason, the fact that I noticed that excited Jared. He seemed confused that I could see their similarities and differences so clearly.
“Two and a half actually.” His laughter poured out, genuine and warm. So much for being broken up about your brother’s injuries. That’s not fair. Joy and pain can coexist.
“Well, well. Out of all the hospitals in all the neighborhoods in all the cities in the world, you had to walk into mine.” A voice from behind us boomed. We both turned around to face the speaker.
“Hi Wes! How are you?” I chirped. Over our time together, Wes and I played a game of who could sneak the most movie lines into a normal conversation. Usually, he won. Once I got a look at Wes’s face, I froze. He looked furious.
His face was purple. Several veins bulged out of the side of his neck. He looked like he was ready to murder someone. Fear clutched my chest. Did something happen to Frank while I was out here playing with his brother? I sprung to my feet, sloshing the coffee all over myself. “Shit!”
Both brothers jumped to my side. Wes spoke first. “Are you okay?”
He looked concerned. My heart clanged in my chest. His anger stirred something p
rimal within me, a physiological response. Was I that ingrained to be afraid of men...or was it because seeing Wes angry was so unexpected? “Yeah. Luckily the coffee had a chance to cool off for a while. I’m still going to have to change my scrubs. What’s wrong? Are you okay? How’s Frank?”
Wes slammed down the coffee carrier in his arms. More coffee sloshed everywhere. He brought all of us coffee. The label said, “Death Wish Brewery”, my favorite coffee shop. That was ages out of the way. Could that be why he was upset? He made a special trip, but it isn’t like he told us about it.
“Frank’s fine. He told me you two left in a hurry together. I walked all over the hospital looking for you. The coffee’s cold now.” He spat. Wes was staring directly at Jared. The two locked eyes, the heat emanating from their gazes. I was not going to get involved in a brotherly pissing contest. I shouldn’t have been out here in the first place. This wasn’t my job. It was time to go.
“I’m sorry, I’ve gotta run otherwise I’m going to be late.” I waved at them both and sprinted into the hospital doors. Whatever nerve Jared had stepped on, I had nothing to do with it. Could Wes be jealous? I guess that would be reasonable considering I was spending alone time with his brother. Perhaps, I needed to smooth things over. As I waited for the elevator, I pondered how I could make it up to Wes. Flirt with him aggressively in front of Jared? I didn’t want to do that in front of Frank though. Get him a little gift? That’s only going to circle the jealousy back the other way. I speed walked to the locker rooms from the elevator. What was I doing? You’re supposed to detach, not get in deeper. The only way you can get out of this with your dignity intact is to do it quickly and now. Before anyone gets hurt. You don’t want to hurt them, but you can’t choose. Choosing a favorite brother would be like choosing a favorite ice cream flavor. It would be a crime to pretend I didn’t want to taste the other flavors. When I finished changing my scrubs and started to make my rounds, my phone beeped. Stop flirting. You’re going to get yourself into trouble. Simple is better. Safer. My phone had one new text message. I didn’t recognize the number.
Don’t be mad at Kara. She just wants to make sure our incredibly witty conversation can carry on uninterrupted.
At first, I didn’t understand the message. Was this supposed to be for me? And then it hit me. Whoever this was is claiming that they got my number from Kara. No way. Who in the hell was this? After a few seconds, I smiled. It had to be Jared. There was only one person that could talk Kara into something. But, I still knew Kara better than that. Kara giving up my digits to a patient’s family, even one as attractive and charming as Jared? There’s not a chance that happened. How the hell did he get my number? Even though I knew I should ignore it, that message was too tempting to resist.