NURSING HIM BACK TO HEALTH
Ivy had just gotten home from the hospital when she called Clarissa on her cell.
It was an early Saturday evening in mid-July. Ivy had gotten a call at work from her mother telling her that her brother Bret was in surgery after a collision in a baseball game that afternoon. Ivy managed a clothing store and left immediately to meet her parents at the hospital. After several hours waiting around they learned that Bret had serious leg problems and would be laid up for a while. His ankle was broken and his knee was too, or damn close, the X-rays were inconclusive. But if it wasn't broken it was bent, wrenched, torn, turned, strained, sprained, hyper-extended and seriously fucked up. After surgery Bret was half asleep and flying high, so once his family members learned he was okay they left the hospital and headed home. They would go back in the morning.
"Hey, girlfriend," Ivy said when Clarissa answered her phone. "Breaking news, no pun intended. Guess who's been admitted to the hospital on your floor?"
"Who?"
"My little brother."
"Get out. Really?"
"You're on four south, right? Orthopedics?"
"Of course."
"Well, we just got back home after a few hours in the waiting room and then they put him in your unit. I didn't see you, though."
"I'm on nights this week. What happened?"
"Don't know all the details. He was playing ball and had a collision with another player. The other guy was okay. Bret went to the hospital."
"I go in at eleven. I will check on him overnight."
"I'm sure you will," Ivy said.
----
Ivy and Clarissa were both now twenty-eight years old, had been best friends since first grade. They went through elementary school, middle school and high school together, close as could be, thick as thieves, despite their differences. Both were slim, curvy and attractive, Ivy white-skinned and blond, while Clarissa had black hair with olive skin, the daughter of a Lebanese dad and a raven-haired American mom.
They went on to different universities. Clarissa achieved a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and was now an RN on the orthopedic unit at the community hospital. Ivy wanted to be a writer, majored in English, and had published several short stories. She managed a retail clothing store to pay the bills while writing in her spare time, mostly short stories, but hoping to write a novel.
They grew up together. Did everything together. Double-dated for the Prom. Told each other everything. And over the years Clarissa had always felt, and had told Ivy numerous times, that she thought her little brother Bret was cute, even though he was seven years younger. Seven years is a huge age difference when you are kids, with no mutual friends, seems almost like different generations. But that was then; now they weren't kids anymore.
----
Bret has grown into a damn good-looking young man, was Clarissa's first thought when she saw him there, although all she could see of him was his tired, handsome face, mussed blond hair and broad shoulders. He had a single room, and was lying in the hospital bed, mostly covered up with his right leg elevated in a soft cast that went from his foot up to six inches above his knee. He looked like he was dozing.
"Hello, Bret?"
He looked up at this nurse at his bedside wearing green scrubs, a good-looking gal with a thin face, dark complexion and her black hair tied back. "Yes..."
"I'm your night nurse. Remember me?" she said, and pointed to her name tag.
"Clarissa!" he said with a smile, and tried to sit up a little straighter. "God, I haven't seen you for years."
"I know, it's been a long time. Ivy called me when you were admitted. Told me to take good care of you."
"Everybody's been great so far."
"That's good to hear. Mind if I sit with you for a few minutes?" she asked.
"Not at all. I could use the company. It's hard to sleep anyway with the buzzers and beepers and the blood pressure cuff squeezing my arm like a vise every hour."
Clarissa pulled a chair up beside his bed. "So what happened to you? A little mishap on the ball field?"
"You could say that. I'm a pitcher on my college team, but the coaches like us to play summer ball too, you know, to keep in shape, so I've been playing on this semi-pro team. We had a double-header down at the sports park. I pitched the first game, that went well, we won 4-2, but in the second game they put me in at second base. I hadn't played infield since high school, and back then I played shortstop, not second, so I was out-of-position. Anyway this big black guy who was at bat took a big swing and hit a little dribbler between the pitcher's mound and the first base line. The first baseman charged the ball so I had to cover first. I got my footwork all screwed up and collided with this huge guy running full speed down the baseline and we bashed knees. Felt like I was hit by a truck. I got flipped head-over-heels and came down hard on my leg. He got up, but when I tried to stand up I fainted. Ended up here, and I'll be here a few days. My knee is all fucked up. So is my ankle."
"I know. I read your chart."
"So, the rest of my summer is officially down the tubes. I'll be sitting on my ass for a few weeks and then rehab. Ugh."
"You are young and healthy. I wouldn't be surprised to find that you are a fast healer."
"Hope so. I'm off to a good start. I have a good night nurse. Good looking too."
Clarissa smiled shyly, blushed. "Thank you," she said.
"I'm serious, Clarissa. You really look good. And want to know a secret?"
"What's that?"
"I always had a crush on you."
Clarissa was silent, didn't know what to say. Had Ivy told him that she had told her that she thought he was cute all those years ago?
"You had a crush on me? But you were..."
"I know, I was just a dumb kid. I was like nine or ten when you and Ivy were in high school. I know it sounds ridiculous, that's why I never told anyone."
"Well, I heard that by the time you got to high school, you were beating the girls off with a stick."
"Nah, not really. Just nasty rumors," he said with a grin.
They talked for a while, reminiscing and laughing about the old days. He told her some college stories, she told him some hospital stories. The conversation flowed easily, no effort at all. Finally Clarissa glanced at her watch.
"Well, I better get back to work," she said, and stood up and slid her chair back to its original spot. "I'll check on you later."
"Okay, thanks for coming by, it was nice talking to you. My door is always open."
She chuckled and said, "I'll remember that. Bye," and left the room.
She checked on him in the middle of the night and he was sound asleep. In the morning at the end of her shift, she looked in on him again and he was awake. She said goodbye and told him she would see him that night when she came back to work.
"Sounds good. My door is always open" he said again, and they shared smiles.
He's still awful damn cute, Clarissa thought to herself, as she walked to the nurse's station.
----
The next evening Clarissa was anxious to get to the hospital and go to work. Night shifts were always low-key and made for easy work because the patients were winding down and ready for bed, and most slept through the night and needed minimal attention. That was one of the reasons she didn't mind rotating to nights, because the work was easy, usually stress-free unless some kind of emergency arose, and with the pay differential she earned extra money. But none of that was what made her anxious to get to work.
She was anxious to see Bret. Preparing to go to work, she found herself applying a touch of eye makeup and a dab of lip gloss, which she rarely wore on her job. But she'd thought of him throughout the day, how attractive he was, and how well-spoken he was. Their conversation had been so natural, she could have talked to him for hours. And he said he always had a crush on her. Does he still? She knew it was crazy, he's only twenty-one years old, seven years younger. He was in Little League when I went off to college for God's sake, she thought.
Clarissa got to her floor early, and went to see Bret. He grinned broadly and was obviously glad to see her.
"How are you feeling tonight, Honey?"
"I'm doing okay," he said. "Got poked and prodded by doctors all day, and they're optimistic, said there may be hope for me yet. Plus, I had a bath. That was badly needed. I feel almost human."
"That's good, Bret," she said. "You sound good. Did your family visit you today?"
"Oh, yeah. My parents came in the morning. Mom stayed most of day, but my Dad left to play golf. Ivy stopped by for a few minutes this afternoon, plus a couple of my buddies."
"Everybody is concerned. They care about you."
"Yeah, I know. I told them not to worry, because I'm getting top notch care and my night nurse if off the charts."
Then, that cute grin of his. It practically melted her, Clarissa was smitten. How can I feel this way?, she wondered, I've known this guy since he was a little kid. She pulled the same chair up to his bedside and had a seat. They talked for a while, more easy, effortless stream-of-consciousness conversation, with a few memories, a few laughs, and a couple of flirts. Then she told him she had to punch in and catch up, but once she made her rounds and could take a break she'd be back to see him.
She got caught up in work for the next three hours, but her mind was often on Bret. And some of the thoughts she was having about him surprised her. And no doubt they would surprise Ivy too.
It was nearly three a.m. when she went back to check on him. She stood beside the bed and watched him sleep for a minute. The light was still on, and a paperback book was on the mattress next to him. She picked up the book and put it on the bedside table, dimmed the light and retook her seat beside him. Then she noticed something.
The hospital gown he wore was loose, he had evidently untied it behind him for comfort and the thin fabric was resting on his groin. Clarissa let out a little gasp when she noticed the shape that the cloth was sheathing. It was unmistakable: Bret had an erection, and it looked to be of good size. Clarissa resisted the urge to reach out and touch it.
Then the blood pressure cuff on Bret's arm went into action, pumping and hissing and squeezing as it did every hour, and he woke up. When he saw Clarissa sitting beside him he smiled.
"Hello," she said.
