"Carl, I gotta call Michael. I'm worried sick about our babysitter not being here yet." Abigail told her husband. "Did you call her back?" Carl asked.
"Well she said she'd be on her way. And usually she's fast. In twenty minutes we gotta leave or we'll be late. She has to be here by now."
"Ok, get Michael," Carl said as he fixed the bow tie of his tuxedo before the dresser mirror.
She punched the numbers on the phone and a male voice came through after one ring. "Michael, you're aunt Abby."
"Oh hi auntie how are you?" Michael said.
"I'm fine, thanks. Sorry to bother you in such short notice. I need a favor from you Michael? The babysitter I hired this evening is not here yet. I wonder what happened to her. You're uncle and I have a very important occasion to attend to and we need someone to stay in the house to watch over the kids? Would you come here please. Anyway they're on the bed right now and sleeping. We'll be home past 1 am I suppose."
"No problem, auntie I can come right away. I've nothing important to do tonight. I'll see you in around 10 minutes."
"Oh terrific. Thank you very much Michael. You're a darling. I'll just give you what I have to give to that babysitter."
"Keep it, auntie, I'm cool."
"No Michael I insist, I can pay even more."
"Alright Auntie if that'll make you feel good."
"Good, take care Michael," she said sighing a feeling of relief and hung up.
Later after 10 minutes Michael arrived in his motorbike.
"Auntie, you look gorgeous!" Michael said as he buzzed her on the cheek when they met at the doorway.
"Hmmmwhaa! Good of you to make it," she said kissing the air by his face so as not to smudge him with lipstick. "If the babysitter arrives then it's up to you to stay or not. The money is under that lamp."
"I'll stay if the baby-sitter is beautiful," he said as he walked in the house with Abby.
"Well, she is! But don't let the devil get into you. She's a sweet, sweet girl and I like her very much and so I'm really worried why she hasn't arrived yet. Be nice to her Michael if she ever comes in."
"I will."
"Promise?"
"Oh auntie, you worry too much."
"Oh I just hope nothing happened to that girl on her way here."
"Oh there you are Michael. Thanks a lot for coming. I really appreciate it having you here. How are you doing?" Carl said showing up and grasping his arm and shaking his hand.
"Fine, uncle. Looks like this is some big night happening."
"You could say that. Buzz me in case of any emergency. The number is attached on the fridge door. I need a man rather than that little girl 'cos we're coming home quite late."
"Of course. Have a nice evening uncle," Michael said and Carl nodded approvingly.
"Carl we better run along now, Michael you know your way around just feel at home ok?" Abby came back in putting a shawl over her elegant evening gown.
"Sure, sure auntie. I'll be fine here and I'll check on Bobby and Maryanne from time to time."
Five minutes after their Volvo sped away the doorbell rang. Michael peered into the peephole of the door and recognized a girl with long, curly dark hair. He opened the door. "So you are the baby sitter?" he said with a spurt of surprise as she looked familiar.
"Guilty. I see that I have a replacement?"
"God, what happened to you?"
"I had an accident down the road. Two cars were chasing each other and I avoided them. My bike fell off the ravine and I was thrown out down a creek. I'm bleeding. Something pricked my bottom."
"Oh yes, you are. Come in, come in. Any other injury?"
"Just some other scratches," she said cutting her glance to the side of her bottom where it bled the most.
"Uncle is a doctor, we can find some medicine to fix that."
"So you're the nephew. I can recognize you. We're from the same school right?" she said as she walked right in and then collapsed down to the floor."
"Yeah, I see you around in the campus. I'm Michael," he said and as he turned around he heard a thud. "Geez, what's hap...!"
Michael crouched down to the floor. "Hey, hey, snap out of it. C'mon don't die on me here." Michael said cradling the back of her head and holding her face thrashing it side by side by her chin. Her eyes were half-closed and only the whites showed.
The girl was pretty. Her hair was a mess damped with mud and her hooded velour heather gray top suit were torn at some places. Her jeans were mixed with mud and blood that ran from around her hip.
"Should I call 911?" he muttered to himself as she was not responding. Instinctively, he placed his ear on her chest while grabbing her wrist and sensing a pulse. "She just might have fainted. Oh, Christ what'll I have to do? I'm dumb in this kind of situation. Splash her with water? Carry her to the sofa? And soil it with blood?"
Michael thought hard. Still down on the floor, he raised one knee and rested his elbow there with his thumb between his teeth and took a once over look at her crumpled body on the blue carpet. The velour top she wore supplied his assumption that she was not wearing a bra underneath.
"Guess I'm a bit lucky tonight. I could check her boobs," he muttered leering privately to himself. Between her drawn up hooded top and jeans circling low about her waist, her stomach and navel showed. Suddenly he was tempted to unzip her top and his hands went into action. Nervously, he choked on his drool as he carefully negotiated with the zipper.
Finally. "Oh, Christ these are pin-up boobs!" He looked at those fulsome pair warily and he was glad they were not damaged. He bent down his head and smelled the flesh of her boobs letting the point of his nose rubbed on the sleeping rosy nipple. "Hmmm, she smells like a baby." Then he heard a muffled moan from her and quickly pulled back the zipper. "Oh babe, I'm sorry I..." he uttered startlingly as he was suddenly attacked by guilt. She was regaining consciousness. Then her eyes popped open wide. "What happened to me?"
"Are you okay? I'm afraid you fainted." She sat up. "Ouch," she cried and put her hand on her tush where the pain originated.
"C'mon let me help you get up," he said and held her by the hand and shoulder. She rose up to her feet, staggering a bit.
"I need to check this thing in the bathroom. Will you bring me there?"
"Of course," he said and led her with his one hand curled around her waist while he held her arm that was slung on the back of his shoulders. Inside the bathroom she braced her hands on the marbled counter sink and leaned into the mirror and looked at herself. Then she straightened herself up and her fingers worked on her button-fly jeans and then pushed it down revealing a floral bikini messed up with blood at the right hip unmindful of Michael staring. She lifted a bit of the panty leg at the side to look at the extent of the wound. "Could you check this if it needs stitching?"
Michael bent down a little. "C'mon take a closer look," she said unabashedly.