Feverish Love

by Germaine Solomon

  Hogan reached over and opened his glove compartment to retrieve a package of protective masks and a box of latex gloves. After he shielded his face and hands, he exited his car with only his keys and a white envelope that he quickly stuffed inside the right front pocket of his jeans. As soon as he locked the doors with his key fob, the cutest little girl on a dirty, raggedy Big Wheel riding toy rolled toward him. She stopped and smiled at Hogan, and his heart did a backward flip in his chest. He adored children. Always had.

  “Hi, princess. What’s your name?”

  Another shy smile and a subtle hand wave nearly took Hogan’s breath away. She was precious, but he wondered why the child was outside at night in the middle of a pandemic unprotected.

  “Can you tell me your name, princess?”

  The child nodded, causing her two long ponytails—one on each side of her head—to sway back and forth. “My name Destiny and I’m three,” she announced, holding up four fingers.

  Hogan suddenly felt eyes on him. The music had faded out too. When he looked to his right, the young men on the corner were quietly watching him as they continued smoking the strong herb. His heart rate accelerated in fear at first, but then it settled. He quickly turned around and unlocked his car and opened the door. Once again, Hogan opened his glove compartment to grab the gloves and masks. Once he stepped back outside into the warm spring night, he was happy to see Destiny was still there. He secured the locks with the key fob for the second time.

  Slowly he removed a mask and offered it to her. “I want you to put this on your face, okay, princess?”

  The child nodded without a word and reached for the mask.

  “Yo, dude!” one of the young guys yelled and started walking toward Hogan and his new little friend.

  Damn it! Am I about to get my white ass kicked tonight for trying to do the right thing?

  “What’s up, my man?” Hogan greeted.

  “It’s cool for you to put that on her face. She don’t know how to do it. She’s just a lil’ shawty.” He laughed and as he drew closer, the scent of marijuana grew stronger. “She’s my sister’s lil’ girl,” he explained as Hogan secured the mask on the child’s face.

  When he was done he stood erect, satisfied. “It’s too big because it was made for an adult. But I made a knot in each strap to make it work.”

  “That’s cool. Tell the nice man thank you, Dessy Pooh.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome, Princess Dessy Pooh.”

  The little girl giggled with a twinkle in her eyes and rode off.

  “Um, can I buy a couple of those from you, dude? We’ve been trying to find masks and gloves everywhere around here, but…”

  Hogan shook his head. “You don’t have to buy them from me, my man. Take the whole damn package and the box of gloves too. I’ll make sure some children’s masks, gloves, and bottles of hand sanitizer are delivered to Destiny tomorrow. All I need is your address.”

  “Word?”

  “Word,” Hogan assured him with a smile and handed the items over.

  “You’re standing right in front of our crib now. Me, my sister, Shay, and her three kids live in the apartment on the left. But ain’t nobody at home tonight but Dessy Pooh and Unc. My sister is at work and her other two kids are with their daddy.”

  Hogan took a good look at the duplex. The tan brick structure was the best-looking place to live on the street. The yard was neat with the grass cut low and there was no garbage strewn about like the other houses in the area. “So, you know the Rojas family, huh?”

  “Yeah, I know them. They’re nice people, great neighbors. Too bad that ‘Rona took the wife out. She just died today. They ain’t got no family around here, so I don’t know how ole dude gonna take care of them kids on his own since he’s a truck driver and he’s always on the road.”

  “I came by to see what I can do for him and the kids so I better go and check on them.”

  “Yeah, you do that. You’re a real cool dude.”

  “Thanks. Those masks, gloves, and sanitizer are coming tomorrow. I’ll throw in a few cans of Lysol too. Please make sure that you and your family use them every day.”

  “No doubt.”

  Hogan turned and walked away only to reverse his steps and face the nameless guy again. “I’m Hogan, by the way.”

  “My name is Tristan, but everybody ‘round here calls me Tee Dog.”

  “Take care of Princess Dessy Pooh for me, Tee Dog.”

  “For sure, Hogan.”

  “My Lola was a good mother to our children,” Mr. Rojas told Hogan with tears running down his face as he and his children stood on their front porch wearing protective masks. “I have no life without her. I can’t properly care for my children and work to provide for them at the same time. It’s just not possible.”

  “My heart aches for you and your family, Mr. Rojas. Please believe me when I say Dr. Kamara and I did all we could do to save your wife, but it was too late by the time she reached our unit. The virus had already done extensive damage to both lungs. She died before we could stabilize her and place her on a ventilator.”

  “I believe you.” He sniffed and wiped his eyes with his forearm. “I don’t have money for a funeral, Dr. McQueen. I can barely feed the kids now that all but two of my routes have been cancelled. ”

  “I’m going to help you and your children, Mr. Rojas.” Hogan removed the envelope from his pocket and offered it to the man. “The cash should take care of your daily needs like food, household supplies, and transportation for a while. Pay your rent and utilities for the next six months or so with the cashier’s check.”

  “Oh my God! T-thank…thank you so…so much, Dr. McQueen. I will pay you back one day n-no…no matter how long it…it takes.” Mr. Rojas took the envelope and wept pitifully.

  “It’s not a loan, sir. It’s a gift from me to you and your little ones.” Hogan swallowed the lump in his throat as he struggled to suppress his emotions. “I hope you don’t mind that I did a little snooping around to find out which funeral home you’d chosen to handle Mrs. Rojas’ funeral.”

  “You did? Why?”

  “I wanted to take care of the bill for you. Your wife’s graveside service is paid for in full. You just need to go to the mortuary to give the funeral director the specifics and select a cask—”

  The dam broke. Doubled over with three pairs of tiny arms wrapped around his legs and waist, Mr. Rojas sobbed out loud.”

  Unable to stay a moment longer without releasing his own fragile emotions, Hogan said, “My card is in the envelope, sir. Call me if you and the kids need anything else. Anything.”

  3

  “Where did all of these things come from?” Giva did a slow 360 in the middle of the CV19 Unit’s equipment storage room. She couldn’t believe her eyes.

  Just yesterday, there had been only a few boxes of personal protective equipment for their fifty-six employees. Today the room was overflowing with multiple boxes of latex gloves in all sizes, N95 masks, and disposable gowns, shoe covers, and bonnets. There were boxes of liquid antibacterial soap and hand sanitizer too.

  “No way!” Ardaijah, a respiratory therapist, squealed with wide eyes, lifting a box of masks to read the return address. “They came from Beverly Hills. Maybe some big-time celebrities had sympathy for us and hooked our asses up. I always knew Denzel loved me!”

  Giva and the group of nurses and therapists in the room laughed and continued opening the boxes. Together and at a safe distance from one another, they removed the items and placed them on the floor-to-ceiling wall shelves. They chatted, catching up on the latest “Grady gossip” as they worked. But the tea stopped dripping and the laughter skidded to a halt when the door opened and a certain doctor entered the room.

  “Good morning, Dr. Do… um, I meant Dr. McQueen,” Ardaijah stammered.

  “Good morning, ladies and you too, Pete and Edward.”

  Everyone returned his greeting in one form or another.
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br />   The rich and smooth bass timbre had caused the fine hairs on Giva’s nape to stiffen and stand like porcupine quills. With her back turned to him, she bit down on her bottom lip. How could she loathe a man who made her think about buck-wild, marathon sex with endless, heart-stopping orgasms? Giva hated his arrogant ass, but she was attracted to him at the same time.

  She couldn’t deny that he was a damn good doctor, but his overconfidence and aloofness made her blood bubble like lava. Giva had actually envisioned blowing his brains out with her Glock-17 on occasion. And there had been those times when she’d had to stop herself from pulling him into an empty treatment room, stripping down to her birthday suit, and begging him to have his way with her. Talk about some attraction-repulsion shit…

  “What’s going on, Team Life 1? Did Santa Claus come early or something?”

  Giva exhaled a nervous breath and spun around to face the pain in her ass. “The unit received a shipment of PPE from some unknown donor in Beverly Hills.”

  “Mmmm…” Dr. McQueen folded his arms across his broad chest. “That’s great.”

  “Hell yeah, it is!” Ardaijah scurried over to him. “I ain’t the one to gossip, but er um, I heard we got one hundred brand-new ventilators yesterday too.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Yep.”

  Giva cleared her throat. “I’ll check in with Dr. Patel to con—”

  “Code blue… Code blue in section 5… Code blue in section 5…”

  Giva whipped her head forward and stuffed her braids into a disposable bonnet she’d snatched out of the pocket of her lab coat. She checked the mask over her mouth and nose before she tore into a packet of gloves to protect her hands. Then like a superhero off to save the day, she rushed toward the door.

  “Doc, our shift doesn’t begin for another fifteen minutes,” Dr. McQueen reminded her. “Team Life 2 can handle it.”

  “I’m here, I’m ready, and I’m going to help them.”

  As if her words were a call to duty, Dr. McQueen dashed toward the door and followed her.

  “You kicked ass today, Doc. Bravo.” Dr. McQueen bent his six-foot frame over, bowing low to show his colleague respect for a job well done.

  Giva smiled, something he rarely saw her do. “Thank you.”

  Damn, she’s hot as fuck! I would trade my Lambo for one night with her.

  When the elevator bell chimed and the doors opened, Dr. McQueen allowed Giva to enter first. His cock went rogue on him, rising to full mass when his eyes fell to rest on her ample round ass that always jiggled when she walked the halls of the unit. The deep and defined arch in her back and her slender waistline accentuated her butt, often tempting the good doctor to reach out and give it a two-palm squeeze. Giva’s glowing, velvety skin reminded him of expensive Godiva chocolate—smooth, sweet, and delectable to the palate. And her eyes… the woman could hypnotize the entire male population of Atlanta with a simple flash of her mahogany orbs.

  “Which floor?” he asked after stepping inside right before the doors closed.

  “The ground level, please.”

  He pressed the “G” button and settled in the back left corner opposite from where she stood.

  “You’re staring at me.”

  “Sorry.” He lifted his eyes to focus on the lighted numbers above the double doors.

  The sudden silence became the third presence in the elevator until it stopped and opened on the ground floor. Without a word, Giva exited, leaving Dr. McQueen and his scattered thoughts behind. He soon trailed her path toward the doctors’ lounge. From a respectable distance, he watched as the masked nurse sitting at a small desk took her temperature before allowing her entrance. He followed suit and joined her inside the empty room where she tossed her gloves in the trashcan, sat down in a recliner, and lowered her mask to rest on her chest.

  “Look, I know everyone around here thinks I’m a total jackass and all, but I’m really not.”

  “So, you’re just pretending?” Giva smiled and removed a small bottle of hand sanitizer from her pants pocket.

  “I deserved that, I guess.” After discarding his mask and gloves, he headed over to the sink where he scrubbed up like he was about to perform major, life-saving surgery. “I’m really a nice guy. The thing is I have a different approach to what we do for a living than you do.”

  “Eh? Please explain.”

  “I’ve seen it all. Multiple gunshot wounds, stillborn babies, untreated HIV cases, crack overdoses, decapitation… These hands have attempted to save the worst of the worst. That’s why deaths that I’m unable to prevent no longer bother me. It’s not because I’m a heartless bastard or I don’t give a damn about our patients. It’s just that I conditioned myself during my residency, or maybe even before then, to accept the things I cannot change. You know, like that little prayer says.”

  “The Serenity Prayer. Isn’t that for alcoholics and drug addicts?”

  Dr. McQueen couldn’t contain his laughter. “It’s for anyone who can distinguish between their abilities and inabilities. Mentally challenged and delusional people struggle with learning the difference.”

  When Giva didn’t return a swift comeback, he knew he’d given her food for thought. No doubt, she was a brilliant physician, but she’d brought too damn much of her heart into the profession, which wasn’t wise. Science was science and it couldn’t be denied. Countless lives had ended in ER rooms all over the world since before either of them was ever born, and even more would perish under their care during the pandemic. Sooner or later, the pretty African doctor would have to accept that.

  Giva stood from the recliner, still as quiet as a church mouse. “I’m exhausted, so it’s time for me to go home to rest.”

  “You’re not going to stay in the physicians’ quarters tonight?”

  “How did you know I spend the night here from time to time?”

  “You’re a workaholic, Doc. Everyone in our unit knows that. Plus the “Grady gossipers” talk.” He folded his arms and cocked his head to the side. “When was the last time you relaxed and had some fun?”

  “Hmmm… Before the damn pandemic took us all hostage. It seems like centuries ago. It’s impossible to have fun now, though.”

  “Have you been tested recently?”

  “Thanks to that mysterious supply of testing kits we received a few weeks ago, I’m tested every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And because I practice social distancing and wash my hands a million times a day, I’m the perfect specimen of health. Why do ask, Doctor?”

  “Call me Hogan. We’ve been working together long enough to drop the titles when we’re away from our other colleagues.”

  “Fine.” Giva cleared her throat. “Why did you ask about my testing frequency, Hogan?”

  His dick jumped and released a little precum just from the sound of his name floating from her full and pouty lips. Stunned, he mentally wrestled to regain his swagger.

  “I know the perfect spot for us to grab a couple of cups of great coffee and enjoy them on a rooftop overlooking Downtown Atlanta while we get to know each other better.”

  “And why would I want to spend time with you away from the job getting to know you better?”

  “I would like to spend time with you so I can show you I’m not the asshole everyone thinks I am.”

  For the second time in their short conversation, the cat had Giva’s tongue.

  Ah shit, she’s thinking about it. She wants to hang out with me. I can see it in her sexy eyes. But something is holding her back. What is it? She’s not married. I know that for sure. Does she have a man, though? Hell, is she even straight? Fuck!

  “Okay, Hogan, I’ll have coffee with you. But I must be home by ten o’clock so I can get enough rest to come back here in the morning by seven to fight another day.”

  Yessss!

  “Cool.”

  “Just give me a minute to check in with my roommate. He will go on a tirade if I don’t let him know I’ll be coming home late.�
� She removed her cell phone from the breast pocket of her lab coat and began to scroll through it.

  He? Ah shit! She lives with some knucklehead!

  They were now on a first-name basis away from their coworkers and they were about to go out for coffee. But she was shacking up with some dude. It wasn’t the ideal situation for Hogan, but he would take whatever he could get for now.

  “Oh, Big Papa, Little Mama has been looking for you.”

  Hogan’s head whipped around toward the door when Gwyneth, a physician’s assistant, burst into the room unexpectedly. She batted her eyes seductively and inched toward him, but he ignored her and slowly turned to face Giva again just as she ended her call. She quickly shoved her phone back into her pocket.

  “I’ll see you in the morning, Dr. McQueen. I hope you and Little Mama will enjoy your evening.” She stormed toward the door.

  “Giva, don’t leave.” He started after her, side-stepping Gwyneth who appeared clueless. “Giva, please wait!”

  4

  Kyle turned his head away from his iPad screen to keep from laughing in Giva’s face. He had retired to his bedroom for the night by the time she’d reached their three-bedroom Buckhead condo. So, per their new normal, they were recapping their work days to one another via FaceTime. According to Giva, she had had a long and crazy shift that had ended with her in a funk because of the doctor who could piss her off, and turn her on at the same damn time.