by Pepper Pace
Why was she even thinking about it? Marty was Marty!
They finished break and went back on the floor. The rest of the night was pretty quiet but Marty didn’t like to see people just standing around. His motto was, ‘if you have time to lean, you have time to clean.’ Nicole concentrated on cleaning the mini fridge below her workstation. She had to practically get on her hands and knees just to get at everything shoved in the back. She cursed when she came upon a tub of feta cheese, never opened and already past its expiration date.
She chucked the tub into one of the large garbage cans, still on her hands and knees and noticed that Marty was staring at her. She just knew he was going to say something about the unused cheese. But he wordlessly turned back to the grill.
She swabbed out the inside until it sparkled and then neatly restacked everything neatly.
“You know you’re the only one that does that.” Marty spoke. Nicole glanced up at him.
“I’ve noticed.” Her reply was mildly sarcastic, because she was still bristling at the idea of him cursing Fred... and because she was the only one that ever cleaned it.
He turned back to the grill without another word.
She was dying to say, ‘And you’re welcome.’
One thing Nicole liked about the job is that while everybody else had to wait until everything was cleaned before they could go, she cleaned as she went so she could just walk out the door at 11:00.
“See you guys tomorrow.” She yelled as she hurried outside.
Nicole hopped on her bike and pedaled furiously down the street. It was her goal to be stepping though her apartment door by 11:15 each night.
After a long day of classes and working in the hot restaurant, Nicole relished the feel of the wind against her face and the exertion of her thigh muscles as she pedaled to the top of the first hill. Luckily she didn’t live far from the restaurant. But she did have to travel on the outskirts of some woods that left her apprehensive, so she always went as fast as she could at night. The pay off was that there were two hills and once she reached the top of the first one the momentum practically carried her to the top of the next one.
As always she had an urge to close her eyes and pretend like she was a bird soaring through the sky. Briefly she gave into it and closed her eyes feeling exhilarated. Nicole took a deep breath and began pedaling again.
And that’s when she saw the SUV make the sharp turn from the darkness of the woods and directly into her path. Almost as if she were detached from herself, she noted the look of shock on the driver’s face as the older women realized that she was about to hit her. Briefly, Nicole felt sorry for the driver. She looked like she was someone’s mother…probably one that actually cared…
***
Nicole’s eyes opened slowly. Then she felt a pounding in her head that was magnificent. She blinked, not able to see a thing. Everything was black! Terror instantly engulfed her. She scrambled to sit up but was stopped short by a sudden and sharp pain in her shoulder.
She cried out hoarsely and touched the shoulder carefully. Then in relief she realized that she actually could see—she was outside and it was dark, that’s all. And the knock on the head had just made everything out of focus...Slowly, she moved her legs. She was sore all over but her legs moved okay. She tried to look around but when her head moved it felt like someone was trying to impale her with a railroad spike! Nicole planted her hand on the ground and pushed herself up into a sitting position clenching her teeth against the pain. Why was she on the ground? Where was she?
With a slow hiss, she let out her held breath then tentatively touched her head. Her hand came away bloody. Nicole felt a wave of nausea at the sight of her bloody hand. It took everything she had not to black out.
As if in a dream, she found herself staring into space and before she realized it time had passed her by. She didn’t know how much, or even how she knew that time had passed--only, that she now remembered everything. An SUV had hit her. She couldn’t actually recall being hit, just waking up on the ground, bleeding.
Painfully she pulled herself to her feet in a state of shock. She saw her bike a few feet away. One wheel was totally bent. Carefully, she looked around, the initial pain ebbing to a dull throb. Where was the SUV and the nice motherly lady? Had she just left her for dead?
Nicole cried out as her arm moved. She held it to her body to keep it from moving and slowly began walking. The first step was like cut glass in every one of her joints, though after that first step she couldn’t much remember pain…she didn’t remember anything.
Nicole knew that she must have lost consciousness at some point during the long walk because the next thing she knew is that she was standing at the door of the restaurant.
Even from her spot outside of the restaurant, Nicole could see that the interior of THE CALABASH was dark. Everyone had already gone! That meant that it was after one am because after closing it took two hours to clean and do night prep.
So she had been gone for hours…A sob of despair fell from her lips. She was so tired… Her eyes welled with tears. She just couldn’t walk anymore. Why she had come here instead of home was a mystery, but now that she was here, she was too tired to go anywhere else. Nicole leaned against the door, her knees buckling beneath her.
“Ahh!” She cried out. Black spots dotted her vision as she began sliding down the door.
***
Marty was in no hurry to get back to his empty condo. In fact, he had often times considered bringing in a cot for his office. Hell, his office was more like home to him then his actual home. IKEA had a nice couch that could double as a bed and no one would be all in his business about why there was a cot…
He jumped when he heard a thumping sound at the back door. “What the hell…?” Marty stormed through the kitchen, hesitating momentarily as he contemplated grabbing his handgun. But he heard a small mewling sound and his blood almost ran cold.
He barely hesitated as he unlocked the door. Thankfully he had never been robbed. CALABASH was located in a decent residential district. He could hear soft sobs and he carefully pulled open the door. Nicole’s crumpled form feel forward. Surprised, Marty reached for her.
“Nicole!”
She screamed in pain when he gripped her shoulder. His face went white at the sound of her scream as well as the sight of her battered form. Without thinking he released his hold on her arms, moving them to her torso where he held her carefully against him.
“What happened?!” His voice felt like his mouth had turned to dust.
Without waiting for an answer he swept her up in his arms, ignoring her cries of pain. Wordlessly, he hurried outside to his truck. Marty placed her into the passenger seat like she was little more than a baby. Carefully he reached over and pulled a seatbelt across her. Again she cried out. He blanched even more.
“Take it easy, Baby Girl. Take it easy. I’m going to go lock the restaurant.” With trembling hands Marty quickly locked the restaurants doors, dropping the keys once in his excitement. His hands squeezed into fists. Marty cursed himself. How many times had he wanted to offer to drive her home at night? There wasn’t a night that went by that he didn’t worry that there would be some thug laying in wait for her in those damned woods that she rode past to get to her apartment. And now it had finally happened. When he found out who had done this to her he was going to kill the bastard!
Hurrying back to his truck, he pulled out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell. Slowly Nicole’s eyes began to close.
“Nicole! Wake up! Don’t go to sleep! Who did this to you?” Marty’s gray eyes looked almost dark with anger.
From a distance she heard the question and struggled to clear her head. It was pounding so hard.
“Lady…” Suddenly she was alert. “Marty. She hit me.”
“Shhh, shhh. It’s okay.” He said as he drove, one hand on the wheel, the other gently holding her hand. A lady?? Why would a lady-- “Were you hit by a car? Oh God, I thought you’d been…I’m taking you
to the hospital.”
“My bike…Marty go back and get my bike.”
“Nicole-“
“My bike, Marty. Please get my bike.” She pleaded.
“Okay.” He relented, knowing that he should be rushing her to the hospital, but the pain in her eyes was too much for him to bear. “Where is it?”
“The other way.” He did a U-turn in the middle of the road and headed in the opposite direction.
“Nicole…” He spoke her name more to himself, anxious to get on the track back to the hospital.
It wasn’t too long before he saw definite signs of a wreck. He pulled over to the curb and jumped out of the truck. Nicole’s bike lay in the middle of the street.
“Jesus…” He picked up the bike and took a moment to examine it before tossing it into the truck bed. The thing was mangled! He looked around cursing. She had just been left like trash. Marty got back into the truck. Nicole’s eyes were closed again.
Baby Girl?” He peered into her face.
“Hmmm…” She groaned.
“Don’t go to sleep.” Carefully he touched the back of her head. His hand came away bloody and he could see the blood down the back of her neck and smearing the back of the seat.
He cursed himself for not taking her directly to the hospital. “Hang in there, Baby. Hang in there.” Quickly he pulled back into the street and to the hospital.
Nicole felt her eyes closing beyond her control. She just wanted to sleep for a little while…
“Nicole!” Then they jerked open. “Talk to me, Baby. Tell me about…the lady.” That fucking bitch-ass lady.
“The lady?” She mumbled and looked at him. “What lady?”
“The lady that hit you.” Nicole could see the surprised look on the woman’s face all over again. Why did she just leave her for dead? Nicole wouldn’t leave a dog for dead.
Marty kept looking at her curiously. “Are you with me, honey?”
“My head--stomach… feels weird; heavy.”
“When we get to the hospital I’ll call your parents-”
Nicole paused. “No.” She mumbled. He had to strain now in order to hear her. “I don’t have any parents. My Mom passed…I only talk to my Dad at birthdays and Christmas,” if then.
He glanced at her again. “What about other family? Friends?”
She hesitated. “Scattered all over the country…Marty...”
“What?”
“I feel funny-” she caught her breath like she felt a sharp pain. Marty pressed the gas, pushing the car dangerously fast.
“Almost there. Funny how?” There was no answer. Thank God the hospital was just up ahead.
Her eyes were closed again. Marty grasped her hand. “It’s okay, baby.” He pulled into the emergency entrance like he was at the Daytona 500. “We’re here. Hang on.” Jumping out of the truck, he waved for an attendant.
***
The next time Nicole opened her eyes it was daylight. Alarmed, she tried to sit up.
“Hey, hey. Relax.” Marty placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Don’t. You just had surgery.”
When she tried to look around her head felt like it had been hit with a sledgehammer and she sucked in her breath.
“You’re in the hospital.” Marty said quietly. She focused on him. His eyes were red and glassy, his cheeks stubbly with a new growth of beard. “Do you remember what happened?”
She licked her lips. They were dry and hot. “Water...” She croaked.
“No, Sweetie. You can’t have anything to drink. There was internal bleeding. You can have a sponge in your mouth or ice.” He reached for a small cup and pulled out a funny little blue object. Carefully he put it in her mouth and it tasted like heaven. She sucked on it, until most of the dryness went away. He took the sponge out of her mouth and placed it back in the cup.
“More.”
“No, just one.” He picked up a vial. “This might help.” He dabbed a finger into it and very carefully touched the finger to her lips.
Half asleep, the tip of Nicole’s tongue came out to explore his finger. Marty’s eyes stared into hers then he quickly looked away.
“It’s lip balm.” He said clearing his throat. Finally he looked at her again. “How do you feel?”
“Can I go back to sleep?” She said oblivious to her actions.
He smiled. “Yes.”
***
Later Nicole opened her eyes and briefly remembered a different hospital and a different time—happier; a newborn baby in her arms. Painfully she pushed the memory away.
Where was Marty? He had been here, hadn’t he? She vaguely remembered him taking away the awful thirst. He had put something in her mouth…a sponge. Nicole licked her dry lips and looked around for the cup with the sponge. There it was on the side table. When she reached for it she discovered that her right arm was in a splint and sling.
With her good hand she touched the back of her head. It was covered in a thick bandage which made her head feel twice its normal weight. Tentatively she touched her face. One eye was swollen almost closed. Her lips were swollen and she had scrapes on her forehead. She pressed her hand to her stomach and felt soreness. She pulled down the bed sheet and blanket and lifted the gown slightly. She was naked under the gown and there was a huge bandage on the side of her belly.
Again she swallowed dryly and remembered that she was thirsty. She had an IV in the back of her hand. Carefully she sat up and when she didn’t black out she swung her legs over the edge of the bed so that she could reach the cup.
“Nicole!” Marty was standing in the door holding a Styrofoam cup and a brown paper bag. He hurried to the bed and put his things on the bedside table. “What are you doing? You have a concussion!” He frowned at her sternly. “Come on, lay back down.” He took hold of the covers and lifted it just as she swung a leg back onto the bed.
Nicole was exposed from where she’d hiked her gown up to examine her belly and Marty got a perfect view of Nicole’s nudity. Quickly he averted her eyes, lowering the covers as soon as she had her legs back onto the bed.
Feeling her face grow warm in embarrassment, she quickly reached beneath the covers and adjusted her gown and then finished settling in the bed. She avoided meeting Marty’s eyes.
When she finally did look at him, she noted that his face was red, also. He cleared his throat and tried to feign nonchalance as he pulled a chair closer to the bed.
“I had to leave for a minute to get coffee.” He reached for a cup fill with melting ice. “Ice?”
“Oh yes, Please. I’m so thirsty.”
“The medicine will make you feel that way. You sure have had an awful lot of it, too.” It seemed as if she had been given everything including the kitchen sink. He grasped a piece of ice and carefully slipped it into her mouth.
“Uhm. That’s good.” She sighed and savored it, licking her dry swollen lips. He seemed mesmerized as his eyes focused on her full lips and the way her tongue ran over them, completely un aware of how delicious she made those lips look. Marty silently watched her as he fed her another piece of ice after the first one melted.
For an instant Nicole forgot that this was the same Marty that she and Kendall had been mercilessly calling names. She’d never seen him this nice to anyone. He seemed like a different person. It made her lower her guard, something she would have never done with Marty in the past.
“How long have I been here? What did they do to me?”
Marty didn’t answer immediately. He replaced the cup of ice and picked up his half forgotten coffee. “Two days. Today is Thursday.”