Continuing Education

by Gray Gardner

  “No,” she whispered, taking a step back as he reached out to place a hand on her shoulder. She could tell he was hurting. If it was half as much as she was hurting then it must have been agonizing. “No, you’re right. Futures are at stake. I… I didn’t really think about the consequences.”

  “Mary.”

  “Maybe,” she choked, her voice quivering as she tried to be brave and look up at him. She really just wanted to puke. “Maybe next year… when I graduate.”

  “I’ll be standing at the end of the stage when you receive your degree,” he quickly said, wanting to wipe her tears off of her pink cheeks and just hold her little body close. He couldn’t though. It had been too close of a call. The office, the nakedness, Dr. Winters…

  She slowly looked over her shoulder at her yellow taped door, and then turned back to the sidewalk.

  “You can’t stay here,” he quietly said, reaching into his back pocket. “So I want you to take this and book a room at the Ritz.”

  “I don’t need your money,” she whispered, looking resigned as she held the bag he’d given her over her shoulder and stared at the sidewalk.

  “Then let me drop you at the hotel.”

  “I’ll walk.”

  “But it’s—”

  “It’s not night yet, Dr. Frasier,” she snapped, pointing at the sun setting over the rooftops.

  It’d stung when she’d called him that. Worse than he’d thought it would. But what did he expect? He’d made up his mind. This needed to be done.

  She turned and slowly made her way down the sidewalk. He didn’t follow. She tried to compose herself as she made her way to the little boutique hotel on the corner where parents stayed while visiting their kids. Hotel Eastland, how original. She booked her room, locked the door behind her and cried.

  She cried for days. For her loss, for her future, for everything. How could she have been dumb enough to believe something so good could happen? Men like Mait Frasier were just… unattainable.

  Friday she actually felt half human again. Packing up her things, she and her oversized sunglasses that served to cover her swollen eyes marched down the street to her house. Mait, Mait, MAIT. She couldn’t fucking get him out of her head. She loved him. Why hadn’t she told him every chance she got?

  She approached her house and cursed loudly. Now she was ready to let out her emotions. Someone would feel her wrath and since it couldn’t be Mait, it had to be that detective.

  “I want to know why my fucking house is still a crime scene when the suspect is incarcerated and the other parties involved are fine!”

  Detective Evans stood from her desk and held up her hands, trying to get Mary to calm down.

  “What, is the police department really so understaffed that they can’t get a few blood samples and locate a fucking bullet fragment? Do I really have to stay in that stupid themed hotel for another night?”

  “Ms. Tucker—”

  “I just want to go home!” Mary shouted, her voice cracking as her eyes filled with tears.

  The detective quickly ushered her into an interrogation room, handing her a cup of water and tissue, waiting for her to calm down.

  “I’m sorry,” Mary sniffed, wiping her nose. “I’m sorry. I just want to be in my own house.”

  “I get it,” Detective Evans nodded, sitting on the edge of the table. “Does, uh, this little outburst have anything to do with those infuriatingly tall, dark, and handsome men who showed up at your house acting like they owned the place?”

  Mary sipped her water and rolled her eyes. “Yes,” she grumbled, not liking the thought of Carlson Frasier ruining her already ruined day. Week. Life.

  “I see,” the detective replied, giving a knowing grin. “Let me, uh, let me push some paperwork through this morning. But why don’t you just go on home.”

  “Really?” Mary asked, prepared to fight some more but pleased that she was getting her way so easily.

  “Yeah,” Detective Evans nodded, standing and holding her shoulder. “You just be careful now. It’s true… what they say about a girl living alone.”

  “I know,” Mary nodded, eyes tearing up at the word alone. She walked for the door and stopped when the detective spoke one last time.

  “You do have another gun, don’t you, Ms. Tucker?”

  “Yeah, I’ve got .20 gauge and a .22 magnum,” she called over her shoulder, delighted that she could get home and feel sorry for herself in her own bedroom.

  But she didn’t want to stay there once she saw it. The doorjamb was splintered from the bullet and the tools used to retrieve it. Her dry wall had holes drilled through it. Her bathroom floor had a huge dark brown stain puddled on the marble. As much as she scrubbed, it just wouldn’t come up.

  She briskly walked towards the library in purple skinny jeans, black flip-flops and a loose black shirt. She felt more human in clothes like those. She felt more human in the library. Losing herself in her research, she furiously wrote down notes and comments and page numbers in the solace of the stacks. This felt normal. She felt halfway normal again. Mait would love this paper.

  Oh God. She had to face Mait on Monday. Could she do it? Could she sit there and watch him go on with life like nothing had happened between them? Would he even acknowledge her? Her chest ached as she realized how much his rejection would still hurt.

  She chewed on her lip as she walked to the front of the library, then paused at the glass doors and frowned. It was dark outside. Looking down at her watch she realized it was midnight.

  Fuck!

  * * *

  Mait hadn’t slept for more than a few minutes at a time for days. He rubbed his long stubble on his jaw as he paced his apartment and drank another scotch. He should call her. No! He’d already made it hard enough on her. He shouldn’t confuse her with a bootie call. She deserved so much better.

  He collapsed on the couch as he recalled what her body felt like, pressed up next to his. Her perky little breasts, so soft under his fingertips; her round ass, so pink and perfect; her lips, her silky hair, her laugh...

  Reaching into his pants, he gently stroked himself as he imagined her sitting next to him and reaching for his cock. She’d bite her lip, look at him with eyes a different shade of blue than he’d seen yet, and slowly lean over, her pink lips taking him one devastating centimeter at a time.

  “Am I doing it right?” she’d ask, before licking him up and down.

  “Yes,” he groaned, eyes closed as he imagined grabbing the back of her head and pushing her down further, going deeper into her throat. She’d groan with pleasure.

  He stroked faster.

  “If I do it wrong you should probably spank me,” she’d say, looking embarrassed, but aroused.

  “Fuck!” he muttered, grinding his teeth as he neared his climax.

  His phone began to play Joe Walsh and he cursed loudly. What could Carlson possibly want at this hour? His sweet Mary Madeline was giving him the best blowjob of his life. He breathed heavily as he opened his eyes and looked down at his cock in his hand, then quickly exhaled and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

  “What?”

  “Get your ass down here right now.”

  Mait stared at the phone and frowned at Carlson’s serious tone.

  “Dude, it’s two in the morning—”

  “Get your fucking ass down to Memorial right now!” Carlson yelled through the phone. “I’m on the night shift… it’s Mary Madeline…”

  Chapter 3

  Mait was on his feet, stuffing himself back into his pants and grabbing his keys in seconds. He dashed to the elevator, jumped into his car and raced through the streets towards Memorial Hospital. He stopped at the valet stand at the Emergency Room only long enough to chuck the keys at the red-vested man, and was through to the curtained rooms of the ER in seconds.

  “Mait!”

  His heart stopped as his brother strode towards him with purpose, blue scrubs on underneath a knee length white jacket with badges han
ging on the lapel.

  “Here,” Carlson began, calmly placing a visitor’s badge over his little brother’s head. “All right, stay calm, she’s going to be okay. Follow me.”

  “Fucking hell,” Mait groaned, running his fingers through his hair as he followed Carlson through the hallways to the numbered rooms. He’d imagined every single possibility as to why his brother had called him to his hospital to see Mary Madeline.

  Carlson paused outside of a doorway as Nicole and Liam suddenly appeared, looking like they’d been woken up, with their disheveled hair and loose fitting workout clothes.

  “What happened?” Nicole cried, folding her hands in front of her like she was praying. “Will she be okay?”

  “She’ll be fine,” Carlson quietly said in the empty hallway.

  “Why weren’t you with her, Maitland?” Nicole asked, pushing his shoulder.

  “I…” he began, rubbing his jaw and pacing the hallway. “We… we had to break up.”

  “What?” she squeaked.

  “That’s what Mary said,” Carlson sighed, folding his arms over his chest. “But I called you anyway because you love her and she needs you.”

  Mait stepped forward to walk into the room, but Carlson held his hand up. “Let’s go through some things first, though. When she came in she was okay. When I saw her name on the board I went to check on her and she got a little hysterical. I sedated her,” he added, as Mait and Nicole both began to say something. “She’s resting, but… she won’t talk. We can’t get her to tell us what happened.”

  He exhaled and pulled out a folder. “This is for the police report and for if this ever goes to trial. You have to keep yourself together, you hear?” He frowned at his brother.

  Mait drew in a shaky breath as he took the manila folder and saw the picture of his cute, sweet, Mary Madeline tucked in a paper clip on the front. “What the fuck!” he hollered, slamming the folder down on the ground.

  Carlson and Liam stepped forward but he held his hands up, taking a few breaths to indicate that he was okay. He swallowed and looked at his brother. “Who in the hell did that to her?”

  Carlson drew in a breath, saying, “She won’t tell us. She maintains that she tripped down her steps.”

  “I’ve seen her do that,” Mait softly said, still frowning.

  “On her way to go jogging.” Carlson sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “The problem is that she was wearing jeans and flip-flops, with her own blood on both, like it had dripped down when it happened. No one jogs in jeans and flip-flops.”

  “Why would she lie?” Liam asked, holding Nicole close to him.

  Carlson shook his head. “My guess? She was either doing something stupid, embarrassing, or… something happened with another person.”

  “Carlson,” Mait growled, shaking his head. Why had he left her? She was hurt. She needed him.

  “If someone did this to her, and her injuries are pretty consistent with domestic abuse… We need to tell the authorities.”

  “Damn it,” Mait groaned, pacing around with his hands folded behind his neck. This was all his fault.

  “What if… what if I go in and talk to her?” Nicole asked, looking around at all of the important men in her life. She’d been looking forward to having Mary there in the future, too. She needed to help make this right.

  Carlson smiled like it was what he’d been thinking all along. “That’s a great idea, sweetheart.”

  Mait swallowed hard and shook his head. “No… no, it should be me.”

  “She doesn’t want to see you.” Carlson sighed, shaking his head. “She insisted that I shouldn’t call you, but… you need each other.”

  Mait’s heart broke again as he exhaled and grabbed his messy hair. Nicole suddenly put her hand on his shoulder. “I’ll take my phone and put it on speaker. It’ll be like you’re there.”

  Nodding, Mait looked at everyone, so worried about his cute little girlfriend, then stepped back so Nicole could go in.

  Calling Mait’s phone and pressing the speaker button, Nicole slipped into the dimly lit room and gasped. There was little Mary Madeline, dwarfed by the large hospital bed, lying helplessly with a dark bruise down the side of her face and a white rectangular bandage over one side of her mouth and cheek. Nicole slowly stepped closer and reached out, brushing the beautiful strawberry blonde strands off of Mary’s face.

  Mary slowly opened her eyes as she groaned and quickly brought her hands up to her face. She frowned as she sat up, wincing at the pain.

  “It’s all right, you’re going to be okay.” Nicole smiled reassuringly.

  Mary looked up at her, confused.

  “You came to the hospital and got stitches by a very capable plastic surgeon. You’ll be as good as new in a couple of weeks.”

  “Carlson,” Mary breathed, backing up in the bed and squeezing the sheets.

  “Shh, he fixed you right up. He’s really the best there is.”

  “Mait…”

  “I’m here now.” Nicole nodded, holding Mary’s hand. “Don’t worry about anything else.”

  She could see the girl visibly relax and lean back into the bed, wincing as she tried to get comfortable.

  “Please,” Mary suddenly said, half-mumbling under all of the gauze. “Please don’t tell Mait I’m here.”

  “Mary—”

  “Please, we… we broke up and I don’t want him to come here and cause a scene.”

  “He won’t.”

  “He deserves a chance. Please don’t tell him I’m here. I already asked Carlson not to say anything and I know he can’t because of doctor-patient confidentiality.”

  “Yes,” she said, eyeing the door. “Yes, that’s true… But, what chance does Mait deserve? You’re the only thing that makes him happy.”

  “No,” Mary said, shaking her head. “No, he deserves a chance to see his career grow. To have a future.”

  “You are his future, Mary Madeline.”

  “No. His job is the most important thing.”

  “Says who?”

  “He told me,” Mary quietly responded, looking down and trying not to cry. “And I don’t disagree. It is very important—”

  “That’s a load of crap!” Nicole exclaimed.

  “It is a load of crap,” Mait replied, running his hand down his face as they all stared at the phone in the hall. “I never said that. I said that her future was the most important thing. I didn’t want to ruin her chances at getting her masters.”

  “Well, it seems like the two of you martyrs are just intent on falling on your swords,” Liam observed. “So quit being an idiot because martyrs always have to die. Alone. Don’t let her go again or she may not ever take you back.”

  Mait sighed as they all stared at the phone on speaker that he held out.

  “Mait loves you more than he’s ever loved anyone, but we’ll get back to that later,” Nicole promised, patting Mary’s hand. “I know you didn’t fall down the steps, Mary Madeline.”

  Mary whimpered as she closed her eyes. Her face was throbbing from her jaw to her temple. Her lip felt numb and heavy and she could barely move her mouth to speak. She didn’t want to talk about it. “I’m really tired, Nicole…”

  “Mary, if someone did this to you, then you have to come forward or he or she will just do it again to somebody else,” Nicole calmly stated, trying not to sound too much like a lawyer.

  Mary guiltily looked down at the white sheet in her fingers. She wasn’t sure that she could say it out loud.

  “Mary…”

  “It was my fault, really,” she whispered, swallowing. “I… I was upset so I went to the library. I feel like myself in the library. I just wanted to feel like myself again.”

  “It’s okay.” Nicole smiled, taking her hand again.

  “I was working on my paper for Mait— Dr. Frasier’s class and I… I didn’t… I just lost track of time. When I got to the front doors after packing up my things it was already midnight. And… after… w
ell, after everything that happened last weekend, I wasn’t about to get caught walking around the campus or down Roosevelt alone at night.”

  “Damn straight,” Carlson, Liam and Mait all said at once in the hallway.

  Nicole shot an annoyed look over her shoulder at the door. She just knew the three of them were righteously smiling in the hallway.

  “But I didn’t have anyone to call,” Mary continued. “I tried to call a cab but it was Friday night and they said that it would be over an hour before they got there. The library was closing. And… and then I saw him. Or he saw me, really, because he quickly turned and tried to walk out of the door without making eye contact. So I thought, I just thought that he would be harmless, really, because here I am, a vulnerable girl just asking for a ride home late at night. I thought I would be safe. I thought I was doing the right thing.”

  “Okay, it’s okay,” Nicole gently said, sitting on the edge of the bed as Mary suddenly leaned forward into her arms. She was shivering.

  “I mean, I know everyone hates me but I didn’t think.” She took a shaky breath as her mind raced through the events. “I didn’t think he would really want to hurt me. But… he did. He walked me to his car, drove me home, tried to… kiss me, but when I refused and tried to thank him for the ride, he… he… g-grabbed my hair and slammed my head into the door of his car. I opened it and ran inside as fast as I could… and the bleeding wouldn’t stop so… so I had to come here.”

  “Sweetie,” Nicole cried softly, holding Mary close to her. That was a horrible story. Who would do that to her? Someone she’d trusted? It was awful.

  Mait was glued to the door, his hands pressed flat against it as his heart ached in his chest. He wanted to burst in there and hold her. He was about to, when Carlson and Liam shook their heads silently.

  “Who did this, Mary?” Nicole asked, trying to control the sympathy in her voice. Mary needed her to be strong now.

  Shaking her head, Mary leaned back on her pillows and wiped her eyes. “I don’t, I don’t know. I just recognized him from one of my classes.”