One (Bar Dance)

by Joy, Dani

  “Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

  “You mean startle me more.” I stood and tested my knee. It hurt a little but I could stand on my own. “What was that?” I pointed towards the elevator.

  With my question Rasmussen seemed to come back to his professionalism. “Why don’t you come with me?”

  “Okay.” What else could I say? I figured that he was going to take me somewhere to make a statement or, I didn’t know. That whole thing was just plain weird. I had been working at this hospital for a little over six years. I got my Certified Nursing Assistant, or CNA, with a technical class in high school. I was lucky when I got hired on right after I graduated. In those six plus years I had never had something like that happen. Never. All of us took patient security seriously. Even taking pictures from family members was closely watched.

  He walked me to the elevator and hit the button. I flexed my knee a few times. I was going to have to find some ice soon. I had done this a few times dancing. I was debating on getting some ice while we waited or just go with him and get it over and done with so that I could sit and put it up with ice when the doors opened. Decision made for me I guess. I walked in and turned carefully. He hit the button for the eleventh floor.

  The eleventh floor only had administration there. I was beginning to not have a good feeling about this car ride. I was also stuck in the five by five foot car going up. I turned to ask Rasmussen what was going on but with the look on his face I got defensive. He looked awe struck and not in a good way.

  “What?” I said defensively.

  He just shook his head. “Sorry.”

  I rolled my eyes and stared at the lights above the door. When it hit eleven the door opened. He walked out ahead of me then held the door open. Now I really didn’t have a good feeling. I walked out because what else could I do. Shove him out of the door. No. Elevator doors take forever to close if you are in a hurry. I followed him down the hall. He turned to the left and I still followed him. About six doors in he knocked on one that was open. “Ms. Chapman.” He stated.

  “Please come in.” She said to us I thought. “Close the door behind you please Ms. Chapman.”

  I looked at the name plate on the door. Elaine Chambers. Under that it said, Director of Nursing.

  Oh boy. I had never met her directly. I knew of her of course. We had one really bad nurse when I first started. She said one time to the charge nurse, “What are you going to do, send me to the Chambers?” I thought that she meant something else until I learned what she meant was being written up or fired by the director.

  I took three steps in turning on my good knee when Rasmussen closed me in the room. I knew that she was a fair woman. I knew that she ruled with an iron fist but an even one. I tried to remind myself of this she motioned me to sit in one of the leather seats in front of her impressive wood desk. This room was furnished well. It probably cost more than most of the furniture in my whole condo. Plus a couple of grand more and that didn’t include the bookshelf that was full of leather bound books along the wall. I tried not to be intimidated but I was.

  Regardless I held my head high and sat as professionally as I could in my cartoon ghost scrubs and hair that I had added black and orange chalk strips to.

  She smiled at me. “I see you try to entertain your patients. I’ve heard that about you.”

  I gave her wide eyes.

  “Since the disturbances began I done some research. I understand that you released an album a short time ago.”

  I nodded. “My brother-in-law uploaded some of his songs that I sang for him.”

  She gave me wide eyes. “That is a bit of an understatement don’t you think?”

  I was truly confused. I tried to tell her that. “Bray, my brother-in-law, wrote the songs and pulled in some of his friends. He recorded it and sold part of the rights to his other friend. He owns a label. Whatever that means.” I shrugged. “I know that he put it on iTunes.”

  She put both of her elbows on her desk with her hands under her chin. All I could see of her was her wavy dark brown hair with a few grey strands running through it. Compassionate gray/green eyes and a green shirt that must have been silk from the sheen of it. She put one hand close to her mouth with the other arm extended tapping a pen.

  “You have no clue do you?”

  I was losing my mind and my patience. I also knew that I couldn’t show either emotion. I shook my head and rubbed my knee without trying to look like I was rubbing it. I must have hit a tender spot because I winced. “Are you in pain?”

  I hated to admit it but I really needed to get this iced soon. “I turned wrong on my knee. I’m afraid that it is starting to swell and needs ice.”

  She stood and walked around her desk. She had on cream linen pants and low heels. She knelt next to my knee and prodded. “Good assumption.” She walked to the corner of her office and opened a cabinet which wasn’t just a cabinet. It was a mini fridge. She pulled out an ice pack and handed it to me. “Put it on.”

  I did and it felt wonderful.

  She walked to another cabinet, opened it and then closed it. The next one held what she was looking for. She pulled out a knee support with Velcro closure. “I would suggest ibuprofen for the next few days to help with the swelling as well as the pain.”

  “Yes ma’am.” I said with a smile. I also took the brace and wrapped it lightly over the ice.

  She sat back at her desk. “Sorry. Once a nurse, always a nurse.”

  I nodded. That was the first thing that I understood since I walked in this room.

  She sat stoically. “If this was under different circumstances I would ask you for your autograph or strangle you. I have two teenagers. If I have to hear your songs played one more time I may have to…” She stopped there.

  She must have seen my face pale because the only place that I could feel my heart beat was in the throbbing of my knee. “You really don’t know do you?”

  “Know what?” I said in quiet exasperation.

  She went to her keyboard and started typing. When she did her search she turned the monitor towards me. It was obviously a web site dedicated to me. “What is that?” I asked. Then I smiled and pointed. “That’s my husband behind me. He asked me to marry him about ten minutes after that picture was taken. I think. The day was kind of a blur.”

  She scrolled down and double clicked. “Billboards fastest climbing singers. You are,” She put on a pair of glasses that were obviously readers, “Number thirty eight as of right now. I think that they update your page every couple of hours. You were in the sixty something last night when my girls checked. They say that is radio play or request for the ranking.” Then she shrugged.

  I gave her a slow blink. Then I whispered. “Holy shit.” I blinked another couple of times. Then I looked at her with panic in my eyes. “They’re Bray’s songs. I just sang them.”

  She gave me wide eyes and clicked around on her computer some more. “Top,” She scowled and looked harder at her computer screen, “Thirty on downloads.”

  I forgot that my knee hurt until she started talking again. “Today was the first time that a reporter, if you can call them that, has made it past security. It has become a problem.”

  I still didn’t understand.

  Then I got it. “Security risk for the patients.” I said with tears trying to form in my eyes. “I’m being fired aren’t I?”

  “No.” She stated firmly. “You are however being put on leave. Three months paid by the hospital and you have about three months of vacation and sick leave accrued. You have been too good of an employee for us to dismiss. If this passes in the next few months we can re-evaluate the situation.” She took a deep breath. “Terra, I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t have to.”

  I understood. I didn’t like it one single bit but I understood it completely. In theory the patients always came first. Sometimes their insurance capability dictated how much they came in first or the doctors’ ego or clout. I was just a nurse who had cr
eated a problem. I finally realized that I had to ask how much of a problem that I had caused.

  I cleared my throat a few times to try and tame my emotions. “How much of a problem have I caused?”

  Now I knew what going to the Chambers really meant. I didn’t like it one bit when she started speaking. “Enough that I had to bring you to my office and send you home.”

  I heard one long note in my head as the one tear escaped. I was on permanent leave so I had nothing to lose. I opened my mouth and the words just fell out. “Do you think that I can go to jail if I kill my fucking manager and the label owner?”

  Elaine threw her head back and howled with laughter. “Only if you give me a couple of autographs before you do that please.”

  I didn’t want to smile. I really didn’t but her laughter was so infectious that I did. I also signed about two hundred hospital hats and a couple dozen shirt so that she could hand them out. I would have done more but the pen ran out of ink.

  Who knew you could dry out a couple Sharpies that fast.

  Chapter Twenty Six

  I went back down to my floor and cleaned out my locker. I said good-bye to everyone. I nearly dried out another sharpie signing scrubs for the kids. I was sad knowing that I may never come back but then again it could only be six months. The thought of that was the only thing that kept me from falling apart.

  I managed to get down to the parking garage by way of security. I signed a hat for Rasmussen and a couple pieces of paper for his kids. Not unlike Elaine Chapman his teenage girls had downloaded my album and were driving him crazy with it also.

  I had no idea it had taken off like this. I looked at my phone and of course had no cell service at the bottom of a parking garage. I figured that is also why I didn’t know about the photographers. They couldn’t access underground parking and were camped out on ground level. I also lived in a gated community. Not great security there but there was security none the less.

  I really needed Sam and some advice. I drove up and out to go to her bar to find her. She told me to go home and look at all the financials that had been sent to me first. She also told me that if I didn’t understand them the first person that I should be calling was Bray. If anyone could probably understand them it would be him.

  I told her, “He should have already explained them to me.”

  She looked at me with a hard stare, “Have you asked him to explain them to you?”

  I finally admitted to her, “I only looked at the first one that came from the accounting firm. There wasn’t much information to get from it. The first bank statement either. It showed a couple hundred dollars. I haven’t opened any since then.”

  She glowered at me, “This is your fault then. Go look at them. Call Bray over tonight or tomorrow morning.” She softened her tone. “I’ll bring bagels around ten.” She walked around the bar and gave me a hug.”

  “Thanks Sam. I needed that.”

  She gave me a chin nod as if to say ‘get out’. Then she gave me a hard swat on the butt as I turned.

  I gave her the finger over my shoulder as I walked out to her laughter.

  She was always good for me.

  **

  I had all of the envelopes in a pile in front of me. Not a ton of them. We hadn’t been live for that long. The oldest was on the bottom. The newest on top. I turned the pile over and went through each one. One by one they started to make a little more sense, in a way. I still didn’t grasp the whole picture. The last one was a bank statement. The numbers matched what the accountant had sent. The numbers boggled my mind so bad that I went through them again.

  Then again.

  On the third time through I dropped my head in my hands and whispered, “Holly fuck.”

  I was so engrossed in what I was doing that I hadn’t heard Rand walk in until he sat down next to me. “Well that’s not quite the greeting that I was hoping for.”

  I jumped on my stool. Rand took one look at my face and panic spread across his. “What happened?”

  I pushed the pile of papers towards him. “Start at the bottom and look through them will you? Please.”

  He nodded as I stood on shaky knees. I walked to the fridge. I pulled out a bottle of wine then a beer. I poured myself a glass and drank it in gulps. Refilled it and went to sit next to Rand again. I watched his face as he read every piece of paper. He got to the last one and scanned the numbers. He went back through them quickly. Then he did a third scan same as I had. Then his whispered, “Holy fuck.”

  I know too much of the whites of my eyes were showing because I couldn’t seem to close them. “I got put on leave of absence from the hospital today. Too much of a security risk.”

  His posture slouched. “I’m sorry. I know how much the kids mean to you.”

  I nodded. “I feel bad but I guess I can afford it.” I pulled another letter out of an envelope. It was from Vince.

  I handed it to Rand. He read it then put it back in the envelope. It had basically asked me just to do national interviews. He had still hinted that he wanted me on tour but had accepted my terms that I wouldn’t do it.

  Rand walked around the counter. He got another beer then refilled my glass. He stayed on the other side. Arms on the counter staring at me. “Do you want to go on tour?”

  “No.” I shook my head as I answered immediately.

  “Do you want to do the interviews?”

  I shook my head, “No. But I’m beginning to think that I need to.”

  Rand pulled out the drawer that held take out menus. “Call Bray and have him and Angie pick up food on the way. I’ll call it in.”

  I started giggling. “I want Mexican.”

  **

  Bray said that they would come over after answering the phone by way of, “I was wondering when the hell you would call me.”

  We ate without discussing music. We talked for a while after without discussing music. I couldn’t stand it anymore so I finally blurted, “I have a six month leave of absence without anything to do.”

  Bray threw his head back as he burst out laughing. When he finally calmed he looked at Angie then me. “You want to record some more?”

  I looked to Rand and he nodded. “You have any new stuff?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “I have one or two. You opposed to other writers?”

  “Not if they’re good.” I answered.

  Angie walked to her bag that she had dropped by the front door. She pulled out six file folders. She walked them to the table and put them in front of me.

  Bray explained. “I have one there. The Hall brothers have one. Stubbs surprisingly has been writing for years. He has two. Vince also sent one for you to look through. The most surprising is that Alice and the boys started writing for you exclusively.”

  I raised my eyes with wide wonder.

  Bray shook his head. “I haven’t looked at any of them. They all asked me not to. I just color coded the files so that I knew who they came from.”

  I opened the first file. At least twenty songs were in it. Same with the rest. “There are…” I took a deep breath, “How do I choose?”

  “Put them in piles like you did before. Can’t live without, like, maybe, dislike, hate. We’ll sort through them together.” Bray said. “We have a couple of albums there.”

  **

  We indeed had a couple of albums there. Most of the songs were timeless. The fact that more arrived by lumps helped also.

  Album four came out two days before our first child did. We named her Samantha Keiley Frasier.

  Album six came out two months after Vincent Randall Frasier was born. Yes Vincent.

  Vince Ross had become a firm person in our lives. I even considered him a friend.

  Sammy was six and Vinny was three when album twelve came out. Rand had wanted one more child. I refused. I could barely keep up with these two.

  Rand had Vinny over his shoulder because he was saving him from being beaten to death by his sister with a doll. He had cut all the ha
ir off of Sammy’s newest Barbie doll.

  Vinny had his reasons lined up. Ken had a smooth head. He just didn’t understand why Barbie had long hair. He thought that they should match since Sammy was making him be party to the wedding of the two dolls.

  Rand looked at me. Pleading with his eyes to make it better. I couldn’t since I was in a fit of giggles on the floor.

  We had bought a new house when I found out that I was pregnant with Sammy. It was large enough that we could have had a dozen kids. I just didn’t want that many. Rand finally deposited Vinny with me and went to parts unknown to calm Sammy down.

  I took Vinny to our puzzle table. It had two going at the moment. That was not a surprise. I tried to keep them busy with things that took concentration but were fun. I looked up as Rand sat next to Vinny on the floor a short time later. Sammy came and sat next to me and worked on her puzzle with her dad across from her. Still not happy but not trying to beat her brother any longer.

  I knew that I was in heaven then. I had my beautiful daughter next to me. I had the two greatest men in my life across from me.

  Rand had become my manager. He worked at the local drug store a few days a week. Mostly as a fill in just to keep his license. I volunteered at the hospital on occasion. Mostly because I could.

  Our cell phone rang. Yes, ours. We shared one cell phone. It just worked better for me that way. I heard bellowing over the line from the time that Rand hit answer until he held it out to me. “Layne.” He said without saying anything more.

  I hit the speaker button so that I didn’t break an eardrum. “Hey.” I said to the room.

  “She’s in labor Terra. You’re a nurse. You need to be here. Not me.”

  I snickered. I couldn’t help it. “I wasn’t the one to get her pregnant Layne. You did. You need to be there.”

  Layne was Rand’s brother and his wife Sasha was my friend. Sasha had held out the longest from the charms of the Frasier men. Ultimately they had gotten together though. They just went through a few hard patches to get there.