by Jake Biondi
Thrusting hard into her, the doctor adjusted his stance. He held her up, grabbing her hips and pressing her back against the wall. She kissed him deeply as he continued to pound her. Her tongue met his as her fingers explored his chest, shoulders, and neck.
As he prepared to finish, his thrusts grew quicker and more extreme. He looked deep into her eyes as she clung to him. He let out a groan as he released himself deep inside of her. She looked down at his cock as it filled her and then kissed him one final time.
Letting himself slip from her, the doctor stepped back and stared at the beautiful, naked woman in front of him.
“Welcome to St. Joseph,” she said with a smile as she pulled her scrubs back on.
“Thank you,” the doctor replied, winking at her and pulling up his underwear and pants.
Fully dressed in her scrubs, the nurse ran her hand over his hard chest once more before he pulled his shirt back on. Then she walked to the door and unlocked it. “See you around the campus.”
She opened the door and left the office as he buttoned his shirt and tucked it back into his pants. He looked around the room at the boxes he had yet to unpack. Another nurse came through the office doorway.
“I’m sorry to bother you, Doctor, but there’s a huge fire in the area and the ER is getting hit pretty hard downstairs.”
“Not a problem,” the doctor replied. “Thanks for letting me know. I’ll be right down.” The nurse left the office. The doctor quickly checked himself in the small mirror on the wall and then headed out of his office and down to the hospital emergency room.
Inside the burning restaurant, Justin Mancini called for help as he tried to dig through a pile of beams and debris under which Gino Ciancio was trapped.
“Somebody help me!” Justin struggled to remove the fiery pieces of wood and ceiling that were piled high in front of him. “Please!”
Michael worked his way through the smoke over to him. “You have to get out of here. The whole ceiling is coming down!”
“Not without Gino,” Justin said. “He’s trapped under here.”
“There’s no time,” Michael insisted, grabbing Justin by the arm. “We have to go.”
Justin pulled his arm away. “I’m not leaving without him.”
“It’s too dangerous!” Michael yelled. “We have to go.”
Cole made his way over to Michael and Justin. “Have you seen Emmett? I can’t find him anywhere.”
“We have to get out of here,” Michael said. “All three of us. Now.”
“Not without Gino,” Justin insisted as he continued to pull debris from the pile. “I can’t leave him.”
“We don’t have a choice,” Michael declared. “Or we’ll all be trapped. That ceiling isn’t going to hold. Let’s go.”
Outside, Max, David, Keith, Marco, and Dustin watched as firemen surrounded the building, hosing it down with water from every possible direction. Overhead, news helicopters hovered, streaming live coverage of the fire into households throughout Chicago. Thick, black smoke billowed high into the night sky, blocking all views of the stars and moon.
As the men remained focused on the building, Rachel Carson walked up behind Marco and wrapped her arms around him. “There you are.”
Marco spun around to face her. “My God. How did you get out of there?”
Rachel smiled. “I wasn’t in there.”
“You weren’t? Then where were you?”
“I left to find you. You took a phone call and disappeared.”
“I had some business to take care of.”
“What business?”
“That doesn’t matter,” Marco replied. “You’re okay. Now what matters is that they get Gino out of there.”
“He’s still inside?”
“Yes. And a few others.”
Max approached them. “Neither of you were inside when the fire started?”
“Luckily, no,” Rachel said. “I’m sorry that this is happening.”
A confused expression came across Max’s face. “You’re sorry?”
“The loss of your restaurant. I’m sure you put a great deal of energy into it.”
“The restaurant is the least of my concerns. There are people still trapped inside there. Including Emmett.”
Dustin put his hand on Max’s shoulder again. “They will be okay.”
“I wish I had your optimism,” Keith mumbled.
“Let’s all have some faith,” David replied. “The firemen will get them out.”
“How the hell did this happen?” Max asked
Before anyone could even ponder Max’s question, Marco yelled out, “Wait, look!”
Across the street, Jensen Stone emerged from the thick smoke struggling to carry the limp body of Emmett Mancini.
“Somebody help me!” Jensen yelled, trying to get as far from the building as possible before collapsing to his knees with Emmett in his arms.
“Oh, my God,” Max said, darting into the street. Two police officers intercepted him, stopping him from getting any closer to his fiancé. “Emmett!”
“Sir, please stand back,” one of the officers said, struggling to hold Max back.
Dustin stepped forward to Max. “Hang on. Let them take care of him.”
“Listen to your friend,” the police officer advised.
Max and the others watched as several firemen attended to Jensen and Emmett. Jensen was coughing violently and Emmett remained motionless. Two paramedics joined them and carefully lifted Emmett onto a stretcher and into a nearby ambulance. As the ambulance pulled away, another fireman put an oxygen mask over Jensen’s face.
“I have to follow them,” Max said as the ambulance carrying Emmett left the scene.
“I’ll drive you,” Dustin offered and the two men headed toward Dustin’s car.
With Dustin and Max gone, Keith approached Rachel.
“Very convenient that you were gone when the fire broke out,” Keith said to Rachel quietly. “Did you start it?”
“Watch your mouth,” Rachel said. “People shouldn’t see us talking.”
“My boyfriend is still trapped in there,” Keith continued. “I’ll say whatever I damn well please.”
“Well, be thankful that your ex-fiancé was rescued. Maybe there’s hope for a reconciliation for you two. Lord knows your current boyfriend won’t want a thing to do with you if you actually follow through on telling him the truth about your past.”
“That’s between us,” Keith said. “They’re taking Emmett to the hospital. They’re bound to find the drugs in his system. If he’s even alive.”
“Relax,” Rachel whispered. “They are untraceable.”
“What a mess you and your brother have turned my life into.”
“You brought this all on yourself, Keith, when you abandoned and then killed my brother. Actions have consequences.” Rachel paused for a moment and then smiled. “But cheer up. Maybe your beloved boyfriend won’t get out of that fire alive. Then your secret will be safe forever.”
“You bitch,” Keith snarled.
Marco stepped over and interrupted the conversation. “Everything okay here?”
“Just perfect,” Keith replied sarcastically and then returned to David’s side.
“How do you know that one?” David asked.
“Long story,” Keith mumbled as they both fixed their eyes on the burning building.
Not far away from the restaurant, Laura Leahy, the nanny for the children who lived next door to Derek and Joyelle’s condominium, was leaving the building for the night. She exited the family’s back door and descended the deck stairs to the ground level.
Upon reaching the walkway at the foot of the stairs, she fumbled through her purse to find her cell phone. After a bit of digging, she located it, pulled it from inside the purse, and tossed her purse strap back over her shoulder. She took a few steps toward the driveway and then stopped, letting out a loud scream.
She looked down at the blood on the cement below her fee
t. Her eyes followed the stream of blood until she saw the motionless body of Derek Mancini lying nearby. Letting out another scream, Laura clumsily dialed 911 on her phone.
A while later, Jacqueline rushed into the St. Joseph Hospital emergency room. She looked around and found her son Jesse standing at the far end. Immediately, she ran over and hugged him tightly.
“You’re okay,” Jacqueline said, wrapping her arms around her son.
“Mom,” Jesse said, kissing her on the cheek. “What are you doing here?”
“I saw the fire on the news and rushed right over here. I thought something might have happened to you.”
“Not me,” Jesse said, releasing his mother from their hug. “But Logan. He’s really bad.”
“Oh, no,” Jacqueline said. “What happened?”
Before Jesse could reply, the new Chief of Staff entered the area with Tyler by his side. Jesse approached them.
“Is there any news about Logan? How is he?”
Tyler shook his head. “I don’t know. I just got here myself. This is Dr. Martinez, our new Chief of Staff.”
The doctor shook Jacqueline’s hand and then Jesse’s. “It’s nice to meet you both; I’m sorry about your friends. I assure you that my staff will do all they can to help them.”
“Thank you,” Jacqueline replied.
“Have either of you seen Emmett?” Tyler asked.
“No,” Jesse said. “I came directly here in the ambulance with Logan.”
“We need to find him, if he’s here,” the doctor said. “I’m afraid we have some terrible news about his brother.”
While Marco and Rachel continued to watch the fire, Marco’s cell phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and then stepped away from Rachel before answering it.
“Yes?” Marco said, looking around to make sure no one could hear him. “You put the painting back into their apartment? Good, good. Nice work.” Marco paused a moment. “You know what to do next.”
As Marco spoke on the phone, Jensen crossed the street and stood next to Rachel.
“Are you okay?” Rachel asked him discreetly.
“I’ll live,” Jensen replied.
“What about Emmett? Is he dead?”
“Killing him was never part of the plan,” Jensen said.
“That’s not what I asked you,” Rachel said. “Is he dead?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t you just leave him inside?”
Jensen looked at Rachel. “What is the matter with you?”
“Do you have what I need? It didn’t get destroyed in the fire, did it?”
“I did what I was supposed to do.”
Suddenly, they heard a loud noise. Looking across the street, they watched as the entire building collapsed. The upper floor sank down into the lower one, spewing flames and debris into the air and street. The building collapsed upon itself, shattering windows and hurling bricks into the street. The massive eruption of fire and smoke threw firemen all around the building to the ground. In a flash of a moment, the building was gone. While smoke fills space with suffocating darkness, fire illuminates the world around it.
Episode #32
Hospitals can be places of great joy and great sadness. St. Joseph Hospital was no different. As people welcomed new children into the world in some areas of the hospital, other people coped with news of an illness or the loss of loved ones in different parts of the hospital.
The emergency room staff scrambled to attend to all the individuals arriving from the horrible fire at The Boys and the Booze. New Chief of Staff Mateo Martinez and Tyler Bennett remained in the ER waiting room with Jesse Morgan and his mother Jacqueline.
“Doctor, what terrible news about Emmett’s brother?” Jacqueline asked.
Jesse followed his mother’s question with his own. “Is it Justin? Was he hurt in the fire?”
“Justin? No,” Mateo replied. “I can share this information with you because the police and the press have already made it public. Emmett’s brother Derek has been shot.”
“What!” Jesse exclaimed.
“Oh, dear God,” Jacqueline added. “Is he okay?”
“He’s alive,” Tyler said. “Hanging on.”
“What happened? Was he mugged or something?”
“That, I don’t know. Like I said, the police were here already to ask questions, but Derek hasn’t regained consciousness. We’re prepping him for surgery now. He’s lost a lot of blood.”
“Does Joyelle know?” Jacqueline asked.
“Not yet,” Tyler said. “I’ll tell her when the time is right. She’s still being attended to; she collapsed during the fire.”
“Cole needs to know,” Jesse added. “Has anyone seen him?”
“Not yet,” Tyler said. “You and I both left the fire scene about the same time.”
As Tyler finished his statement, Max Taylor and Dustin Alexander entered the room.
“Have you seen Emmett? Is he okay?” Max asked everyone in the room. “We followed the ambulance here.”
“I’m Dr. Martinez,” Mateo said. “I’ll see what I can find out for you.” He turned and left the room.
“And I’m going to check on Joyelle,” Tyler stated, following him.
“He’s got to be okay,” Max said.
“He will be fine,” Dustin said. “You need to remain calm.”
“Calm? My entire life went up in smoke tonight.”
“No,” Jacqueline said, hugging Max, “just a building. Everyone will be okay.”
“Thank you,” Max stated, pulling away from Jacqueline. He looked at Jesse. “How’s Logan?”
“I don’t know,” Jesse said. “He never woke up during the entire ambulance ride and he’s badly burnt.”
“He’ll be okay,” Max declared, opening his arms to try to hug Jesse, who simply pushed him away.
“I gotta get some air,” Jesse said, leaving the waiting room.
“He hates me,” Max said.
Jacqueline tried to reassure Max. “He’ll come around.”
“Maybe you were right keeping his paternity a secret all these years,” Max said. “Maybe it should have stayed that way.”
“We can’t go back,” she replied. “It’ll be okay.” Jacqueline hugged him again.
As Jacqueline comforted Max, Marco Ciancio watched in disbelief as the entire building collapsed across the street, sending a massive cloud of smoke and debris in every direction. Rachel Carson and Jensen Stone walked over to him as the smoke cloud headed in their direction. News helicopters repositioned themselves overhead and continued to stream video footage of the disaster to their viewers throughout the city.
“No!” Marco yelled; his voice was drowned out by the noise from the building collapse. Rachel put her arm around him and her head on his shoulder. “Gino!”
Nearby, Keith Colgan’s eyes filled with tears as he yelled out, “Michael!”
David Young dropped to his knees next to Keith. “Oh, my God.” Keith reached down to help him up as he continued to call out. “Cole! Cole!”
“This can’t be happening,” Keith sighed.
“Come on,” David said, grabbing Keith’s hand and pulling him as he ran toward the building and into the smoke spreading from it.
Firemen rushed in all directions to avoid being hit or knocked over by the scattering remnants of the building. Their commander barked orders as they clamored to gain control of the situation. Eventually, they refocused and continued their attack on the fire.
“He’s gone,” Marco said softly. “He’s gone.” Looking utterly defeated, Marco turned away from the building and slowly walked toward the corner of the block. “I have to tell my father.”
“I’m so sorry,” Rachel said. “I know how close you two were.”
“You have no idea,” Marco replied. “How could you?”
“I had a brother once, too, remember?”
Jensen walked up behind Marco and Rachel. “We should get to the hospital. To check on Emm
ett.”
“You go ahead,” Rachel said. “I’ll stay with Marco.”
“You both go,” Marco stated. “I need to talk to Father alone.”
“But--”
Marco grew stern and interrupted her. “Rachel, I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Okay, okay,” Rachel said, raising her hands in the air. “Call me when you’re ready to talk.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Jensen said quietly, then walked away with Rachel. Marco looked back toward the fiery building once more in disbelief. He removed his cell phone from his coat pocket and prepared to deliver the devastating news to his father.
At the same time, Dr. MacMahon was examining Joyelle as she lay in her hospital bed with an oxygen tube under her nose. The doctor gently took hold of her wrist and checked her pulse as she slowly opened her eyes.
“Hello, there,” Dr. MacMahon said with a smile.
Joyelle looked around the room and then sat up quickly. “Where--”
“Shh,” the doctor said. “You’re okay. You’re at the hospital and you’re fine. Just a little too much smoke.”
“Where’s Tyler?”
“He’s downstairs helping some of the others. He’s fine. I’m sure he’ll be in to check on you as soon as he can. And I’m trying to contact Derek, too.”
“No,” Joyelle said. “Please, don’t.”
The doctor gently helped Joyelle to lie back down in the bed. “Stay calm, Joyelle. You need to take care of yourself, especially now that you’re pregnant.”
“Doctor, please,” Joyelle begged. “You cannot tell anyone about that. Please.”
“Of course,” Dr. MacMahon reassured her. “You know I can’t discuss that with anyone. You don’t need to worry. But surely you’re going to tell Derek. He has a right to know he’s going to be a father.”
“I’d like to go home,” Joyelle replied, changing the subject. “Or help with triage downstairs.”
“You need to rest.”