Blushing Violet

by Blushing Violet [EC Exotica] (mobi)

  Dr. Paolo gave the ball a good squeeze and crossed his legs. “For the first month you’ll be working together with Violet, then we’ll start to give you your own personal patients to work on.” He gestured to the large envelope on the table. “We’re still working on putting our official welcome packet together, but Violet has some articles for you to read and a bunch of forms you’ll need to fill out for HR.”

  Jason nodded and grabbed the packet, holding it to his chest. His blue eyes sparkled as he grabbed Dr. Paolo’s hand and pumped it up and down, squeeze ball and all. “I won’t let you down.”

  Dr. Paolo gently extracted his hand while Violet stifled a giggle. “Before I forget.” He fished around in the pocket of his white coat and pulled out a folded sheet of paper and handed it to Jason. “Next week we are having a charity event at the Detroit Institute of Arts. I’m sure your wife has mentioned it, but I wanted to extend my personal invitation. I would like it if you and your wife would attend. It’s important that the muckity mucks put a face with our program when they dig into their pockets.”

  “Aren’t you a muckity muck?” Violet asked in an innocent voice and gave Dr. Paolo wide eyes when he gave her a mock glare.

  “I’ll expect you to be there as well, schmoozing away with Jason to anyone who will stand still long enough to listen.”

  “What?” She dithered with the jellybeans on her desk in a bowl shaped like a dog bone. “I think I’m busy that night.”

  Jason cocked his head and examined her. “He didn’t even say what night it is.”

  She gave him a nasty look but Jason only smiled back pleasantly. With his good looks and goofy personality it was easy to forget how annoyingly smart he could be. “I’m booked every night next week.”

  “Doing what?” Dr. Paolo asked with a barely suppressed smile.

  “Roller Derby.”

  Jason snorted. “After the way you laid Wendy out on her ass I wouldn’t be surprised.”

  Dr. Paolo stopped kneading the squeeze ball. “She did what?”

  Jason looked expectantly at her, then shrugged and said, “Violet flipped—”

  “Fine, I’ll go!” she yelled over Jason and he shut up with a smug grin. “You’re such an asshole.”

  The squeeze ball made a soft thump as it landed back on her desk. Dr. Paolo stood and stretched. “I need to get back to my rounds, so I’ll leave you in Violet’s capable hands. And Violet, I expect you at that fundraiser.”

  * * * * *

  Violet and Bethany strolled up the marble steps of the Detroit Institute of Art. An early warm spell kept the evening temperature in the 50s, and after having spent the last three months in below-zero wind chills it felt like being on the beach. They followed the glittering throng of people into the bronze-and-glass front doors. Once inside, they both stopped and stared at the massive crowd filling the foyer. The two-story entrance was flanked on either side by fantastic murals depicting the industrial revolution. Tables were set up on one side of the room, each representing a different department of the hospital complex.

  “Wow,” Bethany said in a soft voice as she tugged at the blue silk wrap that draped over her naturally tanned shoulders.

  “Yeah,” Violet echoed in the same stunned tone and smoothed the black cashmere halter dress, the same one that she had worn on her first date with Carlos. When picking out something to wear for the evening she had almost gone with something different, but decided to wear this dress instead. In an extra act of useless defiance she also wore the jewelry Carlos gave her.

  Dr. Paolo had assured her that Carlos wouldn’t be here, he was on a photo shoot somewhere, but Violet couldn’t help but wish he was. A glimpse of a man with blond curly hair going into a room to the left deeper inside the building made her heart stop. For a moment she swore it was Morgan, but that was also impossible. Last time she heard from Morgan was when he had left her a message on her answering machine saying that he was going out of state for a month, and hoped she would talk to him when he got back.

  Bethany snapped her out of her melancholy thoughts by tugging her forward. “Let’s go find us some hot doctors.”

  Violet shook her head and grinned. Bethany was certainly dressed for the hunt, the blue silk dress clung to her petite frame and her dark hair lay in carefully tousled curls across her back. “There certainly are a lot of them here.”

  A handsome African-American man in an impeccable tux strolled by and Bethany made a low sound of approval. “I wonder if he has a twin brother.”

  Violet elbowed her and Bethany grinned. “What? You know how jealous I am of you and your—” She stopped and flushed beneath her makeup. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. I’m over them.” Bethany stared at her in disbelief and Violet lifted her chin. “Really. I am.”

  “Mmm hmm,” Bethany replied and tried to stand on her tiptoes to see over the crowd. “I wonder what’s going on back there?”

  Violet craned her neck to see, but all she could make out was a mass of bodies waiting to get into one of the rooms toward the back, the same one she had seen the blond man go into. “Want to find out?”

  Bethany led her through the crowd and stopped in surprise before they got more than a few steps. “Hey, isn’t that your sister, Penny? And her hubby Brad?”

  Violet followed her line of sight and found Penny beaming and making her way through the crowd toward them with Brad at her heels, apologizing as his wife bulldozed a path through the throng of people. Penny wore a sparkly lilac dress and had her hair pulled back in a French twist. “What the hell are they doing here?”

  Before she could open her mouth, Penny crushed her into a hug and dragged her away from Bethany and Brad, pulling them against the edge of the mural. “I’m so glad I found you! Why haven’t you returned my calls?”

  Violet shrugged uncomfortably. “I’ve been busy.”

  “For a month and a half?” Penny sighed and gave her hand a squeeze. “I owe you an apology. It’s my fault you and Morgan broke up, he’s not gay. Brad lied to me.”

  “What?” She looked over Penny’s shoulder at Brad who was talking to Bethany.

  “Remember how I said I saw Morgan and Carlos holding hands? Well Brad knew that I was interested in Morgan, so he got them to pretend to be gay to throw me off the trail so he could make a play for my heart.” She laughed and shook her head. “What a manipulative bastard, but I love him anyway.”

  Violet searched Penny’s face, trying to decide how much she should, how much she could, tell her. “Penny, I know Morgan and Carlos aren’t gay.”

  “Oh, I know that too. I talked to Morgan and apologized to him.”

  The floor dropped out beneath Violet’s feet. “You did what?”

  “When you wouldn’t talk to me, I looked up Morgan in the phone book and called him. He told me the real reason you broke up with him…and Carlos.”

  Heat flooded Violet’s cheeks until she thought she would pass out.

  Penny actually giggled at her expression. “Violet, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s not like you were dating aliens or something. Well, to Dad it will probably be a big deal, but he’ll mellow out. Maybe Mom can slip him some of her meds.” Her laughter faded away, replaced by sympathy. “They were super-huge bastards for lying to you.”

  “I-I don’t want to talk about it right now, ’kay? You know how we look when we cry our makeup off.”

  “Like scared albino rabbits.” Penny licked her lips in a nervous gesture. “Look, I know I’ve been a real asshole lately and I’m really sorry.” She swallowed and pressed her hand to her stomach. For a moment Violet was afraid she was going to be sick, but the smile that Penny gave her was incandescent with joy. “Brad and I have been trying to have a baby for three years. I’ve been on intensive hormone therapy and it made me a crazy woman. Like constant PMS…poor Brad. Anyway, last time I saw you I was all jacked up on hormone injections that made me even more crazy than usual before the IVF. We had just returned from the doctor and he h
ad told us that they managed to fertilize two eggs, but the chances weren’t very good.”

  “Penny, why didn’t you tell me?”

  Penny shrugged and gave Violet’s hand a squeeze. “I didn’t want Mom to know. You two are so close and I really didn’t want to have to face her disappointment if it didn’t work. You know how bad she wants grandbabies. I couldn’t bear to tell her that we’d been trying so hard for so long with no success.”

  Violet understood perfectly what Penny was talking about. “Thank you for telling me.”

  Penny chewed on her lower lip and leaned closer. “Can you keep a secret?”

  Hope blossomed in Violet’s heart as she smiled at Penny. “Yeah.”

  “Don’t tell Mom, but I’m pregnant!”

  Violet realized she was screaming and jumping up and down only after she noticed people were staring at her with bemused expressions. Regaining control of her emotions, she grabbed Penny into a huge hug as Brad joined them.

  “I take it you told her?” Brad asked and gently brushed his hand over Penny’s still flat belly.

  “Not all of it, but she does know that she’ll be an aunt.”

  Bethany peeked from behind Brad’s back and beamed. “Congratulations!”

  “Thank you,” Penny said and snuggled into Brad’s side.

  Violet felt a pang of jealousy and tried to swallow it. This was not the time for a self-absorbed pity party. “I’m so happy for you both. And don’t worry, when Mom tells me I’ll act surprised.”

  Penny toyed with the edge of Brad’s jacket. “You need to go see the exhibit in the second room past the foyer on the left.”

  Puzzled by the abrupt change in conversation, still reeling from Penny’s revelations, she pursed her lips and said, “Okay.”

  Brad gave Bethany a significant look and Bethany grabbed her arm, pulling her through the crowd like a little curly-haired, determined bull. Violet tried to jerk her arm away. “What is going on?”

  “An apology,” was all Bethany would say.

  As they neared the crowd waiting to get into the room, Violet tugged her shawl over her shoulders as people turned and stared at her as she passed and whispers filled their wake. She glanced down to make sure one of the straps to her halter hadn’t snapped and her boobs were hanging out. Nope, both girls were still in place and the jade-and-pearl necklace gleamed against her skin.

  “Pardon me, coming through,” Bethany called out in a loud voice and elbowed her way through the line of women in evening gowns and the men in tuxedos.

  A young man in a tux blocked their way as they neared the front of the line. “Ma’am, I’m sorry but you’ll—” He stopped and stared at Violet. “Oh, I didn’t realize it was you. Come this way please.” The smile he gave her was definitely flirty and Violet flushed beneath its heat.

  Confused and getting irritated that everyone but her seemed to know what was going on, she walked into the doorway of the small gallery and stopped dead in her tracks.

  A small wall stood between the entrance and the rest of the gallery, and on it hung a gigantic picture of her. With her pulse racing, she stared at the image. In it, she was giving Alia a massage. Half of the room was in black and white, the stark and austere hospital room with its machines and equipment. But the other half was bathed in vivid colors and transformed into an enchanted forest. The bed that Alia lay on was half hospital bed, half altar of flowers. The rich mahogany color of her skin shone and an elaborate crown rested against her bare head, her hair long gone to chemo. A golden butterfly perched on her hand on the unpainted portion of the room, full of stark and fragile splendor.

  Carlos must have taken this picture through the open door, catching her unaware, knowing that if he saw her the beauty of the scene would be shattered by her rage.

  Violet’s gaze traveled the picture, finally resting on her own image. She too had been transformed by the artist’s touch. Instead of the khakis and green top that she usually wore when she visited the children’s clinic, she wore an elaborate robe that reminded her of the gown a goddess would wear. Her hair blazed against the background of the stark hospital and lush forest, strands of red and gold seeming to almost shimmer. An expression of deep peace transformed her face into something soft and delicate, and her small smile perfectly matched Alia’s.

  “Wow,” Bethany said in a soft voice and wandered away from her side.

  An excited hum of conversation came from behind her and more DIA employees crowded the doorway to get a look at her. She hesitated, trapped by the beauty of the image, and the knowledge of who brought it to life. Without a doubt she knew that Morgan and Carlos had done this. To her eyes their style was as clear as a stamp.

  She floated deeper into the room, inspecting each picture that she passed. Not all of them were of her, though she was in many. They focused instead on the children of the pediatric unit. Here an image of a small and frail boy in a wheelchair. Well, half of him was in a wheelchair. The other half was dressed in shining Roman armor and his wheelchair was transformed into a chariot. A look of fierce pride filled eyes that were wise beyond his years.

  The next showed a little blonde girl named Jenny who Violet had often worked with. She had leukemia and had been in and out of the hospital for as long as she could remember. Here she stood in the hallway of the hospital, holding onto her IV stand. The base of the stand was the same in stark black and white, but the little girl had been transformed into an elf, complete with pointed ears. Her blue eyes were enormous in her face and her expression was one of ageless serenity. The top of her IV had been transformed into a magical staff that flamed with blue fire.

  Violet drifted among the pictures, pulled from one side of the room to the other by images of such beauty that her heart ached. How long had they been working on this together? How had they managed to capture so many images of her without her knowledge?

  Toward the back of the room the walls had been formed into the shape of a small alcove and she approached it with her pulse thundering in her ears. She knew what lay on the other side of that wall. The banner hung over the entrance said it all.

  My Violet.

  Each step that took her closer was like walking through a heavy surf. Her legs seemed to weigh a thousand pounds one second, and the next they no longer even felt as if they were attached to her body. Her mind was strangely silent, but her body hummed and clamored for the men that were so close, but eons away.

  Reality slammed back into place as she rounded the corner and caught sight of them.

  Morgan and Carlos stared back at her with impassive expressions on their faces, but their eyes held enough emotion to bring her to her knees. Rather than face them, she turned to the four remaining pictures and gasped.

  She looked beautiful.

  Each portrait was taken of her as she slept and reflected the different seasons. In one picture she slumbered on a bed of white ermine and crimson sheets in the middle of a snow-covered birch forest. Holly was woven through her hair and snowflakes a few shades whiter than her pale skin covered her in a fall of sparkles. A small smile curved her lips and she wondered what she had been dreaming about.

  The next showed spring. Once again she was on a bed, but this one was made of branches growing together to form an elaborate headboard and frame. A thin sheet the fresh green color of the buds on the trees barely covered her, leaving her thigh and the curve of her bottom exposed as she curled on her side like a child. That same secretive smile was on her lips as a blossom drifted eternally through the air toward her outstretched hand.

  Carlos’ voice stroked over her, raising goose bumps on her skin as he said, “Do you like it?”

  She moved on to the picture of summer, all golden colors and her hair flaming like a bonfire. “They are beautiful.”

  Morgan’s voice came from over her other shoulder. “I had the hardest time getting the color of your hair right. I had to beg Dr. Paolo to let me sneak into the hospital so I could look at you.”

  Some
one’s jacket brushed against her back and she froze, feeling the heat of both of their bodies. “Sounds a bit stalkeresque to me. And taking pictures of me in my sleep could get you jail time in some states.”

  Carlos sighed and stepped closer. “My dad forbade me from seeing you in his hospital, so I sweet-talked the PICU into letting me to take pictures of you there.”

  She didn’t say anything, couldn’t say anything. Feeling as if she was doing one of those silly trust exercises they were so fond of in therapy groups, she let herself lean backward, secure that they would catch her before she hit the ground. Her shoulders made contact with their solid chests and a shudder ripped through her body.

  Fuck what strong women were supposed to do. She needed them like she needed sunlight and she’d been slowly dying on the inside without them.

  “I’m so tired of hurting,” she said in a soft voice and closed her eyes, breathing in deep their scent.

  They reached across her at almost the same moment and held her close. Both men nuzzled her hair and Carlos said, “You can punish me for the rest of my life, just please don’t leave me.”

  Morgan stroked his hand down the side of her face with a slight tremble in his touch. “Beat me, chain me up, call me every horrible name you can think of. I deserve it all and more, just please don’t leave me.”

  “No,” she said in a weary voice.

  The both froze behind her, turning as stiff as living statues. “I see,” Carlos said and started to step away.

  With the loss of his heat at her back she felt chilled from the inside out. “No, you idiot. I don’t want to beat you. Submissive men do nothing for me. They’re so damn needy.”

  Morgan spun her around and dropped to his knees in front of her. “Please, give us a chance.”

  “Us?” Her lips narrowed into a line as her fading anger flared. “You still both want to date me? Even now that your little game is over?”

  Carlos put his fingers beneath her chin and tilted her head up to look at him. “It was never a game with us, Violet.”

  “It was a stupid, immature, idiotic plan that got way out of hand,” Morgan added and placed a kiss on her palm.