Human Blend

by Pescatore, Lori

  Julie grabbed her bag and started for the stairs. She turned around and noticed Austin hanging back, his hands shoved into his pockets.

  “I’m just gonna be a few minutes. You’re welcome to come up,” Julie called to him.

  “Um, yeah, sure. I’ve always been curious as to what the rooms looked like,” he said, approaching her. Together they made their way up the staircase.

  Room 205 was the third door on the right, just as the clerk had stated.

  Julie unlocked the door and pushed it open wide before stepping inside. Upon entering, she passed the bathroom that contained a full bath. Further inside was a small but very quaint room with matching drapes and bedspread. Over the full bed was a canopy with a lace trimmed sheer covering. The room was very warm and cozy.

  Julie put her duffel bag on top of the dresser table that faced the bed and went to the lone window. She pulled open the drapes and looked down below. Her room looked down upon Main Street. She turned back to Austin.

  “You never saw the inside of this place, and you lived here all your life?” she asked.

  Austin shrugged his shoulders, “I never really gave it much thought,” he answered.

  Julie accepted his response and turned back to the window. She reached up and unlocked the clasp and lifted it open, letting in fresh air. She closed her eyes and breathed in the freshness. When she opened them again, Austin was standing beside her. They stared at each other for a few moments before Austin raised his hand, brushing back a loose strand of hair that had fallen out of her pony tail.

  “What are you running from?” Austin asked, softly.

  Julie gave a quick smile, “I must be a mess. I’m gonna go freshen up,” she said.

  She moved quickly away from Austin’s perceptive eyes and opened her duffel bag. She pulled out a smaller bag and headed into the bathroom.

  “I’ll just be a minute,” Julie said, and closed the door.

  Julie placed her hands on the edge of the vanity and hung her head. Intuitive little tour guide, she sighed. Julie raised her head and looked in the mirror. I am a mess, she thought. She removed her rubber band from her hair and brushed it.

  Tread carefully, she admonished. She hated the lies, although they were necessary to her survival. She decided diversion was the right plan of action. She splashed cool water on her face, and patted it dry. Taking a deep breath, she went back into the room.

  Austin stood near the window. He was leaning against the wall, his arms and ankles crossed. He said nothing to her, just looked thoughtful.

  Julie kicked off her sneakers and sat down on the end of the bed.

  “Tell me about Hungry Mother Park,” she requested.

  “How about you tell me some things about Julie Miller?” Austin asked.

  He pushed away from the wall and sat down next to her.

  “I’m not very interesting,” Julie replied.

  “Somehow, I doubt that,” Austin smiled.

  He’s too cute, she thought. “What do you want to know?” Julie sighed.

  “How about where are you from?” he asked.

  “Florida,” she lied.

  “One word answers, okay. How old are you?” he asked.

  “Eighteen,” she said. “How old are you?” she quickly asked him.

  “I just turned eighteen a few weeks ago,” Austin said.

  “Happy Birthday,” she said, fighting a smile.

  “Thank you. I guess we are playing twenty questions. What about your family?” Austin laughed.

  “What about them?” Julie teased.

  “Ah, Julie, it’s like pulling teeth!” he exasperated.

  “Maybe you should be a dentist instead of a teacher,” she kept up the game.

  “Why do you have so many secrets?” he asked. She paused, unsure how to answer that one. She stared at him for a few moments before answering.

  “It’s… complicated.”

  “I’m a good listener.”

  A muffled ring could be heard at that moment. “I think your pants are ringing,” Julie smirked, thankful for the save.

  “Saved by the bell,” Austin kidded before standing up, and digging his cell phone from his pocket. He looked at his watch before answering it,.“Shit,” answering, “Yeah, hey, I know. I lost track of time. Okay, alright. I’ll be right there,” Austin snapped the phone shut, obviously irritated. “I hate this,” Austin mumbled to himself, but loud enough that Julie could hear.

  “Problems?” Julie queried.

  “I gotta go relieve my mom at the laundromat,” he answered, grumpily.

  Julie felt bad. “I didn’t mean to take up your Saturday.”

  “You didn’t. I just feel bad I didn’t get to show you anyplace else,” he said.

  “It’s fine, I like exploring,” she said with a smile. “Go help your mom,” Julie finished, standing.

  Austin started for the door then back tracked to her. “Can… can I see you again? ”

  This is your chance, cut him off now. “Sure,” Julie said smiling. Idiot.

  “I’ll take you to this breakfast place, it has great food,” Austin smiled.

  “Sounds great,” Julie replied.

  “Tomorrow morning then, around eight?” Austin asked as he opened the door.

  “I’ll be ready,” she answered. Austin gave a final wave and started back down the hallway. Julie closed the door and slumped against it. “You just ask for trouble,” she grumbled to herself.

  Pushing aside her thoughts on Austin for the moment, Julie walked back to her duffel bag. She had more things to organize to secure a safe lifestyle here.

  She dug down deep and pulled out the case that contained the cash she had taken from them. She had counted it on one of her stops along the way. Over 200,000 dollars in cash. She hated carrying around that much money, but it was necessary.

  They would be monitoring banks, looking for large deposits. Not to mention, if things collapsed she needed to be able to grab it and run. “I’m going to be more careful this time,” she told herself.

  She could easily get more money if she needed it, but the way in which she could achieve it, well, she didn’t feel good about it. Julie had an unfair advantage. She possessed another ability, one that they favored most. Julie could foreshadow lottery numbers, horse winners and really anything containing numbers. The numbers just appeared in her mind. She remembered being small and rattling off the lottery numbers before they were even drawn. She could even see the combination to any lock. Numbers. She didn’t want to get money that way, it was dishonest. If she had to live lies, she wanted to live it as honestly as possible. She chuckled at the irony of that thought.

  She opened up the closet in her room and opened the safe. She put the cash in there. Julie read the directions and set her combination. She went back to her duffel bag and grabbed a change of clothes. She wanted to shower before going out to continue her exploration of the town.

  Julie felt better after her shower. The traveling was really wearing her down. She was ready to stay in one place, and hoped this would be the town where she could begin a new life. Dressing in nice slacks and blouse, she traded her sneakers for sensible flats. Sitting down, Julie opened up the local yellow page directory. She looked up the hospitals and clinics within the town.

  “Smyth County Community Hospital sounds like a good place to start,” she decided. After committing the address to memory, she headed down to the lobby.

  Patricia was no longer on duty. In her place was an attractive gentleman. He smiled brightly as Julie approached. “Hello,” Julie greeted the man, as he appeared to be unable to get any words out. “I’m trying to find the Smyth County Community Hospital,” Julie stated and gave the address. “Is it within walking distance?” she asked.

  The gentleman, whose name tag read ‘Anthony’, found his vocal cords. “It is about a 35 minute walk from here,” he managed to say. “I could call a taxi for you, Miss…”

  “Miller,” Julie finished for him. “But, t
hat won’t be necessary. I enjoy walking and it is such a lovely day,” she said. “Could you give me directions?”

  “Certainly, Miss Miller,” he said, trying to keep his hand steady as he wrote down the directions for her. Julie waited patiently. She still had trouble understanding the different reactions she got from people. Either they were over confident to the point of being cocky when they approached her, or extremely shy and timid. Then you had poor Anthony who seemed beside himself. She accepted the paper from his shaking hand.

  “Thank you for your help,” she said and left the hotel. She didn’t wait for a reply from the clerk. She was anxious to see the hospital.

  The pleasantness of the town, once again, filled her with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Walking along the streets, she observed the people coming and going. Everyone living out their daily lives. Julie felt a yearning to be a part of it. The walk actually took her closer to an hour, as she stopped along the way, trying to absorb all of the town’s flavor.

  The hospital was bigger than she expected for such a small town. She entered the building and went to the welcome desk that was staffed by an elderly person.

  “Hello,” Julie greeted the elderly woman. “Could you direct me to Human Resources? I’d like to inquire about doing some volunteer hospice work,” Julie explained.

  Before the woman could respond, a nurse, who was dressed in uniform, arriving for work, stopped over. “I’ll help her out Gladi,” she told the woman behind the counter.

  “Did I hear you say you were looking for volunteer hospice work?” she asked, hopefully.

  “Yes, I am,” she answered.

  “Oh, thank God, we are very understaffed on volunteers and could really use the help,” the nurse said. “Follow me on up, I’ll show you to Human Resources. I’m Joy, by the way,” the nurse said, walking.

  Julie kept pace, “I’m Julie. It’s nice to meet you,”

  The two walked quickly up toward the elevator. “Do you have experience?” Joy asked, as the elevator doors closed.

  “Yes. I used to volunteer in New Orleans, before Katrina. The hospital has since closed permanently,” Julie said. She had done her research on closed hospitals, therefore eliminating the ability to check references.

  “Oh wow. Were you there when it hit?” Joy asked, as the elevator doors opened on the 3rd floor.

  “No, actually,” Julie said. “I was on vacation in Florida,” she stated her self-rehearsed line.

  Joy knocked on the door of the Human Resource Manager before opening it up. “Kathy, you in?” she asked, as she entered. A woman stood behind a desk on the phone and held up her finger towards Joy.

  “Yes, I am aware, I’m working on it. I can’t pull them out of thin air,” the woman said into the phone. Joy pointed toward Julie and shook her head up and down. “I’ll call you back,” the woman said into the phone.

  “Look what I found,” Joy sang. “If you hire her, I want her on my floor since I saw her first,” Julie laughed.

  “Did you see the ad?” the woman asked Julie.

  “Um. No actually. I just stopped in to see if you needed any volunteers,” Julie said.

  “Damn, that was lucky,” the woman said. “Do you have experience?”

  “She worked in one of the New Orleans hospitals that closed,” Joy explained.

  “Which one?” the woman asked Julie.

  “Lindy Boggs Medical,” Julie answered.

  The woman nodded her head, “Shame, I heard that was a fine hospital.”

  “Mine,” Joy reiterated.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be working?” the woman asked.

  Joy stuck her tongue out at the woman behind the desk and turned to leave. “Tell her you want 5th floor,” Joy said, before leaving Julie alone with the woman.

  “I’m Kathy Krandell,” the woman said, holding her hand out for Julie.

  “Julie Miller,” Julie introduced herself. The momentary contact told Julie a lot about the stress Kathy was under. The woman had a stomach ulcer. It was something that could be healed easily if she sought medical help for the condition.

  “Have a seat, Julie,” Kathy gestured to the chair in front of the desk.

  “What were your duties at Boggs?” Kathy asked her.

  “I did patient visits and transportation at time of discharge. I’ve been trained to read charts to determine if a patient can have water or juice, based on their medical or dietary needs. I am trained in first aid and CPR. I’ve played with the children in pediatrics and got medication that was requested by the doctors or nurses on duty,” Julie explained. She left out the part where she actually healed patients.

  “Are you local?” Kathy asked.

  “I just moved to the area,” Julie said. “I’m currently in a hotel until the apartment is ready in a few weeks,”

  “How old are you?” Kathy asked.

  “I’m eighteen,” Julie answered.

  “Okay, good. You do know that this is a non-paying position. I know some hospitals pay…” The woman started to explain.

  “I am aware, I just want to be here and help anyway I can,” Julie interrupted.

  “Can I clone you?” the woman laughed. Julie laughed too. She liked this woman.

  Kathy opened a drawer and pulled out a form and handed it to Julie. “Put your information on here and I will have you start on Monday. You can be with Joy first. She’ll be thrilled. I’ll have her assess your abilities and then we will work on a schedule for you,”

  Julie stood and took the paper and pen. “Thank you,” she said.

  “My pleasure,” Kathy replied and put on her coat. “Just leave it on my desk and come to my office on Monday at 9 and we’ll get you started. Oh, what size are you?” Kathy asked, opening up a closet to the right of her desk.

  “Two,” Julie replied. Kathy pulled out a striped jumper. “Sorry, we are still behind the times when it comes to these for the girls. Just wear a white collared blouse underneath,” she said, handing Julie the old fashioned candy striped uniform.

  “Oh, okay.” Julie tried not to cringe.

  “I’ve petitioned the board a hundred times to change it, but they don’t want to spend the money on new uniforms,” Kathy explained, apologetically.

  “It’s fine,” Julie said quickly.

  “Alrighty, my dear, I have to run. Doctor’s appointment,” Kathy laughed.

  “Thank you, again,” Julie called after the woman who waved as she hurried off.

  Julie finished filling out the paperwork as best she could, giving the hotel as her address. She would decide after a few days if this was the place for her before looking for an actual apartment and setting down roots. Julie gave a small chuckle as she placed the paper on Kathy’s desk. Roots, Hmph. Sounds strange, having roots.

  Chapter Two—Guided Tour

  Julie felt satisfied that she had started down a new path. A path that would hopefully bring her the peace and tranquility she yearned for.

  It was getting darker as it approached the dinner hour in the small town.

  The night was as warm as the day had been. The walk back was quicker as Julie was now focused on her growling stomach. “I feed you once,” Julie talked to her stomach. There were several interesting food choices along the way back to the hotel, but Julie remembered the hotel had a restaurant as well. She decided she would order room service so she could have some quiet time.

  She entered the lobby and had almost made it to the stairs, “Miss Miller,” she heard her name called. She turned to see Anthony. He was trying really hard to not look like he was going to pass out. She waited while he made his way over to her.

  “Did you find the hospital okay?” he asked, trying to control the pitch of his voice.

  “I did, thank you for your help,” Julie answered, politely.

  “Wonderful. I am here most afternoons and early evenings. If I could, um, be of assistance in any way, please do not hesitate to call on me,” Anthony stammered out the sentence.

  “I s
hall, and thanks again,” Julie said, turning and escaping up the stairs.

  “Note to self, avoid the hotel lobby most afternoons and early evenings,” she said, as she unlocked her door. She had nothing against the man, personally, it just made her uncomfortable when people where uneasy around her.

  She climbed onto the bed, suddenly very tired. Lying on her stomach she kicked off her shoes before rolling over. She reached for the room service menu on the night stand beside the bed. She scanned the menu and her eyes widened at her favorite. “Bacon cheeseburger!” Julie stretched for the phone.

  After calling in the order, she relaxed for a few minutes. She let her mind drift to the day’s events. She had accomplished a lot in her first day here. Her thoughts did not travel much further. Julie’s eyelids drooped and closed. She did not know how long she had been asleep, when a loud rapping awakened her.

  “Room service,” a voice called through the door.

  Julie stumbled out of bed to the door. She looked through the peep hole. She assured it was, in fact, room service, and opened the door.

  The attendant began pushing in the cart with her food on it inside the room, but paused when he looked at her. “You’re that chick from the marketplace,” he said, breaking into a big grin. “Is Austin here?” he asked, pushing the cart all the way in and looking around.

  Julie closed the door. “Do I know you?” she asked.

  “You took off with my buddy, Austin,” the boy said.

  Then it clicked, “You were one of Austin’s friends at the market,” Julie confirmed. “He’s not here. He had to help his mom,” she told him.

  “Damn, sucks for him,” the boy replied, stepping closer to Julie.

  The room felt like it was getting smaller. Julie took five dollars from her pocket and held it out to him. “You can go now,” she said curtly.

  The boy reached for the money, but instead of taking it, grabbed Julie’s wrist and pulled her to him. “I can stay if you want me to,” the boy said, moving his face closer to hers.