A Most Unusual Romance Pt. 02

I grinned and sat back on my stool. Mike flipped the channels on the TV behind the bar and settled on a baseball game. Now I'm British and proud of it. I can understand the passion for American football, I almost get ice hockey and basketball. But for the life of me I don't understand why a grown man would want to watch a game of glorified rounder's. Give me Test Cricket any day, it's the best excuse I know to laze around and drink for five straight days.

I made the mistake of voicing my opinion, I blame my stupidity on the lack of sleep from the night before.

Mike made it his mission to bring me back to the straight and narrow, his words not mine. Multiple diagrams on numerous napkins left me just as confused and I admitted defeat. Double plays, triple plays, loading the bases, my head was spinning. Why couldn't it be as simple as fielding at silly mid-off or backwards short leg, or bowling a googly.

All in all I was having a great night. I sat back on my stool and took in the rest of the bar. It was still early and there were only a handful of customers. The music was low and the sound on the TV was muted which is probably why the heated conversation in the booth behind me stood out.

He was good looking in that clean cut all American style, I knew from watching US shows on the Google box. He was probably in his early thirties. She was younger, in her early twenties, small with elfin features and short black hair. They had been sitting there for some time from the look of the empty beer bottles in front of him. I noticed he had a wedding ring on his finger, but hers that were pressed hard around her glass were unadorned.

Ok I know I was being nosey, but other than Julie who was so in love with Mike, elfin girl was the prettiest girl in the bar. His voice grew more intrusive and I could see Mike glancing over in their direction. I looked over at them and asked him if he could tone it down a bit. He just looked up quickly then ignored me and carried on talking at her.

Suddenly there was a slap and the man pushed her out of the booth and onto the floor

He spat at her rubbing the side of his face, "You cock teasing cunt. Why the fuck did you think I paid for your ticket if not to get in your pants."

She shuffled backward on the floor struggling to get to her feet, as he stood up. I was on my feet and Mike was moving round the bar. Before we could get to them she was rushing for the door and he was right behind her. They reached the door together and he pushed her violently into it. There was a crash of breaking glass and she screamed.

Everyone froze for a second, then Mike launched himself at the guy, who spun and raced out of the bar. I scrambled to the girls side, grasping at her red soaked arm as she pulled it back through the broken glass panel.

"Julie! I need a clean towel now," I called as I applied pressure above the six-inch gash. In the background I heard a car start up and race out of the parking lot.

Elfin girl slowly sank to her knees wailing softly. I picked her up with my other arm and sat her down on the chair that someone pulled out for me.

Mike came storming back into the bar, "The fucker got away....oh shit that's a lot of blood. Someone call 911."

Julie dropped a large first aid kit on the table and wrenched it open. I pointed at a large dressing pack.

"Open that and another one if you can find it and pass them to me. I need to keep pressure on her artery."

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," I heard the other waitress say. "There's a big pile up the other side of town, the EMT's say they will be at least forty minutes."

"Too long," I muttered to myself. The dressing packs were passed to me and I placed them on the wound and wrapped a crape bandage tight around her arm. The bleeding slowed but didn't stop.

"Mike, squeeze her arm where I am. I need to see what's in the kit?"

He took over from me and I rummaged through the case. Crap there was nothing of use in it.

"How far to the closest hospital," I asked, taking over from Mike again.

Mike said, "It's the other side of town, a good twenty-five minutes away, but if there was a pile up, it's going to be busy."

Julie interrupted, "There's that clinic ten minutes in the other direction."

"That all have to do. Mike take my keys, you are driving. I need to hold this arm. She can sit on my lap." I picked her up and we went straight to my car. Mike got behind the wheel and lowered the roof as I slid into the passenger seat with elfin girl on my lap. She was groaning and although I was controlling the bleeding for the moment, she'd lost a fair amount of blood.

Mike gunned the engine and we swung out of the parking lot. A patrol car, lights blazing pulled in as we reached the exit. Mike spoke quickly to the driver who swung around us, shouting "Follow me." And he headed back down the road, lights and siren going, with us in close behind.

Elfin girl spoke above the road noise, "How bad is it?"

"Not good, but not fatal," I said into her ear. "What's your name?"

"Zoe, my name's Zoe," she said.

"Zoe can you move your fingers for me," I watched as her fingers waggled. Good at least there wasn't any nerve or ligament damage.

"Who are you?" Zoe asked.

"He's Mike and I'm Michael, also known as Mike to my friends, and it's your lucky day because I'm a doctor."

The muscles in my arm were getting painful so I turned to Mike, "How much longer?"

"Just a couple of minutes."

She whispered just loud enough for me to hear, "I'm a fifth year medical student, you can tell me the truth."

"If I'm right you've nicked your radial artery, that's why there is so much blood. That and a nasty gash is it. Any competent doctor can sow it up, if I'd had the right materials I'd have done it in the bar."

She wriggled back against me and muttered, "Safe, feel safe now."

We lurched to a halt outside of a harshly lit two-story building. Mike helped me out of the car and I carried Zoe in. Another continent, same old sights and smells. There was an orderly and a receptionist in a glass walled reception desk.

I called out, "I need a trolley, and she lost a lot of blood." The orderly saw the bloody state of both of us and disappeared through a set of doors. I went to follow him but the receptionist, a middle-aged woman stood in front of me.

"I need her insurance details first."

Crap I'd forgotten that medicine was a cash business in the states. "Not a clue love," I said.

Mike said, "Don't worry. I'll sort it out."

"Take my wallet, if you need a card there a platinum Amex in there."

"I'll deal with it, go," and he pointed at the trolley the orderly had brought. I placed Zoe on it and we wheeled her into the treatment area. The place looked fairly packed but the orderly wheeled us into an empty bay at the far end of the room.

A stressed looking nurse stuck her head in and said, "The doctor will be with you as soon as he can," and went to go.

"Don't you fucking dare disappear, she got a bleeding radial artery, I haven't just ruined the interior of a two hundred thousand dollar car just so you lot can let her lose her arm." Yes I know I was laying it on a bit thick, but if thirty-five years in the NHS had taught me anything, it was how to take command of a situation.

"Shit, shit, he really can't come. He's on his own and the patient he's with can't be left."

Ok, I thought, let's see if I can remember basic suturing 101. I said, "Ok this is your lucky day, I'm a doctor, I can deal with this. I need an arterial suture kit and some gloves. She needs an IV started."

The nurse looked at me sceptically, and I saw Mike and the police officer standing behind her.

"Mike in my wallet is my hospital ID and my medical card, get it out for me please."

Zoe said, "I trust him, let him do it please."

The nurse looked at my documents and gasped. She turned on her heel and was gone. Moments later she reappeared pushing a dressing trolley with a second nurse.

I was impressed with the way they took over from me. An IV was quickly in place and dextrose saline running. The arm was prepped and I was able to strip off my ruined shirt, wash the blood off my arms and get a scrub top on.

"I'm Dee by the way Professor Fitzpatrick," the nurse said.

"Call me Mike," I said wondering how she knew my name, of course the documents.

I scrubbed and slid into the gown that Dee held out. "What size gloves? She asked

"Nines please," I said and she opened them for me.

It took me about half an hour to repair the damage to the artery. I used a brachial block instead of lots of local. Dee was a damm good nurse, most of the time she anticipated my next request. All the time I was aware of a pair of hazel eyes following my every move.

I was so much in the zone I failed to notice the ER doctor appear and start complaining.

I did hear Dee's reply. "Shut up Jose, watch this and you might learn something."

A couple of minutes later a second pair of gloved hands took over from Dee and he deftly helped me close the wound, sewing the muscle layers together. I fussed over the skin layer, I didn't want elfin girl to have a nasty scar.

"I've got this," he said as I tied off the last knot.

I rocked back on the stool flexing my tired shoulders and looked around the bay. Crap I had an audience.

"What are you a professor of?" One of the nurses asked.

"Radiology, but I did some combat trauma surgery in the Falklands when I was younger."

"It shows," Jose said. Then he said, "Do you think you could take a look at some scans for me. The radiology attending says they are clean but there's something not right with the patient."

"Sure, I don't suppose there's a chance of a coffee is there?"

Zoe looked at me and said, "I was lucky you were there wasn't I?" I shrugged and bent down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Well that was my intention, she moved her face and met my lips with her open ones. When our lips parted, she whispered, "Thank you."

I'd spent most of the time waiting for Zoe to recover from the treatment with Jose reviewing scans and chastising the incompetent radiology attending. The idiot had missed a bleed, and that wasn't his only mistake of the night. He made the mistake of compounding his error by complaining to his boss. Peter, the head of his department, who I had met before. We'd chaired several panels at conferences. I think half the department heard the dressing down he got after Peter drove in from home to deal with the interloper and saw me grinning at him over a mug of very nice coffee.

The police officer had taken my statement. There wasn't much I could add to Mike and Zoe's statements other than a detailed description of the injuries.

A couple of hours or so later, I walked to the entrance with Dee pushing Zoe in a wheelchair beside me. Dee had found her a Tee-shirt and a set of scrubs to wear and her arm was in a sling. They had wanted her to stay the night but she didn't want to. I'd offered to look after her and Jose was happy with the idea.

I found my car where Mike had parked it. He'd taken the time to wipe down any blood that had splattered the interior. It wasn't as much as I'd feared, I'd done a reasonable job of controlling the bleeding. I pulled it up to the ER entrance and helped Zoe in.

We had talked while the wound had been dressed to Dee's extracting standards. Zoe was a final year medical student and had been invited to a small medical conference in Savannah as the guest of her companion. He to my disgust was her medical supervisor. Very beneficial for her training he told her, he'd cover the costs, and not to worry it was all very platonic. Of course, when they had arrived there was a mistake with the reservation. There was only one room, and the hotel was booked out.

The room had two beds; it wouldn't be an issue he assured her. It had just gone downhill from there. She'd made a fuss and he'd brought her to the bar to explain everything. Well we all knew how that had ended.

All her stuff was still in the hotel room. She hadn't thought that they were going to leave the hotel earlier so her clothes and her purse were all there. I swung past the hotel she was staying at, and we found that dick head had checked out, surprise, surprise! I got the front desk to check the room out, it hadn't been cleaned yet. We found her bag and clothes trashed. God knows what he'd taken to them but nothing was salvageable. Her phone was smashed and scattered around the room. Her purse with her money, cards and ID was missing. I found the phones SIM card and picked it up. All she had left was the clothes she was wearing and those were borrowed underwear and a scrub suit. Her own blood soaked clothes were in a bag in the car, and they were only good for the bin. She stood there looking devastated and I put my arm around her. She clutched me wincing as I pressed against her arm.

"We will get this sorted out," I told her as I led her back to the car.

We ended up back at the bar where it had all started. Mike had given me his cell number before he taken a cab back to the bar. I'd called him and he'd got her a room at the motel. It was close to midnight by the time we got there.

Julie had taken one look at her and wrapped her in her arms, and for the first time that night Zoe had burst in to uncontrollable sobs.

She sobbed, "I don't know what I'm going to do. I can't get home; he'll have cancelled my flight. I've no ID or money, and no clothes."

"Clothes we can sort out," Julie said. She turned to us and said, "Give me your spare cash, there's a Target open 24/7 a mile down the road and I can get the basics now"

She looked at Zoe with a practiced eye, "I'm guessing small, 26 inch waist, and 32 A..no B." Zoe nodded. "God I'm good," Julie said and high five'd Mike.

I handed her my wallet and she rifled through it and found the five hundred dollars I'd tucked in the back.

"This will do nicely, I'll be back in thirty minutes honey." And she was gone.

Zoe came and sat down beside me. She took my hand and said, "Thank you. Dee said it was the best repair she'd ever seen."

There wasn't much I could say so I changed the subject. "We need to get you home, I can book you a flight tomorrow."

She shook her head, "It won't work even if I would let you buy the ticket, I can't fly I've no ID."

"Fuck." I shook my head in disgust. "Ok where do you need to be?"

"Denver."

Mike and I just looked at each other and laughed.

I miss quoted Boggy, "All the bars in the world, and you had to walk in to this one."

Zoe kept saying, "What's so funny?"

"Madam, your carriage awaits you, I'm driving to Denver. Would you do me the honour of joining me?"

She just kept looking back and forth between Mike and myself. "You're not shitting me are you?"

"Nope, I'm taking up a position at the university hospital. Say hello to the new Professor Emeritus for radiology. I'm over here for the next two years."

It was her turn to laugh, "That's where I'm training. Oh fuck, lover boys going to crap himself. He's a radiology resident in the same department!"

And that's how Julie found us when she returned from the store. The three of us giggling and laughing. We'd calm down then one of us would catch another's eye and we would start all over again.

Mike said to Zoe, "You've got to promise me that you will video his face when he gets introduced to Michael."

He and Julie were looking exhausted. Zoe wasn't much better. We locked the bar up and said our goodbyes. I promised to stay an extra day and see them tomorrow. They got into Mike's truck and drove off. Mike had got the room next to mine for Zoe, and I stuck my head into reception and paid for her room and extended the stay for an extra night. She opened her door and I carried the bags in for her. She looked scared and I noticed a connecting door between the rooms.

I said, "I'll unlock it from my side, you can keep your side locked. If you need anything you can come and get me."

I rummaged in the bags and found the rolls of plastic wrap and tape I'd asked Julie to buy.

I told her, "If you wrap this round your arm and tape the ends you can shower without getting the dressing wet."

"Can you show me how, I really need a shower."

I wrapped and taped her arm up. She stood on her tiptoes and pulled my head down to her. She kissed me, her tongue making a quick dart into my mouth. Then she stepped back and said, "I think you need to go. I need a shower desperately. Thank you for everything."

I retreated to my room and had a shower as well, I needed one for more than one reason. My unruly friend needed controlling. I threw my blood stained clothes into the tub to soak; with luck I wasn't going to have to chuck them out.

I'd fallen asleep with just a towel wrapped around my waist. I had pulled the covers over myself and dropped off as soon as my head hit the pillow. I woke early the morning and there was a small warm body tucked in behind me. Her uninjured arm was around my waist. She was holding my morning woody in her small hand. I rolled over carefully and looked at her cute face framed by her blond hair. She opened an eye and looked at me.

"I got scared and you were asleep so I curled up behind you, I hope you don't mind?"

"Mind a beautiful girl in my bed holding my cock, are you crazy?"

"No, but I think I'm falling in love with you." Her fingers traced the throbbing vein on the underside of my rampant cock.

"That is probably a good definition of crazy."

She looked at me and pointed at the wedding ring I wore on a gold chain around my neck and then my iPad propped up on the bedside cabinet.

She asked, "Are you married or something?"

I have an app on the iPad that I use as an alarm clock, the reason I like it is that it's also a photo frame app. I'd loaded it with the best of the shots I'd taken of Sally and Mila in varying states of dress. There were a few of me with them. The photos were scrolling in a loop and that's what Zoe had seen.

"No, not anymore; my wife died thirteen years ago. The two in the pictures are the special people in my life, Sally, my fiancée and Mila, my lover"

I lay back and thought about my situation. I'd decided that, as unusual as it was I was never going to deny what the girls meant to me.

So I continued, "It's rather complicated, and I need you to listen before you make any snap decisions."

She looked piercingly in to my eyes, she must have liked what she saw as she nodded and kept hold of my cock.

"Sally, that's the red head has been my lover for the past twelve years. Mila is her niece and they are lovers. Mila's been my lover for the last ten days."

Zoe's eyes just grew wider and wider.

"Mila is flying out to join me in a couple of weeks, she's one of the best radiographers I've worked with."

Zoe asked timidly, "How old are you?"

"I'm fifty-five, and Sally's thirty-one and Mila twenty-four."

"And you all live together?"

I shook my head, "That even more complicated, and it's mostly my fault. I miss read the situation. Sally went and got married to someone else because she thought I couldn't or wouldn't commit to her. She and her husband, Clive, have come to an agreement and she's leaving him and she's going to join us in the New Year."

"Ohh, what did he do when he found out about you?"

"I told you it's complicated, he's always known about me. Sally would only marry him if he agreed to us continuing to meet."

Now she did look surprised, "That sounds really weird. He agreed to that?"

"Shit I suppose it does doesn't it. That's not what happened. I was in a very bad place after Linda died, Sally took care of me and the twins, and did I say I've got twin girls?" She shook her head.

"Oh, well I do, both married now. Where was I, oh yes? It wasn't Sally's job, she was my secretary. If I were down, she'd come and stay and drag me out of my funk. If that meant she needed to make love to me that's what she did. We...."