After Hours Ch. 01

Introduction: Stella

Not even a full hour into my shift, and I was already looking forward to going home. As if working the five a.m. shift wasn't bad enough; my first patient, a kind yet clearly nervous young girl who had just woken from surgery, threw up in my hair. Then, before even having the time to begin rinsing my head, I received an emergency page from the elderly man recovering from an oscilloscope in room 2703- all the way across the hospital. After the sprint there, I found him standing bare-ass naked in the middle of the room, demanding a blowjob to "make him feel better after the ordeal that he'd just endured". It took two other nurses and a security guard to pull him off of me after I'd refused, and he pounced on me, pinning me to the ground with his old and wrinkly body. Thankfully I was given a small reprieve when another nurse offered to take my next patient, in order to give me time to shower and compose myself- which, of course, I gratefully accepted.

Taking a deep breath and steeling my nerves, I stole a quick glance at myself in the mirror. I was wearing my spare scrubs which were a pretty light blue in color, however to my utter dismay they felt tighter than I had remembered. My brown hair was still dripping as I slicked it back and away from my face, revealing a small cut above my eyebrow which I'd just received in my scuffle with patient number two. My brown eyes were accented by large dark bags underneath them, blatantly emphasizing the fact that I hadn't been able to sleep the previous night. My bottom lip bled ever so slightly as I had bitten down on it too hard in an attempt to stop myself from crying.

Though turning just twenty-one years old in another few months, I felt as if I were in my mid to late fifties. My back and knees constantly ached, my vision was slowly becoming blurry, and I was more than ready to retire. After becoming a Certified Nurses Assistant at seventeen I was accepted into an accelerated nursing program, which I breezed through in the recommended three years. At the current moment, I'd been working at the hospital for nearly a year. While I usually loved my job and adored the people that I worked with, I found myself beginning to dread coming in. These last few months have been rather difficult for me; I had to move apartments and to say that I downgraded would be the understatement of the century. My new apartment isn't in the nicest neighborhood and my new neighbors have been keeping me up for the last week or so with their horrible music and incessant ridiculously loud sex sessions. Not to mention the fact that the only boyfriend that I've ever had has decided that we need a break.

I quickly stopped my train of thought before upsetting myself any further. After dusting myself off one more time and taking a few more calming breaths, I hurriedly put my hair up into a bun and grabbed my charts. A small smile graced my lips upon seeing the name of my next patient, perhaps this day won't be so bad after all. I swiftly put my belongings in my locker and exited the room with a slight pep to my step.

"Good morning, Mrs. Richards! How are you feeling today?" I asked with a genuine smile, always happy to see one of my current favorite patients.

"I'm doing very well, Dear, but the real question is, how are you?" She remarked with a raised eyebrow clearly in reference to my disheveled appearance.

"I'm doing just fine, Mrs. Richards, have you been able to get around on your own today?" I asked while listening to her lungs.

"Yes, I have. How did you get that cut on your head?" She responded as she gently brushed her fingers across my wound, causing me to wince slightly.

"Just being clumsy as usual." I said with a halfhearted chuckle as I began tracking her pulse, though rolling her eyes and clearly not believing me, Mrs. Richards didn't question me further. "Are you excited to be discharged today?" I asked.

"I can't believe that it's finally time for me to head home, it feels like it's been ages!" She expressed giddily, clearly excited to be discharged after nearly three months in recovery.

"I'm so happy for you, but I'd be lying if I said that I won't miss you!" I replied nonchalantly as I continued checking her vitals and reviewing her charts. At my words I heard her sniffle, which brought my attention up to her face. I noticed a slight gleam to her eyes, which only took me a moment to register as unshed tears.

"I'm going to miss you too, Darling, more than I could ever express. You've treated me so kindly these last few months... and I've come to think of you as the daughter that I never had." She explained sadly as a few tears slipped from her eyes, which she hastily wiped away. "It can get so lonely out in the homestead. Even when I'm surrounded by my boys, I just... company like yours is exactly what I need." The melancholy tone in her voice seemed to squeeze my heart as I sympathized with her. Mrs. Richards had truly become like a second Mother to me, and it was comforting to know that the feeling was mutual.

"It means so much to me that you feel that way, just try to remember that being discharged is a good thing! I know how much you hate the city, so you'll finally be able to get away from it, not to mention the fact that you'll get to see your boys!" I announced, doing my best to reassure her. Mrs. Richards had mentioned her sons to me a few times, and I could tell that she missed them greatly. In all the months that I've been her nurse, I never once saw anyone visit her, which saddened me to no end- she's by far the sweetest woman that I've ever met.

"I suppose that's true." She said as she drifted deep into thought. "I can't wait for you to meet Beau, he's my eldest, and he'll be picking me up. I think that you two would get along quite wonderfully." She said with a broad smile and a gleam in her eye that I couldn't quite place.

"I'm looking forward to it! Now, lets take one last look at your incision, alright?" I said as I began moving the blanket away from her legs. Mrs. Richards had fallen out of a tree and broken not only her femur, but had shattered her knee and received a large laceration on her arm. She was airlifted to the hospital where she had three surgeries for her leg and received around twenty stitches in her arm. "Everything looks perfect to me! As long as you're not in any pain, I'll go ahead and sign your discharge papers." I exclaimed happily after thoroughly examining her. She clapped her hands together excitedly before pulling me into a bear hug. I hugged her back, enjoying what were to be our last few moments together. I then signed her discharge papers and said that I'd be back in around three hours- if she was still here. With that we said our short goodbyes and I continued making my rounds. After a few hours I made my way back to her room with clean sheets, fully expecting her to be gone, but I was instead greeted by her and a very large man.

"There she is!" Mrs. Richards said happily before walking over to me and grabbing my hand, tugging me towards the man. "Isn't she just perfect, Beau!" She exclaimed giddily, I could feel a slight blush rise to my cheeks at her words, and I was shocked to see a slight pink tint to the mans cheeks as well.

I took a moment to look him over: tall, broad and wickedly handsome. He stood at least 6'5" and was donned in a simple white t-shirt paired with blue jeans. Considering his black hair, blue eyes and tan sun-kissed skin he seemed to be straight out of a romance novel. Even his name was sinfully alluring.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss, thank you for taking such wonderful care of my Mother." He said as he reached his arm towards me for a handshake.

"The pleasure is all mine, keep taking good care of her for me, will you?" I said as I took his outstretched hand. My smaller hand was entirely engulfed by his larger one as he shook it gently. His touch felt electric, and I was entranced for just a moment before being the first to pull away.

"I'll do my best, but as I'm sure you've learned, she's quite stubborn!" He replied sarcastically as he shone a dazzling smile. The three of us laughed together and enjoyed a few more minutes of conversation before I had to continue working. The goodbyes were short and sweet, and I finished out my shift, only to find out that I'd been scheduled for the four to midnight shift as well.

After going home for a short nap, another shower and some much-needed food I made my way back to the hospital, reminding myself that after tonight, I had four days off. The rest of my day was rather uneventful, and I was ecstatic to finally be heading home. It was just after one o'clock in the morning when I began walking the short distance to my car when I felt more than saw a cloth bag being thrown over my head. I screamed and kicked and struggled with all of my might before feeling a sharp jab in my arm, I figured that it must have been some sort of injection- because before I knew it, my world went black.

But not before I heard a deep, sultry and somewhat familiar voice say, "You're right, she's perfect."

Chapter One: Welcome Home

The throbbing in my head and the churning of my stomach were the first things that I noticed when I began to wake up. Ever so slowly, I opened my eyes and began to sit up. I found myself sitting on a soft bed in a small room, illuminated only by the light of the moon which shone through the small window. To my relief, I noticed that I was still wearing my scrubs.

After standing up on wobbly legs, I took a good look around the room, hoping to find some clue as to my current whereabouts. The room was small, and had very little inside of it; there was the twin sized bed that I had been laying on, a small nightstand and a rocking chair. I noticed an open closet on the other side of the room, which appeared to be empty. Slowly, I made my way over to the window, only to see nothing but water. The pain in my head intensified as I felt the bile begin to rise up in my throat. Panic soon set in as I began contemplating an escape or resigning myself over to my fate- whatever that may be.

"Oh, good, you're awake!" Came a masculine voice from behind me. I spun around so quickly that I was afraid that I'd given myself whiplash, the quick motion also didn't help with the nausea that I was experiencing. Standing just outside of the room was Beau, the handsome man that I had met just hours earlier, he had changed and was now wearing a tightly fitted black t-shirt and dark gray sweatpants. In his hands he held a wooden tray containing water, a sandwich and what looked to be a bottle of medicine. For a moment or, so we just examined one another in silence, neither of us knowing what to say or do. Ducking down as to not hit his head, Beau entered the room, a warm smile firmly planted on his face. As his imposing figure made its way into the cramped room, I backed myself into the farthest corner, trying to get as far away from him as humanly possible. I noticed that as I scurried away, his smile began to falter.

"I brought you some food, I figured that you must be starving." He said as he placed the tray on the nightstand and took a few steps back towards the door in what I assumed to be an attempt at giving me more space. "I brought you some aspirin as well, I'm afraid that I may have overdone it on the sedative... sorry about that." He said sheepishly while roughly rubbing the nape of his neck. All that I could do was stare at him, what else was I meant to do? Thank him? Try to out-muscle him and run? Even if I could somehow overpower him in a fight, where would I go? I was on a boat in what seemed to be the middle of the ocean. A few more moments of painful silence passed before Beau let out a heavy sigh and took a step towards the door, making to leave.

"Where am I?" I squeaked out nervously. "And where are you taking me?" I added as my eyes began to narrow and I crossed my arms over my chest, hoping to intimidate him or at least make him believe that I wasn't afraid of him or my current predicament.

"Right now we're somewhere in the pacific, we're heading home- to Alaska." He said as he took a few more steps in my direction. I was frozen, the tough facade that I had tried to display evaporated and fear had set in, my arms dropped to my sides and my mouth was agape. Alaska? There was no way, it simply wasn't possible. A tear slipped its way down the side of my face and a gentle hand wiped it away with soothing shushing sounds. "Don't worry, Love, you're going to adore the homestead. It's so peaceful and quiet, you may be sad now, but that feeling will fade. I can make you so happy... we can make you so happy." He said as his gentle caresses journeyed from my face down to my arms, where he began rubbing them soothingly. For just a moment, I found his touch soothing and felt myself calming down and not being quite so panicked. However it only took a moment for me to remember who this man was- he was not the kind stranger from earlier, he was my kidnapper.

"You're insane!" I shouted as I shoved him away. "Take me back!" I yelled at him as tears welled in my eyes.

"I can't do that, Stella." He said with an exaggerated sigh as he took a seat in the rocking chair next to the bed, his eyes never leaving my own.

"What do you want? Money? Drugs?" I questioned angrily.

"Please, take a seat and I'll explain everything to you." He said in an even tone as he gestured to the bed.

"I think I'd rather stand." I said, once again crossing my arms over my chest and glaring at him, doing my best to hold back my tears. Again he let out a heavy sigh and roughly dragged his fingers through his hair.

"You want to stand? Fine, stand. You can stand all night for all I care." Beau said nonchalantly as he leaned back casually in the rocking chair and stuck his legs up on the bed. "But I'm not telling you shit until you take a seat." He added in a demanding tone.

Before allowing myself to react out of anger, I took a moment to reign in my emotions and contemplate my current predicament. I'm on a boat in the middle of the ocean, my head is throbbing, I feel nauseous, I'm utterly exhausted and as relaxed as Beau seems, do I really want to test his limits in my current state? As I debated my options; my gaze shifted from his face, to his feet on the bed and then out the window. I repeated this cycle multiple times before taking a deep breath and letting out a defeated sigh. My gaze dropped to the ground and again the tears began to flow.

"Are you going to kill me?" I managed to ask in a tone just above a whisper. Startling at my blunt question, Beau abruptly dropped his legs to the ground and sat forward in the rocking chair, staring directly at me with an expression so intense that I could practically feel him looking into my soul.

"No. I'm not going to kill you... and as long as you're with me, you'll never be harmed." He said calmly, maintaining eye contact the entire time that he spoke.

"Then what are you going to do to me?" I sobbed out, trying to wipe the never-ending stream of tears from my eyes. Beau let out a heavy breath before standing up and shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Look, I'll stand where you are if it'll make you feel more comfortable, alright? Please, just sit down." He said exasperatedly as he began walking towards me. Without hesitation, I moved around him swiftly, avoiding any kind of physical contact at all costs, and climbed onto the bed. I made my way to the farthest part of the bed and sat facing him, bring my knees upwards to my chest and watching him for any sudden movements. Other than an obnoxious smirk, Beau hadn't moved an inch and I found myself thinking more rationally and less emotionally. Taking another calming breath and steeling my nerves, I moved my legs down from my chest and sitting crisscrossed, I stared directly at him and mustered up the courage to speak.

"What do you want from me?" I asked him evenly, as I waited for a response, I watched his face go through a number of emotions before settling on a steady gaze in my direction.

"You're to be my wife... our wife. My brothers and I." He said with certainty and little emotion as he stared at me from across the room.

"I'm what?!" I questioned in disbelief. This man is utterly insane if he thinks that I'd marry him, let alone his brothers, I think to myself. And then I'm reminded that he kidnapped me, so the state of his mental stability has already been partially established. "There is absolutely no chance that I would ever marry you, or your brothers for that matter." I told him, my voice filled with contempt.

"It's not up for debate, Stella, like it or not you will be our wife. The tradition of picking a bride goes back many generations in my family, and my brothers and I are not about to be the ones to end it." He said sternly as he took an intimidating step towards me.

"There's a huge difference between 'picking a bride' and kidnapping someone!" I shouted at him as I rose to my knees, my temper flaring, allowing me to ignore the pounding in my head and the churning of my stomach. "When picking a bride, the person that you're meant to spend the rest of your life with- you need to get to know them! You need to be in love and the feeling has to be mutual, you can't just grab some random girl off the street and decide that she's your soul mate! Let alone force her to marry your brothers as well! It's barbaric!" I screamed as I felt an anger filled flush rise to my cheeks, like any little girl I had dreamed of my wedding and husband for so long, and this certainly is not the fairy tale that I had envisioned.

"It's tradition." He seethed as he took yet another step towards the bed. "It worked for my Fathers, and Grandfathers, and their fathers before them. For hundreds of years my family has been blessed with happiness, love and plenty of children." He added ruefully, a dominating tone to his voice. "I've decided that I'm ready to have a family of my own; happiness, love and children of my own and I've decided that you are the perfect woman to do all of that with. You're perfect." He said as he closed the distance between himself and the edge of the bed.

"You don't even know me, I am so not perfect!" I yelled exasperatedly. "I snore and kick in my sleep, I scream at the TV when I'm watching shows, I cry at the most mundane things, I hate waking up early, I like pineapple on pizza, chocolate and mint are one of my favorite flavor combinations and there's so many other things that are wrong with me that are even worse than those." I ranted angrily, thinking of anything that I could to get my point across. "Besides, I have a life! I have a job, family and friends who need me! I have an apartment, and plans, I have so many plans! I want to adopt a dog, I want to buy a house and fall in love. I want to travel the world, I want to be promoted to the prenatal unit and I want to be able to schedule my own shifts. I want to have a normal life and I want to be happy." I finished with a sob, silently praying that he would hear me out and change his mind.

"We have a dog." He said with a shrug.

"What?" I sniffled.

"You said that you wanted to adopt a dog, we have a dog." Beau said as he crossed his arms over his chest, his face still not showing any signs of emotion.

"T-That's what you got... out of everything that I just said?" I mumbled out; confusion, contempt and dizziness all taking over my emotions.

"I know more about you then you think, Stella... enough to know that you'll be happy with your new role in life, even if it takes you a while to adjust." Beau said with certainty, his tone and expression yielding no signs of apprehension or doubt. For a moment I just stared at his intimidating figure, his stupidly handsome face. In the silence I was able to focus on the gentle rocking of the boat, which ultimately turned out to be a mistake.