Wheels In Motion Ch. 03

"That's one hell of a change! It's going to take some time to get used to but... I think I like it!" she said.

I sighed inwardly. I'd had a small hope she'd hate it. It might have made this easier. The waiter showed up and dropped off two drinks. Viv looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Ordering drinks for me again?"

"Yeah, I took a chance."

"I'm sure I'll love it." She picked up hers, took a big sip, loudly smacked her lips and said, "I love it." I couldn't help but laugh, she really could be cute. I took a small sip of mine then nervously looked around.

"Uh oh," she said, leaning back in her chair.

"What?" I asked.

"This has 'the talk' written all over it," she said.

"I'm not sure what you mean?" I knew exactly what she meant. Crap, she'd put me immediately off-balance by seeing through me so quickly.

She looked around. "Half-empty restaurant, middle of the day on Saturday. You're nervous as hell. Meeting me here instead of at the Metro. You have a drink all ready for me. So... is today the day you tell me that I'm not really your type, or maybe we should see other people? Am I too young for you? Go ahead, rip the band-aid off."

Jesus, she had my number. For someone about whom I kept finding myself thinking she was a little naive or young, she'd read me like a book.

"It's not like that. Well... it's a little like that. It's something like that."

She leaned forward and took my hand over the table. "Addison, whatever it is, just tell me. We've only been on two dates, okay? We aren't married or anything."

"One date. I told you buying me a pick-up drink at the League didn't count."

She snorted. "Then this is our second date right here, I win. Now spill."

I took another sip of my drink. Then a bigger one.

"Okay. Okay, you know my friend Liz I told you about?"

"The doctor? Yeah, what about her?"

"Well, over the weekend I realized I'd kind of... I'd, well, I... Christ, this is hard." I finished my drink in a long gulp while Viv sipped patiently at hers. With a little bit more liquid courage, the words rushed out of me. "I realized this weekend that I'd fallen in love with her and I've been sitting around waiting for her to realize it."

Viv gave a slight snort into her drink and quickly leaned forward, raising her free hand to catch the drops of alcohol on her chin that she'd coughed out. She set her drink back down and cleared her throat. "Didn't you tell me she's straight?"

"She is," I said.

"Okay, so... what?"

"I just... I realized I've been waiting for her, which is fucking stupid. And now that I realized it, I'm done with that. I need to be done with that. But I've given myself a lot of hurt and I know it's going to take me awhile to get over it."

"Okay... and?" She caught the waiter's eye, held up two fingers and pointed at our glasses.

"What do you mean 'and'?"

"I mean, 'and'? Why are you so stressed about telling me this?"

"Well... because, Viv. I like you and I don't want to hurt you. And I know I'm really not in a good place over this whole thing, and it wouldn't be fair to you if we--"

"Hang on," she said, interrupting me. "Like I said, we've been on two dates. No, miss smarty-pants, don't correct me, this is our second date. But a couple things: one, I can already tell, we aren't ever going to settle down in a nice house in the suburbs with two-point-four dogs despite your speech to me the other night."

"I think you mean kids."

"I meant what I said, I'm not a rug-rat person. But while you and I get along, and you're way hot, we're too different. Not like oil and water. More like... a jet fighter and a little Cessna airplane."

I arched an eyebrow at her. "Who's the jet fighter in this scenario?"

"You can make that call for yourself. Anyway, the second thing is, as I told you, I just got over a breakup myself. And to be honest, I haven't been sure if I want to dive into something serious. I like you Addison, I like you a lot, but you and I aren't going to grow old together."

I felt my eyes widen. She was channeling my own thoughts about her. We sat in silence for a while, my mind racing. After what seemed like minutes, I started to speak, but was interrupted by the waiter delivering our next round. I picked up my fresh drink and took a big swallow, but didn't say anything. Viv waited, but getting nothing from me, she continued.

"So, you want to 'let me down gently' because you're hung up on the straight girl, and you don't want to hurt me while you get over her." I nodded. "Okay, don't worry, you won't. Now, if you're too messed up over the straight girl--"

"Can we please stop calling her 'the straight-girl'?" I said, irritably.

"I'm sorry. Look Addison, if you're too hung up on Liz and need to be alone and beat yourself up for a while, it's cool. I'll miss hanging out with you, but no hard feelings." She took a sip of her own. "But... if you feel like you'd like to have a fellow lesbian to go do date-y things with sometimes while you mend your broken heart, I'm offering my services no strings attached."

She picked up her drink again and leaned back in her chair, regarding me. My mind was swirling. This was not at all how I thought this conversation would go. I thought it would be over. Better for her. Maybe not better for me, though. She was right--our worlds were too far apart--but we got along pretty well as far as casual hanging out. Did I want to spend the next few months doing nothing but working and sitting in my apartment gazing at my navel? Would going out and being social help speed up processing my feelings for Liz? And...

"So, what would you get out of this?" I asked her.

"Well, since we're being honest, I want that third date."

"What?" I said, confused.

She grinned wolfishly at me, raking a glance over my body and said "You said you pretty much never go home with someone before the third date. This is the second date. I want a shot at least one more."

I steadily met her gaze and lifted my drink to my lips again.

I barely had time to pull the key out of the lock of my apartment door before Viv pushed me inside, slammed it shut behind us and pressed me up against the inside of the door, her face buried in my neck, kissing and licking at the hollow above my collarbone. I dropped my bag to the floor as I gasped and wrapped my arms around her. I brought my hand up to where I would normally grab a fistful of hair and found only her smooth neck, leading up into the bristles of the short buzz cut on the sides and back of her head. I'd never actually been with a woman with such a butch haircut, but it was a little thrilling. I grabbed the longer, spiky hair on top and pulled her head up to kiss me. Her tongue was insistent in my mouth, her arms strong as they wrapped around me.

She pulled back and looked slowly up and down my body.

"What?" I asked, as she hesitated.

"If we knew each other a little better, I'd know if this was a favorite of yours."

I looked down. I was wearing a simple white linen blouse. I looked in her eyes and instinctively knew what she was thinking.

"Not a favorite. Maybe going to the donation pile soon," I said breathlessly.

She smiled and said, "Good," then grabbed the collar with both hands and roughly tore it open, sending buttons bouncing across the hardwood floor. I shivered as she slipped the shirt down my shoulders and ran her hands over the skin of my stomach and sides, cupping my breasts.

"Which way to the bedroom?" she asked, not taking her eyes off my satin and lace bra.

"No bedroom. Couch," I gasped.

"Nice," she said, whirling me around and pushing me back towards my sofa. I fell onto it and looked up as Viv yanked her shirt over her head, leaving her in a black sports bra and jeans. She knelt down, pulled off my shoes then reached up to unfasten the button on my slacks. She'd gotten them down to my knees when I grabbed her hand.

"This is moving way faster than I normally go," I said, chest heaving.

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked me.

"Yes. No. I'm not sure, I--"

She interrupted me by leaning down over my body to kiss me again, her breasts rubbing against mine, making my nipples even harder than they already had been.

I reached up and grabbed her face with both hands, my tongue chasing hers. One of her hands slid down my stomach and I moaned into her mouth as she smoothly reached into the waistband of my panties. I gasped and threw my head back when her fingers slid over my clit, then plunged into me with a soft, wet sound. I whimpered while her fingers glided in and out, and feebly tried to kick my pants the rest of the way off. She took mercy on me, reaching down with her free hand to help pull my pants off, and then tossed them over her shoulder before sending my underwear flying after them. She kissed me again, her free hand reaching under my back. I felt her move her fingers in a practiced motion and then my bra was suddenly loose on my breasts. She pulled it off and threw it after the rest of my clothes.

As she continued to plunge two fingers into me she pushed my legs further apart with her other hand, and then lowered herself down between them. Looking down the length of my body at her, as the late afternoon sunlight streamed in the windows to make my pale skin glow, I'd never felt more exposed, or more naked, in my life. I'd never gone this far with a woman whom I'd only met three times, much less in the middle of the afternoon. I was normally more of an after-dark-in-the-bedroom kind of girl. It made the excitement that much more intense. I wasn't at all sure this was the best idea, but the last vestiges of my hesitance were swept away as Viv stared straight into my eyes while she delivered a long, slow lick, parting my lips with her tongue, then swirling it on top of my clit.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah!" As her tongue added to the pleasure her fingers were giving me, I heard the soft, staccato sounds coming from my mouth. Almost of their own volition, my knees started raising up by inches, in time with the beat of my short cries, until they were almost pressed to my chest. My legs started to shake and I grabbed my knees, holding them tight. Viv sped up her pace, her eyes still on mine, the V-shape of my thighs framing her face as I watched. The volume of my cries rose, filling my apartment, until I suddenly went silent, holding my breath as the shaking of my legs increased violently while she took me to the precipice. Then I screamed as I hurtled over the edge.

She straightened up on her knees, fingers slowly stroking in and out of me while I came down from my climax, and grinned at me. She wiped the back of her other hand across her chin, which was slick with my juices.

"That was pretty good for round one," she said, "Ready for round two?"

Sometime later, I lay in my bed, watching Viv's naked back slowly rising and falling with her breathing as she slept. The quilt was pulled down below the small of her back, and the rise of her hips peeked out from under the covers. I took a moment to more closely examine the tattoo on her right arm. It was an intricate web of delicate vines and flowers, almost completely black and white, starting at her wrist, winding the entire way up her arm, and spreading a few inches from her shoulder onto her back. On her shoulder, a woman's face peeked out from the flowers. The eyes of the woman were the pale blue of robin's eggs, the only color ink other than black in the entire piece of artwork. The woman's face was familiar and I realized it was a similar, but older version of Viv's face, with a wide, kindly face surrounded by a mass of lush, black hair that blended into the vines.

I raised my hand and gently stroked my knuckles along the soft skin on her back, while I turned my head to look out my bedroom windows at the blood red sky of what looked to be a gorgeous sunset. I allowed myself a self-satisfied smile. I felt that I'd acquitted myself well in my efforts to match Viv's sexual exuberance over the last several hours. The fact it had been the first time I'd had sex in over six months had probably helped me keep up with her.

I sensed her stir and looked back as she opened her eyes.

"Hey babe," she whispered, in a sleepy voice. "How you doin'?"

"Good, you?"

"Mmmm, I'm good." She smiled at me while I continued to stroke her back. "So, think this friends-with-benefits situation is going to work for you?"

I had no idea if it was going to work for me. Casual sex was not normally a tool in my bag. And even though I knew we didn't have a long-term future, I already felt a possessiveness toward her, fostered in the last couple hours of our carnal activities.

Unbidden, visions of Liz sprang into my mind, causing a sharp pang in my gut, as I recalled how delicious her naked back had looked at the spa. My rebellious brain pictured Liz lying here naked next to me instead of Viv and I had to fight not to draw in a sharp breath. No, I was pretty sure this friends-with-benefits thing was going to be a fucking disaster, that I was using it to run away from dealing with my feelings.

"Working fine so far," I said.

"Great," Viv said, smiling as she raised up on her elbow. "Ready for round five then?"

~~ George Washington Hospital, Washington DC, May ~~

LIZ

The eight-year-old girl in Exam Five was putting on an incredibly brave face, holding back tears as I gently manipulated her wrist.

"Okay, this might hurt just a teensy bit, sweetheart. Are you ready?" I asked her.

"Y-yes," she said and nodded.

I took one more look at her x-ray on the exam room monitor, then looked down at her arm and slowly, but firmly pulled her wrist towards me while holding her elbow.

"Ow! O-w-w-w-w! Ow-ow--... wait! It doesn't hurt as much now!" she exclaimed, as I felt the ends of the bones line up and relaxed my grip.

"Right, I put your bones back where they belong so it shouldn't hurt as much. Don't move it, okay?" I said, gently laying her arm on a pillow I'd placed in her lap.

"That was neat! Could I have done that myself? Then I could have kept climbing with Cindy instead of coming to the hospital!"

Her dad shook his head and sighed. "Leslie, you're going to be the death of me. Why can't you play with dolls or something instead of climbing trees."

I shot him a look out of the corner of my eye. He had the good sense to look a little embarrassed.

"It takes a lot of school to learn to do this, Leslie, but if a person studies hard and gets good grades then they can learn to be a doctor too. And then they can help people who get hurt, like I do."

"I want to do that!"

"Great, then you can come work with me! That sounds like so much fun!" I smiled at her, then turned to the tray of supplies Angel had brought me. "Now, you can have your choice of colors for your cast," I said, holding up three rolls of neon colored fiberglass wrapping, "Pink, blue or green. What'll it be?"

She looked down at the neon green steel tubing forming the frame of my wheelchair, then pointed at one of the balls of wrapping with her good hand. "I want green!"

I laughed and said, "You got it!" and set about wrapping her wrist in a green cast.

I rolled into the doctor's lounge a few minutes later and headed for the big leather sofa.

"Thanks for taking that one. I still haven't gotten the knack of keeping kids calm," said Dr. Andrews from one end of the couch. I slipped off my chair onto the other end, carefully lifted my feet up onto the cushions between us with my hands, and then leaned back against the overstuffed arm.

"No worries, it'll come. It just takes practice like anything else. You've gotten to be almost as good as me at doing IV sticks after a not great start."

He snorted at that.

"If we'd been busy, you'd just have had to bite the bullet and do it. But, since I hadn't had a case in over an hour, I didn't mind."

He put his feet up on the coffee table, crossed his ankles, and sipped at his steaming mug of coffee. "This might be the slowest Friday night I've ever worked since I started here," he mused.

I glared at him.

"What?" he asked.

"Thanks a lot, Jimmy. Now that you've said that, we're going to get crushed. I'm expecting three MVAs and a heart attack to roll in the door in the next twenty minutes now."

He laughed. "You know, I really love how you always use 'roll' anytime anyone else would say 'walk'."

I blinked. "Huh, I had no idea I did that."

"Yup, I've noticed it since that one time when--" He was interrupted by Angel poking his head in the door.

"Hey, we got a mid-thirties female, superficial stab wound to the triceps in Three."

Jimmy looked at me and took his feet off the table, "I'll go, you just got settled."

"Hang on. Is it a DV case?"

He grimaced. "Yeah. Officer Martinez is with her."

"I'll take it," I said, heaving my butt back onto my chair.

Jimmy raised his eyebrows at me. "You sure? You hate domestic violence cases."

"Yeah, I got it."

I'd had an unbelievable streak of good luck (or bad luck, depending on what my real desired outcome was) and there hadn't been a single domestic violence case on any of my shifts in the three weeks since Addison had left me sitting at the top of the Metro escalator. Since that night, she'd apparently blocked my number. All my texts went undelivered and my calls went straight to a recording that said the requested number couldn't receive calls from me.

Maybe I'd finally have the chance to confront her about what had happened. Officer Martinez was standing outside Exam Three on her cell phone. I rolled up to her with the chart in my lap as she hung up.

"Hey Gloria," I greeted her.

"Hey Doc, how's it going?"

"The usual." Then, in a quieter voice, I added, "Did LWLS get called in for this one?"

"Yeah, I just got off the phone with them," she said, in an equally quiet voice. She tilted her head towards the curtained area behind her. "Mrs. Jackson here is pretty pissed. This is the first time her husband has actually laid hands on her." She grinned at me. "She told me she's going to go divorce, restraining order, criminal charges, the whole shooting match. I recommended she get a legal advocate here tonight to get things started even if she's going to hire a private attorney later."

"Okay, thanks." I rolled into Exam Three to find that Mrs. Jackson was indeed pissed.

Rather than the usual scared, cowed woman I was used to dealing with in a domestic violence case, I found Mrs. Jackson was livid and ready to use any means available to show her husband how badly he'd fucked up. It was refreshing to see. He'd gotten drunk (they were almost always drunk) and during an argument in their kitchen he'd thought it a good idea to gesture with a knife from the knife block next to the stove to make his point that he was the man and should be listened to. When he'd made a threatening gesture to her, he'd misjudged the distance and accidentally plunged the point an inch into her arm.

I flushed the wound, gave her a suture to close the small puncture and a prescription for antibiotics. After printing out aftercare instructions for her and wishing her the best of luck, I rolled down the hallway to the nurse's station to enter my patient notes, while keeping an eye on the door into the E.R.

I was still sitting there twenty minutes later, pretending to peck at the keyboard, when the receptionist buzzed in a woman wearing a black suit, carrying a briefcase.

"You have got to be shitting me!" I exclaimed.

Megan looked embarrassed. "Hi Liz. Listen, I--"

"Did she quit or some stupid shit like that?!" I said, my voice rising.

"Okay, you need to get a grip. I have to go see my client, then I'll come talk to you."

I looked at her for a long moment then said curtly, "I'll be in the lounge."