Filthy Doctor(303)

“So, are you ready to go?” she asked, getting right to the point. Yep, I had done something to her and she was still stewing over it. I just wished that I could remember what that something was.

“The nurse will come with a wheelchair when I buzz her,” I said, wincing as I pushed myself up on the bed. My side bit at me when I tried to sit up. I put a hand over the bandage and pushed through the pain as I pressed the button to call the nurse with my other hand.

Shelby sat in the chair next to the bed, giving me the suspicious eye, like she thought getting gored by a damned old bull shouldn’t have put me in such a sorry state. She asked, “So what happened?”

I lifted my shirt so she could see the bandage and the wrapping going around my waist. “Oh, I just pissed off a bull is all,” I said, my fingers gently going over the tape holding the bandage in place. “He decided to show me some love by sticking his horn in my guts and tossing me around a little. Ain’t no big deal.”

“Do not listen to him,” a voice called from the doorway. It was Nurse Old Bat pushing a wheelchair into the room. She gave Shelby the once over for a moment. “You his wife? Girlfriend?”

Shelby frowned back at her like she’d been accused of farting in church. “No, I’m… family,” she said, though she didn’t sound too proud of the fact. “I’m here to take him home.”

The nurse narrowed her eyes at Shelby like she was trying to figure out if she was telling the truth or not. I would have loved to tell you that Nurse Old Bat looked much nicer when she was at the peak of orgasm at the end of my fingers, but that would have been a lie. That was her face, for better or worse. After a moment, her harsh features softened a little and she nodded at me.

“You sure you want to leave?” she asked, sounding a little like she didn’t want me to go. “The doc’s not happy about this.”

“The doc just wants to pad his bill,” I said, giving her a smile. I nodded at Shelby. “I’ll be in good hands.”

“I’m not going to be your nurse,” Shelby shot back. Her words slapped my face like a horse’s tail swatting a fly. She frowned at Nurse Old Bat. “Tell me the extent of his injuries and what needs to be done. I’m sure my Daddy will hire a nurse to look after him.”

Nurse Old Bat leaned on the wheelchair and let her eyes go between us. It was easy to tell that one of us was pissed at the other, and the other had no idea why.

She said, “When he was gored by the bull there was extensive damage done to his stomach and spleen, which had to be removed. The doctors were able to repair the damage and stitch him up, however…” She shook her head at me. “Mr. Daniels managed to rip his stitches open a few days ago and that had to be repaired, so he’s still healing.”

“How did he rip his stitches open?” Shelby asked. When Nurse Old Bat looked at me, so did Shelby. “How did you rip the stitches open?”

“He tried to go to the bathroom by himself,” the nurse answered for me. “He got dizzy and fell and busted the stitches.”

Shelby’s pretty face took on a mask of concern that had not been there before. “Is that still a possibility? Him passing out when he tries to go to the bathroom?”

Nurse Old Bat shook her head. “It wasn’t that he was using the bathroom, dear,” she said, glancing at me again. “It was the fact that he was doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing. He wasn’t supposed to get out of bed without help. He has a hard head, this one.”

Shelby nodded slowly. I could tell by her face that she knew she wasn’t getting the full story. She said, “I’ll make sure he has someone to help him until he’s strong enough to get around by himself.”

“I don’t need a goddamn babysitter,” I said, feeling a little bit like a fly on the wall with them talking about me like I wasn’t even there. “I just got dizzy is all. I’m fine now.”

“Are there any medications that he needs?” Shelby asked, ignoring me. “Prescriptions to be filled?”

“He’ll be on antibiotics for another week,” Nurse Old Bat said. “He has refused painkillers.”

Shelby frowned at me. I could almost detect a hint of giving a shit in her pretty eyes. “Why don’t you want pain killers?” she asked.

I set my jaw and shook my head. “I’ve seen a lot of cowboys get hooked on pain killers,” I said. “I won’t go down that road.” I tried smiling at her again, still with no effect. “Besides, they’d interfere with my whiskey drinking.”

“You’re hopeless,” Nurse Old Bat said, a rare smile on her face. She nodded at Shelby. “He just needs lots of bed rest. And don’t let him do anything strenuous that puts pressure on his stitches.”

“I understand,” Shelby said.

I couldn’t resist giving the nurse a wink. “Can you define strenuous?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” she said, smiling at me. She wasn’t half bad looking when she smiled. She was probably a looker twenty or thirty years ago. She nodded down at the wheelchair.

“Okay, cowboy, come on, I have real patients to tend to. Climb on and let’s get you out of here before you get somebody else in trouble.”



Shelby

I got the strange feeling that there was something going on between Luke and the nurse that they didn’t want me to know about. And there was more to the story than she was willing to tell about him busting his stitches.

I stared at her while she was talking to him. Her eyes kind of went dreamy when she looked at him and Luke blushed like a boy who’d been boning his teacher after class. I would not have been surprised in the least if you had told me Luke had laid pipe to half the nurses in the place, but to this one? No freakin’ way.

Her name tag just read: Dottie. She was thick and dumpy, probably in her mid to late forties, with chopped off reddish hair and a face that I doubted put too many patients at ease. Surely Luke had not done anything with this one. I mean, no offense, but… ewe.

Dottie helped Luke get into the wheelchair. There was a thick leather belt with a large silver buckle on the night stand. He asked me to hand it to him.

When I picked it up I noticed the dark brown stain of old blood on the buckle and the belt. I felt my stomach churn. That was Luke’s blood all over that old belt. I glanced at his face. He was still kidding around with the nurse, but I could tell that he was in pain. He was hurt far worse that he was letting on. Cody said that he almost died. I didn’t believe it at first. I figured it was just Luke looking for attention. But I had been wrong. He was seriously hurt.

“Hey.” I heard Luke’s voice and the sound of fingers snapping.

I blinked a couple times. Luke was holding out his hand and wiggling his fingers. “Hand over my championship belt, Lil Sis,” he said with a smile. I felt like I was in shock as I handed him the belt and followed them out of the room.



I went to get Cody’s truck while the nurse wheeled Luke to the sidewalk to wait for me. As I pulled to the curb, I saw several other nurses gathered around his chair telling him goodbye; younger, hotter ones, all smiles and hugs.

The older nurse shooed them away and helped Luke get to his feet and into the truck. She leaned in to buckle his seatbelt, then gave him a kiss on the cheek and told him to take care of himself.

“What was that all about?” I asked, frowning at him as he waved her away. “Please tell me that you didn’t – “

“Jesus, Shelby, she’s a nurse,” Luke said, shooting me a scolding look. “It’s her job to be nice to sick people. Maybe you should try it sometimes.”

“If you say so,” I said, giving him the once over before putting the truck into gear. “You all set? Need anything?”

“I just need to get the hell away from this place,” he said with a sigh. He leaned his head back on closed his eyes. “Goddamn hospital was gonna be the death of me.”

It occurred to me that he was leaving the hospital with nothing more than the borrowed clothes on his back. I asked, “Where’s all your stuff?”

“In my truck at the rodeo arena,” he said, his voice strained. He wiped sweat from his forehead on the back of his hand. I could tell he was in pain, though I knew he wouldn’t admit it. “I’m not too worried about it. There ain’t much there to steal. Let’s just go home. I’ll worry about it later.”

“Okay,” I said, sliding the gear into Drive and pulling slowly out of the lot. “Sit back and relax. We’ll be home in four or five hours.”

We were barely a mile down the road when I heard him begin to snore. I glanced over at him. His head was back on the headrest, his eyes were closed. He was breathing softly through his cracked lips. His left arm was resting on the console between us. I resisted the urge to touch his hand.

I was glad he had fallen asleep. I still wasn’t sure what to say to him. Maybe this would give me a little more time to figure it out.



Shelby

We’d only been on the road for an hour or so before it started getting dark. The highway going north out of Houston toward Calloway County was an old four-lane with no street lights and very few places to stop. I’d gassed up the truck before I picked Luke up, but my stomach was starting to growl at me. I decided I’d stop at the next burger joint or convenience store we came to so we could get us something to eat. We were still a good three or four hours from home.