A Natural Act (Contradictions) (3 page)

“
I have a law degree,” I admit.

“
Oh?” He prompts with seemingly genuine interest. “You’re a lawyer?”

“
Um,” I hedge again. “Not really. I’m more of a receptionist.”

He raises an eyebrow but doesn’t comment on my non-career.

“Everybody has to start somewhere,” I shrug as best I can. I’m not happy with where I am in terms of my legal career but it’s the least of my concerns at the moment.

“
True. I spent my first year at this place doing all the crap nobody else wanted to do,” he nods.

“
And now?” I prompt. I want to know more about this man. I need to figure out what it is about him that feels familiar. It’s almost like looking inside myself when I look at him but that’s not possible.

He’s a big
burly man and I’m the pathetic woman lying broken and bruised in a hospital bed. I know I need to escape from that. I just don’t know how yet.

“
Pretty much the same,” he admits with that handsome grin. “But I get paid slightly more.”

“
I hate my job,” I admit. I think I’m admitting it to myself for the first time as well. I’m not quite sure why I’m telling him.

“
Then find a new one,” he shrugs like it’s that simple.

It isn’t so I just shrug.

He doesn’t say anything else and I’m beginning to notice that he seems comfortable with silence. He only seems to speak when it’s necessary. It’s strangely favourable in that I don’t feel compelled to fill the silence with random drivel.

I must drift off in the amicable silence because there’s light filtering in through the window at the end of the ward when I awake.

I can open my injured eye now but only fractionally and it’s more comfortable to keep it closed.

My eye automatically zones in on the chair next to my bed and my heart sinks slightly in disappointment when I find it empty.

I’m not sure why. All I know about him is that his name is Craig and he works at the hospital. He had no reason to be here and I have no reason to want to find him here.

I’m alone again.

And that’s just fine because I’d rather be alone than have to confront Nigel.

“Coffee,” Craig’s voice rouses me from my silent contemplation.

I’m glad to be roused because my mind was in a dark place and there was no light at the end of the tunnel.

“You came back,” I whisper.

“
Figured you’d need caffeine,” he shrugs, looking at me curiously.

His large frame makes the
sterile room feel smaller and warmer and I don’t even try and fight my smile at his unexpected reappearance.

“
That sounds heavenly,” I nod gingerly, still very aware of my injuries.

“
You can’t eat though,” he smiles apologetically.

“
I don’t think I could anyway,” I half-smile. My stomach still feels like it’s being kicked.

He narrows his eyes as he hands me a Styrofoam cup
but that’s his only response.

I take a tentative sip of my coffee and do my best to mask my reaction to what I’m fairly sure is either battery acid or
crushed caterpillars. It’s thoroughly repulsive but it wouldn’t be proper to be ungrateful when he’s here, being nice to me.

“
Ooh, Craig!” A nurse who I haven’t yet seen coos as she comes over and starts prodding at my arm. “I thought it was your day off today.”

Craig shrugs, his eyes watching her hands like a hawk as she continues to
check my IV. It’s a little uncomfortable but nowhere near my max pain threshold.

“
Still, I’m not complaining,” she continues, fluttering her lashes at my bedside companion as she moves to the bandages on my head to change the dressing. “We all appreciate having the eye candy around.”

Craig offers a wink to the nurse and I shift uncomfortably in my bed. I don’t know why it ruffles my feathers. This guy
could be boffing half the female staff for all I know. He got me a coffee, that’s it. It doesn’t give me any sort of right to feel irritated by the flirtatious nurse.

“
Easy on the eyes isn’t he?” The bubbly nurse turns to me.

“
I-” I attempt to answer.

“
You should see him with the shirt off,” she continues, not waiting for a response. “Ooh, the things I could do to that man.”

“
Doctor Brown,” Craig calls out to the male doctor on the other side of the ward.

The shifts must have switched because all of the staff have changed over.

“You’re loitering,” the doctor greets Craig with a jovial clap on the shoulder.

“
Where do we keep the sexual harassment forms again?” Craig grins.

“
Oh stop,” the nurse giggles, slapping at Craig’s arm playfully.

“
Sexual harassment,” Craig winks at the doctor.

“
Sure,” the doctor rolls his eyes before turning his attention to me. “Is this young man giving you any trouble, Ms West?”

“
Not at all,” I shake my head confidently. “He’s been quite amicable.”

“
Amicable,” the doctor chuckles. “Not sure I’ve heard him described as that before.”

Craig feigns offense but I can see that he doesn’t seem to care.

“He’s always more than lovely to the nurses,” the bubbly nurse interjects.

“
I’m sure he is,” the doctor replies with disinterested sarcasm.

“
Now, Ms West,” he returns his gaze back to me. “You’ve racked up quite a list here.” He flips through the pages of my chart and Craig stands up to read over his shoulder.

I know he’s already glanced at it but clearly he wants a better look. The
doctor gives him a stern glare but he ignores it and remains silently staring at the chart.

“
Your surgery went well and you should have minimal scarring-”

“
Surgery?” I interrupt him because… surgery?

“
Yes,” he nods, seemingly frustrated with my interruption. “You were bleeding internally.”

“
Oh,” I mouth silently.

“
You’ll need to get plenty of rest over the next couple of weeks. I’d like you on bed rest for at least one week and absolutely no lifting or strenuous activity for two weeks after that.

“
If you feel dizzy or light-headed, press your buzzer immediately-”

“
When can I leave?”

“
We can evaluate that in a day or two,” the doctor frowns again.

“
I need to leave today,” I blurt, starting to panic as I realise he’s expecting me to stay for more than a day.

I never considered it before but I know Nigel will expect me to come back
to him.

“
I don’t think so,” the doctor shakes his head, eyeing me like he thinks I might have knocked my head more than he suspected. “You have several quite severe internal injuries, not to mention a broken arm, and a head wound.”

“
But you can’t keep me here,” I say, my voice shrill even to my own ears.

The doctor sighs.
“I really don’t recommend that you sign yourself out of our care, Ms West. What could possibly be more important than potentially life-saving medical care?”

I keep quiet because he won’t understand. There’s no point them keeping me alive if I’m going to die and I know with certainty that I will die if I’m punished again.

Nigel won’t come back to the hospital again after being humiliated. He’ll be expecting me back and he’ll be furious if I don’t return to him as soon as possible.

I feel sick just thinking about it.

The doctor continues talking, incorrectly taking my silence as acquiescence. He’s listing my multiple injuries and instructing the nurse with regards to my medication but I’m not listening any more. I can feel Craig’s eyes on me and it feels like he’s inside my head but I ignore it because my fear feels far more pressing.

I need to get back to the hotel Nigel and I
will be staying at whilst we visit his paternal grandparents. I can imagine him there, waiting for me. He’ll be sat in one of those bourgeois armchairs, facing the door, all calm and collected to the casual observer.

He’ll be planning every single detail of how to make me pay for keeping him waiting.

I don’t even realise I’ve started moving until Craig’s face appears in front of mine and halts my progress in rising to standing.

The doctor has left but I can see the nurse looking at me curiously from the end of the bed.

“Where are you going, lady?”

“
I have to leave,” I whisper, looking down so I don’t have to meet those bright blue eyes.

He’s silent but his body
holds mine captive, even though he’s a good foot away.

“
You’re going back to him,” he says eventually. There’s no question in his voice. He knows where I’m going.

I nod fractionally.
“I have to.” My voice is barely a whisper but I know he heard me.

He reaches forwards and tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear before gently tilting my face up to meet
his gaze. There’s a sadness in his eyes and something more that makes my gut clench uncomfortably. It feels like reluctant acceptance.

“
I need to leave,” I tell him again.

He nods and takes a step back, dropping back into the chair and crossing his arms over his broad chest. It makes the tattoos on the tops of his arms bulge slightly but I’m too worried to give it too much thought.

He sits in brooding silence as my anxiety levels rise. It takes the nurse far too long to get paperwork together for me and it’s going to give me a heart attack if it takes any longer.

To add insult to injury, I don’t have any clothes because they cut them off to get me into surgery. I’m left with some hospital issue granny pants and my hospital gown.

The nurse closes the curtain around the bed, shutting Craig out, as she helps me drag the underwear on. She tutted the whole time she was removing my IV and it doesn’t look like she’ll be stopping any time soon.

In my head
, the tutting is the ticking of a clock and every second that passes takes me closer to hell.

Why am I so eager to go back there?

“Right, that’s everything then,” the nurse says with a final reproachful look. “Good luck.”

I not in response, reluctant to admit how much of that luck I’ll be needing. She draws the curtain back and Craig
is stood there. His brow is still furrowed and he’s still brooding but he has a wheelchair in hand and I immediately sit in it when he gestures because I’m already exhausted and aching.

Moving is quite uncomfortable and I’ve done a lot of it over the past twenty minutes.

“Thank you,” I mumble shyly. I don’t like the intimidating stance he’s adopted. It’s like his shields have gone up and I can no longer feel that something shared that made me feel safe with him.

He nods in response and begins wheeling me to the main entrance.

“He picking you up?” Craig asks as we come to a stop.

“
I…” my eyes widen as I realise what he’s asking. How am I getting there?

I have no mobile, no purse, no ID. I have nothing. I can’t use any form of public transport and I don’t know any phone numbers off by heart. Who does nowadays?

“Where do you need to be?”

“
The Royal Crescent Hotel,” I answer weakly, mentally running through my options numbly. There’s absolutely no way I could walk there, even if I knew the way.

“
Figures,” Craig shakes his head. “Hospital does transports but it costs a fiver and the waiting time is two hours at the minute.”

I shake my head as nausea consumes me. I don’t have any money at all. Nothing. Even if I had my purse, there’s no money in it. Nigel monitors what I spend ve
ry closely and cash is a big no-no.

I could chance a taxi and get Nigel to pay but I don’t have my room key and
, if I can’t get up to the room, then I can’t pay. I don’t even have my ID to get the hotel to let me in.

This is a disaster.

“What is it?” Craig asks. There’s a slight bite of sarcasm in his voice and I realise he already knew this would happen.

He said nothing and let me sign myself out and ignore the doctors’ repeated warnings. He sat silently as I struggled with my injuries just so he could watch my embarrassment.

“Nothing,” I snap. “I’ll figure something out. You can leave now. I hope I gave you a good laugh at least.”

“
What?” He narrows his eyes at me and spins the chair round so that we’re facing. His arms hold onto the wheelchair on either side and he leans over me. He brings his face close to mine and I shrink back. He looks mad.

“
I’m sorry,” I squeak. I don’t know what came over me. I would never normally snap like that. I learnt to keep my temper in check because it only caused me more trouble.

“
Hey,” he softens slightly. “You’re scared.”

“
I am not,” I retort but it’s thoroughly unconvincing.

“
Didn’t mean to scare you, lady,” he apologises, moving his large hands to my shoulders. It makes me feel tiny. I’m quite slim anyway but I feel tiny against him.

He tucks my hair behind my ear again before gently squeezing my shoulders.
“We’ll get this sorted, okay?”

I nod because it’s all I can do not to cry. I’m not sure why I want to cry. I was just rude to him and his response was to be kind. It’s alien to me.

“You don’t have anything with you? Purse? Phone?”

I shake my head.

He nods contemplatively and then pulls a mobile phone from his pocket. He winks at me whilst he waits for it to turn on and I stifle the beginnings of a smile because it’s such a carefree gesture and it doesn’t match my mood or the atmosphere.

He moves his thu
mb rapidly over the screen and puts his phone to his ear.

“
I don’t have time for that, Danny. I need a favour.” I hear him say after a few seconds.

“
When’s your break?” He asks the voice at the other end.

“
Can I borrow the Audi?”

“
Don’t be a dick. I’m serious, it’s important.” He turns and winks at me again at this and I don’t bother fighting a smile this time.

“
No I ran here yesterday,” he apologises. “Alright, thanks. I owe you one.”

He pockets the phone
once more and turns to me, wheeling me over to a set of chairs and sitting down opposite me.

“
We’ll have a car in ten minutes,” he informs me.

“
Why are you helping me?” I prompt. I don’t want to seem ungrateful but this has gone quite far now and I can’t hold back the question any more.