Of All People

"Do I pass inspection?"

"Huh?" I answered smoothly.

"You were checking me out. I asked if I passed."

I could feel the heat rushing to my face. I had been totally busted and was embarrassed by it. At least she didn't seem pissed.

"Actually, yes you did."

That brought a smile to her face, and she said simply "Good" then headed out of the room. I couldn't help but smile.

*****

Early the next morning Katie came in with another nurse and they went over my chart. It was apparently shift change time. The update completed, the other nurse (who was older and seemed very no-nonsense) left the room and Katie walked over to my bed.

"How're you feeling, Henry?"

"Much better now that you're here. Oh damn, that was cheesy."

"Yes it was, but it was nice to hear. Obviously I'm off shift but I'll be back at 6:00 tonight."

"I look forward to it. Do you have any idea how long I'm going to be in here?"

"These days they push people through pretty quick but your head injury has earned you at least a few days bed rest. I imagine you'll be doing New Years at home but probably not much before that."

"Good thing my office is closed between the holidays. I don't even have to call in."

"Is there anything I can bring for you tonight?"

That seemed like an odd offer coming from my nurse, and I got a little lost in thinking about the implications of it. Then I realized she was waiting for an answer.

"Nothing I can think of, but thanks for the offer."

"No problem. Give it some thought today. You won't get anything from Nurse Ratchet out there but I can sometimes arrange a little something."

"I'll do that, thanks."

As we finished our conversation mom came walking in the door and Katie turned to leave. I was surprised mom was here so early and I told her so.

"I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd come see my boy. How are you today?"

"Ready to leave but apparently I have a reservation for a few more days since I landed on my hard head."

"Is there something they're worried about?"

"Just for observation and to make sure the swelling goes down, I think."

She seemed to accept this. She sat back in the corner and pulled out her needlepoint thing. She got herself all arranged then spoke again.

"That nurse likes you, I think."

"She's a nice person, mom, but I'm just a patient like any other."

"I heard her offer to bring you something."

"I'm sure she does that for all of her long term patients since they get so few of them. She was just being nice."

"If you say so, son, but you're a man and I'm a woman and I tell you there's something more there. I can see it in her eyes."

I couldn't deny an attraction to Katie but I had no illusions about how she felt about me. Nurses are a special breed that have a calling to take care of people and that was all she was doing. I only rated special consideration because I'd be here for a few days.

The day with mom passed slowly. She spent almost the entire day working on her project and we talked about this and that, but not much. She and dad were only children and all of my grandparents had passed. We had some distant cousins that we were aware of but didn't really know so there was no family to talk about except our immediate one, and she knew how I felt about that topic. Our talking was interrupted periodically with the nurse popping in to check my vitals and update my chart.

By 5:30 I was clock-watching and waiting for Katie to get there. Mom had left at 5:00 to go start dinner for dad so I was trying to distract myself with the TV but it wasn't working. At 5:45 the nurses again walked in and did the patient update/exchange. They were all business and I just watched Katie do her thing. She sure was pretty.

The update complete they moved out of the room to go on to the next patient. Katie let the other nurse go out the door first and then at the last moment she glanced over her shoulder, wiggled her butt at me, and gave me a wink. Okay, maybe she didn't do this for ALL of the patients.

About 20 minutes later she came back into my room and made like she was doing an update on me but I think it was just an excuse to come talk to me.

"So was I right in assuming you were checking out my ass as I walked out of the room?"

"Am I that transparent?"

"You're a man. Of course you are. But don't think I'm upset because I'm not. It's flattering."

"Good. I'd hate to think I was upsetting you."

"Nah, I'm good. I do need to get back to work but I'll be in to check on you later. Did you think of anything I can get for you?"

"No, but I'll let you know if something pops into my mind."

Katie smiled and then walked out of the room. She sure was nice and I could see something starting with her, but I was sure that someone as sweet and beautiful as her was married or at least had a steady boyfriend - or girlfriend. That thought just depressed me.

I saw Katie several times during the night, of course, but apparently my chart had strict orders to allow me to get plenty of rest so we didn't get a lot of opportunity to talk about anything but how I was doing. I did get a chance to see there was no ring on her finger but it occurred to me she might remove jewelry while at work so that didn't necessarily mean anything.

At 6:00 the next morning she and the day nurse again did their rounds, and this time she left without stopping to talk to me. See, I said to myself, she was just being nice because I was a new patient but now I'd get the same treatment as all of the others. I was nothing special.

I had just finished berating myself for thinking I was anything more than that when Katie came back into my room carrying her purse and with a sweater across her shoulders.

"I'm sorry we didn't get much chance to talk tonight. I was supposed to let you rest and we were actually kind of busy. I was called down to help in the ER when we had a bunch of traumas come in one right after the other."

"Hey, you're at work. I understand completely. I'm just a patient here."

"I would have thought you'd have realized by now that I think of you as more than just a patient. Do you mind if I sit and we can talk for a while?"

"You won't get in any trouble? I mean, we're not family or anything."

"It won't be a problem. So tell me about yourself, and don't leave out the part about falling down your stairs on Christmas Eve."

I gave her a brief summary of my life up to that point, including the situation with Hannah and Christie. She expressed amazement that a sister, and a twin at that, could do such a thing, though she said she understood that sometimes you just fall for someone and there's nothing you can do to stop it.

It was then her turn to tell me about herself. She was from Illinois originally and had gone to the University of Wisconsin. She had been a softball player there (see, athletic. I knew it) and had come to this area to do a training rotation while earning her degree. She found she really loved it here and made it permanent.

As we were talking I thought I saw the door of my room open, but when I looked back it was closed. I thought I was imagining things until, right after Katie said goodbye and left, my mother came traipsing in with her needlepoint in hand. She simply smiled at me and got herself organized in the chair. She was silent for about 5 minutes, and then simply said:

"I told you she liked you."

I was beginning to believe her.

*****

The next couple of days went much the same, until finally the powers that be (probably the insurance company) decided I could be released. Katie gave me the good news just before her shift was about to end.

As the end of her shift came and went, she hung around to keep me company. Finally I realized that it was passing 8:00 and she was still there.

"Weren't you off two hours ago?"

"Yeah, I was."

She didn't elaborate as to why she was still around. It was my mom that finally twisted my head on straight. She walked over to me and whispered in my ear.

"She's waiting for you to ask for her phone number, dummy."

For some reason that thought hadn't even occurred to me. I guess I was so focused on the checkout process and making sure I had everything I needed that I didn't realize that I'd have no way to keep in touch with her after I left. Well, short of coming by the hospital. It turns out mom had it right.

"Hey Katie, I'm sure you get this a lot, but I wondered if I could get you number and we could do something sometime."

"Actually, I do get that a lot, but I've never given my number to a patient before."

"Oh...I see."

Well, that was disappointing, but then I saw she was looking at me.

"Are you going to get your phone out so you can put me in your contacts?"

"But you just said..."

"I've never done it before, but there's a first time for everything."

That task accomplished, Katie went on her way. Mom and I were at the hospital for another 2 hours before we were finally cleared to leave. The wait to get out is my least favorite part of the whole medical experience.

Mom tried her best to convince me to let her take me back to the house, but I knew I'd be a sitting duck for Hannah and Christie if that happened. I didn't have to resort to threats (though it was close) and she took me back to my place.

She fluttered around the apartment for a few hours trying to get things set up as she thought they needed to be. I could mostly care for myself but the broken clavicle was going to present some challenges. You really don't realize how much you rely on that particular bone until it's gone. I'd have to shower, drive, and dress/undress one-handed, but I would manage.

Things were just about to mom's liking when there was a knock at the door. I shot mom a dirty look because I just knew she had set me up to have Hannah and/or Christie come get me while I was down. I opened the door ready to tell one of the bitches to fuck off but fortunately held my tongue long enough to realize it was Katie.

"You haven't called me yet."

"It was on my to-do list but it's only been a few hours. Say, how'd you know where I lived?"

Her eyes flicked ever so briefly toward my mother, giving away the secret plot. My eyes confirmed the connection and I smiled, giving Katie an opening to explain.

"Your mom was worried about you being home alone and suggested I might like to take care of you, so she gave me your address."

I invited her in and mom suddenly decided everything was ship-shape and it was time for her to head home. She was out the door in seconds.

"I'm glad you came over. I was actually going to call you tonight, even if it was just to say hello and thank you for taking care of me. How long can you stay?"

"I have to be at work Thursday at 6:00pm."

Today was Tuesday.

"That's great, but I meant how long can you stay today?"

She looked at me strongly to emphasize her point.

"I have to be at work Thursday at 6:00pm."

Ah, now I got it.

"Oh. I see. Well, that's...great. Do you have a change of clothes?"

"In my car. Look, Henry, let me make things really clear. I like you. I thought we really connected while you were in my ward and I know you thought so, too, and this seemed like a good opportunity for us to get to know each other. And you do need someone to help take care of you. Your mom says this is a one-bedroom apartment so, if you're okay with it, I will share your bed. But I'm not going to have sex with you. I'm not someone that does that this early in a relationship. Even if your clavicle wasn't broken we wouldn't do that. What I will do is spend time with you. We'll watch TV, play some games, whatever. We'll probably even kiss, we'll cuddle at night, and if things go really well you might even get my top off, but that's as far as we might go and I need you to understand that and respect that."

I really liked Katie and certainly could see something happening and I assured her I understood exactly what she was saying. She cooked dinner that night and we fell asleep on the couch watching a movie. The next day (Wednesday) we spent more time hanging around the apartment and did some light cleaning.

She helped me shower, which was less exciting than you probably expect. She wore a bikini (and it wasn't a particularly revealing one, though it showed off her hot little athletic body very well) and I wore my swimsuit. She handled washing everything except you-know-where, which was left to me. We made it to bed this time and fell asleep wrapped together again.

Thursday morning I woke with Katie lying on top of me. We were both fully dressed in our sleepwear (a basic pair of shorts for me, a paisley print pajama set for her), but as she noticed me waking up she sat up and pulled her pajama top off, revealing a perky pair of b-cup breasts with light pink aureoles and very perky nipples. Licking or sucking them was out but she did let me fondle them while we made out. We finally had to stop before things got completely out of hand.

*****

As you have probably guessed, that was the start of my love affair with Katie. It was 3 weeks before I got her out of her pants and then she would only let me finger her and go down on her; no intercourse yet. Happily, she returned the favor with spectacular blow jobs so I was not left wanting.

We ended up waiting the 7 weeks it took for my clavicle to fully heal before we ended up fucking for the first time. Katie wanted to make sure our first time was spectacular (and it was) and she wanted me at full strength for it.

We had gone at it all night (with some brief naps and visits to the shower in between, and in the morning I gently raised the topic of anal sex. I had played around down there a little bit with my fingers and tongue so I was confident she was at least open to the suggestion. The one time I had done it with Nancy had made me a convert, though I would abide by Katie's wishes.

Her answer made me happy.

"I was afraid to suggest it. I didn't want you to think I was too much of a slut, at least until we got to know each other better. If you've got some KY handy I've been raring to take you up my ass since you first stuck your finger up there."

It was every bit as amazing as I remembered it, and we did it in a couple of different positions, where Nancy and I had only done it doggy-style. Clearly this was not Katie's first go-round with a dick up her ass and, though a little jealous for some reason, I did my best to simply appreciate that she, and her ass, were all mine now.

*****

I guess I let my guard down. I had assumed that the worst of things in my life were over, what with my twin sister stealing my wife and that leading to the essential estrangement of my parents, and followed by my near-death tumble down a long flight of stairs. I figured, or at least hoped, that I had hit bottom and meeting Katie had started me on the way up. But fate wasn't done fucking with me just yet.

Katie had just worked her usual shift and gotten to my apartment about 6:30am. We didn't live together yet because our schedules didn't really match. I worked days and she still worked nights, though was hoping to rotate off of them soon. I had things at her place and she had things at mine. We spent most of our time at her place because it was larger and closer to the hospital. This morning, as it turned out, we were at my place.

It was Saturday so it was my day off but I had gotten up early so I could have something ready for her to eat when she got here. She looked beat and gave me a long hug after putting her things down. She told me about her night and some of the injuries they had to treat, always being careful to avoid specifics, then hit me with the sentence that would change my life again.

"I met your sister yesterday."

At the mention of Hannah I immediately tensed up. It had been a few months since she had come up and I was finally hoping this was behind me and could get on with my life. Apparently not.

"What do you mean? Where did you meet Hannah?"

I refused to refer to her as my sister.

"I stopped by your mom's house on the way to work to drop off that book she wanted to borrow and your sister was there. She's really nice and so much like you. If I didn't know you were twins I would have guessed it anyway."

I was quietly seething at this point, trying to contain my anger.

"Was Christie there?"

"No, just Hannah and your mom. Anyway, like I said we really hit it off. We're having lunch and going shopping tomorrow."

The hell you are, I thought. I very nearly lost it right there but I tried to keep calm. I had never actually told Katie that I wanted absolutely nothing to do with my sister, and that meant keeping her out of any aspect of my life. I had thought that would be implied but apparently not. But this was no problem, I thought.

"Katie, honey, I guess I didn't make this clear. I don't want Hannah to be a part of my life."

"I know, baby. I'm not going to bring her over here or anything. I just liked her and thought she and I could be friends. I won't bring her into your life at all, I promise."

I was getting more upset and frustrated.

"What I mean, Katie, is that I don't want her to have anything to do with any part of my life, and I consider you to be a part of my life. I don't want you having anything to do with her. I need you to call her and cancel. Blame me, I don't care, but that's what I need you to do."

"I don't understand what the big deal is. It's just lunch and shopping."

"This is exactly what led to my being divorced and my ex-sister married to my ex-wife. That's how it started and I'll be damned if I'm going down that road again!"

"Well I just think you're being ridiculous! She's a happily married woman now, and besides what makes you think you can dictate who my friends are?"

"I'm not trying to dictate your friends. I'm telling you that a relationship with my ex-sister is off limits, that's all. Now please call and cancel for tomorrow and tell her you won't be going out with her ever."

"No Henry, I won't. I'm almost 30 years old and I can pick my own friends and I won't have anyone trying to control me like that. You're just going to have to accept that I might have some friendships that you don't agree with; just like you'll have some that I don't agree with."

I took several deep breaths so I could gain a little control over my outward emotions. Inside I was an emotional fucking volcano about to erupt.

"Is that your final answer then?"

"Yes Henry, it is."

"Fine. Wait here."

I went into my bedroom and grabbed a laundry hamper, dumping its contents on to the floor. I then gathered everything of Katie's that I could find from the bedroom and the bathroom. I assume she could hear me banging about because I'd occasionally hear 'Henry what are you doing' or 'what's going on' come from the living room. Finally I had everything and I walked back out.

"What's all that stuff?" she asked, looking into the hamper.

"All your things from my apartment. You can take it when you leave. If I find anything else I'll mail it to you."

I put the hamper at her feet.

"You're not serious. You're breaking up with me over this?"

"Apparently you made your choice and you're just another woman that chose Hannah over me."

Her face carried a look of disbelief and exasperation. I had drawn a line in the sand and actually hoped she would realize how serious I was and end up making that call. But she didn't. She just grabbed the hamper and headed for the door.

"I'll put your shit in the hamper and leave it for you at your mom's house when Hannah and I go out tomorrow!"

She slammed the door behind her and I was, again, completely and utterly alone. Is this what I had to look forward to: A never-ending string of relationships that end because I keep coming in second to The Great Hannah Weston? I felt like I was too young to give up on women entirely, but all of sudden I simply believed that a happy love life was not in my future.