Babygirl and the Mean Boss (6 page)

Marty watched her as she grimaced trying to find a comfortable pillow arrangement for her head.
Without being asked he plumped her pillow and adjusted her covers.  Nicole stared at
everything but
him with a mixture of confusion and gratitude.
 
For the first time the silence was awkward between them. 

She was reluctant to meet Marty’s gaze
, because he was just standing there looking down at her; all muscled out in his t-shirt and
recently shaved
head and face. 
It wasn’t far-
fetched;
the nurse
’
s assumption that Marty was her man.  He was acting like a very devoted boyfriend.  Much more devoted then James had when she had last been in the hospital giving birth to their child
. 
Marty
cleared his throat and she finally
looked up
coming back to the present
.

“Nicole,
do you have insurance
?” 

She didn’t know what she had expected but it wasn’t that. 
The question
had come out of clear blue and had
shocked her so much that she
had
almost asked him if he offered
h
ealth
i
nsurance because she sure missed that on the application for minimum wage backline cook!  She caught herself
in time.

“I have a medical card.”

“A medical card?”  He asked confused.

She gave him a long look. 
Yeah she had been on welfare, and still continued to receive aid for college.  She tossed him a half truthful answer. 
“I had to apply for it when I got the state assistance for college.”

“Like welfare
?
”  She could feel his judgment of her, and it
stung
.

“Not like…
is
welfare.”  She sank into her bed and pulled the covers up to her chin defensively.  “Some people can afford college with their trust funds and good jobs.”  She looked at him pointedly.  “Most of us aren’t lucky enough to have those things.”
  A half beat passed in which she thought Marty was going to swoop down and bite her head off.  Instead he blinked confused.

Instantly she regretted her words.  How could she be so insulting when Marty had been so kind?  But
instead of chewing her ass
he never responded to her harsh words.

“I’ll take your medical card down to the billing office so that we can get checked out tomorrow with no hold ups.”
  That statement made her feel even more like a shit.

“It
’
s in my wallet, in my jacket pocket...wherever my jacket is.”  She said contritely.

“Your jacket is pretty much ruined.”  She watched him walk to a small closet.  Her coat was stuffed into a clear plastic bag.  He rummaged around until he came up with her wallet.  Without even a glance in her direction he opened it and began rifling around in it.  Nicole kept her mouth clamped shut
but she wanted to tell him to stop looking at her personal items and that he was nosey…but she knew deep down that it wasn’t so.

Her eyes began to drift close.  She wanted to apologize for being so bitchy but couldn’t figure out how to do it without making
an already tense situation
worse
.  She’d just tell him thanks…

He glanced up from her wallet to her sleeping form. “Sleep tight, Baby Girl.  I’ll be back tomorrow.”

She thought she might have said goodnight in return…but maybe not.

The next day was a bright and beautiful Friday.  Nicole could not believe that she had spent most of this week in the hospital.

She dressed in the overly large clothes that Marty had left for her.  Still not able to manage with the brace the nurse had to assist her.  Neither w
as
able to locate her bra and panties and she had a fleeting concern that Marty had taken them.  But then she felt ashamed.  More likely they had to be cut away.

Marty walked through the door right before noon.

“Sorry I’m so late-
” Late?  When everything he did was of his own volition.

“Did you open the restaurant?”  She asked.

“Yeah.  Fred’s holding the fort.” 

Nicole
made a h
u
mphing noise
. 
“Good thing you didn’t fire him.”

“What?”

Again she felt a flash of shame.  What
in
the hell was wrong with her
?
!  Marty had been going out of his way to help her.  “Nothing
,”  s
he got out of bed while he stepped out the door and returned with a wheelchair.

She gave him a surprised look.  “
Oh n
o-
”

“
Sorry, Baby Girl. 
It’s the rule.”  He helped her sit down and noticed that her shoes weren’t on. 
Kneeling in front of her h
e slipped them on and tied the laces efficiently.
  Damn, he had a big neck, she thought in admiration.  She liked her men on the thicker side…what?!  Stop it, she chastised herself.

“Ready?”

“You wouldn’t believe how.”

~
***
~

A
s she waited for him to open the passenger door to his
truck
,
Nicole wondered if she had left any permanent stains on the seat.  She’d have the car reupholstered if she had.  No matter if it cost her two months salary!  She was pleased to see when he helped her inside that the seats were sparkly clean.  She didn’t mention it.

He pulled her seat belt on, careful about the injured shoulder then he quickly hopped in.

The drive was silent for the most part although Marty periodically glanced in her direction.

She noted that he was taking a strange route to her apartment.  He pulled up
to
the driveway of a condo—a nice one.

“Where’s this?”  She asked.

“My place.”  He got out of the truck and opened her door.  She
looked at him in confusion and then took his offered h
and and climbed out of the truck
.

“What are we doing here?”  Marty took her arm and led her up the walk.

“You’ll see.” 

Oh please
, don’t let
this
be some
surprise welcome home party. 
With all the activity of leaving the hospital, h
er head
was starting to ache.
  Reluctantly she allowed herself to be guided inside.

Marty’s
home
was very nice.  And there was no one in sight.  She looked at him confused.  Silently he
led her into a living
room decorated comfortably in muted earth tones.  He
helped her sit down in an oversized armchair
and then h
e sat on the sofa across from her.

“You’re staying here.” 

The expression
on Nicole’s face spoke more tha
n words ever could.  He continued quickly before she could object.

             
“Now, I’ve thought about this Nicole.  You can’t be by yourself these first co
uple of days.  Someone needs to care for your stitches
-
”

             
“Marty, I can’t-
”

             
He stood up.  “Yes.  You can.  I’ve made up the spare room for you-
”

             
She was shaking her head, which wasn’t a good idea with the intensifying headache.  “I appreciate it Marty.  I really do!  But-
”

             
He kneeled on his haunches in front of her and touched her hand.  Reluctantly he spoke the words that he had hoped he would
not
have to.  “Nicole,
you don’t realize how close you came to dying.  I didn’t want the d
octor to dwell on that with you
because I didn’t think it would help you to know
.”  His expression grew apologetic.  “
I had to pretend to be your…boyfriend
in order to get any information out of him.
”  He sighed.  “Baby…your head shattered
. They
want you wearing a helmet for 4
weeks just so that if you fall you won’t…”

             
What?! 
Nicole’s mouth opened and then closed
,
heart thudd
ing
in her chest anxiously.  “Wha-
?
Shattered?!
”

             
Marty licked his lips just sick at having to tell her this
,
and at the look
of fear
on her face.  “I don’t want to scare you.  But
because of
you
r
skull
fracture
,
”
h
e shook his head
then looked
at
her carefully
,
“
y
ou
black-out all the time; several times a
day
. But you don’t seem to know i
t.” Nicole’s eyes squeezed
closed and then open as streaks of pain shot
through her head. Just the confusion of information was impossible to absorb and now her head was freaking killing her. Besides, it wasn’t her head that was causing her to black out, if that is what she was doing. It was the drugs. She was just blacking out because she was on the nod, right? She didn’t even know how to form words to explain that but couldn’t because that was her business not his.

             
Nicole tried to reach up to rub her
throbbing head
but couldn’t
.  Her mind was trying to grasp the information that he had just told her
. 
Had the doctor said anything about blacking out? He’d mentioned seizures but
said
they
sh
ould go away…only she hadn’t had any so didn’t think about his words. But had she been having seizure all alone? How in the hell was this going to impact her life? Would she just freaking keel over during her day to day life? She briefly
closed her eyes as sharp, pains shot
through her skull
, forgetting about Marty for the time being
.  Each beat of her heart seemed to amplify it.  She was trying to reach up with her arm in the sling, not remembering why she couldn’t do it.

             
“Are you okay?”  Marty asked.

             
“My head…” 

             
“You
need
to
lie
down,” h
e insisted.

             
“I’ll be okay…”
 
She
tried
to tell
him that she didn’t want to lie
down anywhere except in her own bed, in her own apartment but she couldn’t think clearly enough to form the words.

             
“Nicole?”
She was just
staring into space like she’d been hypnotized.

             
Marty
paled
.  “Nicole!”  He waved his hand in front of her face.  His heartbeat quickened.  She was having a seizure
.