Destroy (A Standalone Romance Novel) (15 page)

“The only one I know of
is him smoking a cigar on a summer night at the end of a hard day, which he
does sitting outside at the upstairs café.”

I had to laugh quietly
when I envisioned the little man with a large cigar in his mouth. “What does he
do in the winter; does he still go outside in the cold?”

Dr. Lennox laughed with
me. “Not that I know of. Maybe he has a secret place where he can do it in
peace.”

The harshness of that
assignment had been broken during that little chat. I felt grateful to Dr.
Lennox. He was a wonderful man.

All twelve of us were
beginning to relax. We fell in step with the doctors who supervised us and the
twelve-hour days seemed shorter somehow. That Friday night, I had just finished
my stint in the amputation and physiotherapy centers when Tiffany called me on
my cell to tell me that we were all going to Hostel–a bar close to the
hospital–for a drink.

I was looking forward to
a break. I didn’t particularly want to go home. My mother was due to call me
and I truly didn’t want to speak to her. She hadn’t stopped complaining about
my dad’s condition since she told me that he had dementia that was likely to be
Alzheimer’s. He was to receive his pacemaker this coming Monday and my mother
talked as if this was a major surgery. Although, it’s not as simple as
re-setting a broken arm (which might not be that simple come to think of it),
but it’s generally not life threatening either.
She can leave a message on either of my phones,
I thought as I went
to the locker room to change.

Working with the
physiotherapists for the past week, I was dressed in gym shorts, yoga trousers,
or spandex every day. I had left a pair of jeans in my locker, which I was
happy to find.
One doesn’t go to the bar
in yoga pants,
I thought. Even if some people do, I generally prefer not
to.

For some reason I was in
a hurry to get there. Once again, I longed for my friends’ company. Yes, the
interns and I had become friends. We had gone through the fields of battle
every day for weeks now, so we had become quite attached to one another.

As I came in the bar, I
saw our group sitting at a table in the corner of the establishment. Washington
residents must have a penchant for Old English pubs. Many of the favorite bars
in the city are replicas of existing London or Scotland haunts. I must admit
that the dark wood paneling, the warmth of a fireplace, a mahogany counter, and
wooden stools have an inevitable welcoming effect on many people. I am one of
them.

As my gaze traveled
around the bar, it fell on one of its patrons. Dr. Aldridge was sitting, alone,
on a stool facing the bar. He didn’t notice me come in. Which was what I
wanted. I didn’t want to talk to him in front of my friends. But he was not to ignore
my presence for very long, thank to Corey for bursting into a bellowing voice
to announce my arrival.

I could have crawled
under the tables and hide. I just didn’t like to be put under a spotlight,
especially when it attracted the attention of the very man I was trying so hard
to avoid. It was not a case of not liking the guy; it was a case of finding him
absolutely irresistible.

Yet, not to do the right
thing and acknowledge his presence would have been worse than ignoring him. My
companions would have noticed and draw the wrong conclusions.

“Hey there, Dr. Williams,
what brings you down to our watering hole,” Jeff said, as he turned to me.

“Hi. How are you?” I
replied, standing beside him.

“Just fine. And you?”

“I just wanted…” I began
saying.

“Don’t say it, Doctor. I
know.”

“You know what? Do you
know I am sorry for what happened? Do you know that I need to apologize for my
conduct? It was very selfish of me.”

“Stop right there, Dr.
Williams. We’re all here in this pub to have a good time–not to rake the past
or to apologize for a behavior that was totally understandable.”

“I’m just sorry if I
acted as a self-centered idiot that night. That’s all.” I was about to turn
away and join my companion’s table, when Jeff took my hand.

“Come here,” he said,
leading me to the anteroom adjacent to the bar. It was probably used as a
smoking room in the old days. “You never acted as an idiot, self-centered or
not. It’s not in your nature and you’re not any such thing in my eyes,
Heather.”

“Thank you,” I whispered
in his ear as he took me in his arms for a brief embrace. Once again, his body
against mine was nothing less than electrifying. I had to be there in his arms.
It felt as if I should have been there every day since we met.

“Let’s go,” he said,
pushing me toward the ladies’ room. I didn’t care where we were going, all I
wanted was him.

He locked the door and leaned
my body against the wall. He unzipped my jeans and slipped his hand in my
panties. Just a touch from him sent me flying into heavenly lust. I slipped out
of my jeans and had my legs clamped around his waist by the time he had opened
his trousers. He carried me to the first toilet stall and sat me down while he
went down on his knees. He took my panties off while I was still kissing him.
He then went down and began licking my clitoris. That’s all I needed and
wanted. I had to keep my mouth shut; otherwise, I would have screamed my utmost
delight. It had been too long between visits. All I could do was to bury my
face in his hair and enjoy his delicate ministrations until he began caressing
and then rubbing my breasts and nipples. That was it! I could have yelled the
house down, so violent my first orgasm was. He smiled as he watched me going
from one tremor of satisfaction to another.
God
All Mighty
,
it felt fantastic
.

When I calmed down a
little, for he was still massaging my breasts, I took his penis into my mouth
and began to suck him until
he
, too, moaned with
pleasure. He was more than ready to take me, to penetrate me. I wanted him
inside me as I never wanted a man in me before. I could not deny him. I could
not refuse him. I stood up as he took a condom out of his pocket and slipped it
on. He then pushed me against the partition and penetrated me while rubbing my
clitoris until I couldn’t help but groan. So good it felt. When his penis
prodded for my lips and entered my vagina again, I was ready to burst.

A moment later, our
ultimate enjoyment was mutual and lasted as long as we could hold ourselves up.
We both went down to the floor slowly while kissing each other. He then lowered
his head between my breasts silently.

When we finally stood up
and regained a smidgen of composure, he threw the condom in the toilet while I
went to the sink to clean myself up as best I could. Five minutes later, we
were both dressed and ready to face the world again. Of course, my face was
flushed and my hands were still trembling. As for my heart, it took another few
minutes for it to regain its normal rhythm.
Thank
goodness for jogging
.

When I came out of the
washroom, I felt as if all eyes were on me. But since no one was in the
anteroom, no one had noticed me come out. I adopted a normal walking stance,
went across the bar and sat down beside Tiffany at my friends’ table.

“Where have you been?”
she asked in undertone, bending to my ear.

“Nowhere,” I replied. “I
was just in the bathroom putting my face on. Why?”

“Did you talk to Dr.
Hottie
?” She peered into my eyes. “He was here a minute
ago.”

“Yes, I know. And yes,
Mom, I had a few words with him.”

“What are you drinking,”
Corey asked, getting up. “My round.”

“I’ll have a gin and
tonic, thanks,” I answered.

“Anybody else want
something?”

“Since you’re so
generous, Corey, why don’t you bring a beer for all of us?”

“Yes, Gerald, a beer for
each
of us you mean?”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s what
I meant.”

Although I generally
don’t drink beer, I wasn’t going to be “the odd woman out”. I didn’t say
anything. Yet, Corey came back with eleven beers and one G&T.

Since I had my back to
the wall and I was facing the bar, I saw Jeff get up from his stool a few
minutes later. He smiled at me discreetly. I returned the smile as our eyes
met.

When we finally got home,
the first thing I noticed was the message light on my phone. I looked at the
call display. My mother had called–of course. I listened to her as Tiffany and
I plopped down on the sofa.

“I know
it’s
Friday night, and you’re probably out with your
friends, but you could have given me a call before you left. I am all alone
here to look after your dad. You don’t care, as usual. Anyway, call me when you
get home.”

I looked at the kitchen
clock. It was nearly 1:00 a.m. I shook my head. There was no way I would call
my mom at this hour of the night. It would wake my father abruptly, which is
not a recommended thing to do when you know the man has arrhythmia. He could
have an attack from the shock.

Tiffany knew what I was
thinking. “Call them in the morning, Hattie. It’s not going to make any
difference, except that perhaps you’ll save your dad from having an attack.”

“Exactly what I thought. I’ll
call Mom in the morning before we go jogging.”

“What do you mean ‘we’?
I’ll have you know I am not getting up before noon tomorrow. So, you can go
jogging on your own. Me, I’ll do all the jogging in bed.”

“No good, Tiff. You can’t
break the routine; otherwise, you’ll grow fat.”

“I know, I know, but
right now, I don’t care. I am going to bed.” And with those words, Tiffany
Jensen got up and marched to her bedroom.

Chapter
16

The morning came far too
quickly. Yet, it was a gorgeous fall day. The leaves were turning to rust and
the lawns were still green. I truly love that time of year. Everything seems
fresh and quiet. But before putting my nose outside, I had to call my dear
mother. I had to re-assure her once again that I was still alive, that I had
not been kidnapped, that Dad would be just fine, that the operation would go as
planned and that “No, I can’t move back to Omaha, Mom!”

“But what am I going to
do, Heather? I cannot look after him
any more
. It’s
worse than having a child in the house.”

“And you’re the one who
wanted grandchildren, didn’t you?”

“Yes, of course I want
grandkids, but that’s different. They’re not there twenty-four hours a day,
seven days a week, asking you the same question even though you’ve already
repeated the same answer a hundred times.”

“I can understand your
frustration, Mom. But I can assure you, he will be fine once he’s got his
pacemaker. Besides, he’ll settle down to the routine that I hope you’ve
started.”

“What routine? What are
you talking about? How can I have a routine with a man who doesn’t remember
which day this is?”

“That’s exactly why you
need to establish a routine, so he’ll remember which day this is. It’s like
training a dog, I’m sorry to say, Mom. You need to repeat the same thing each
day at the same time. If you go shopping in the morning at ten o’clock, make
sure you do your shopping the same day every week at ten a.m. If you get him to
the shower in the morning, let it be at exactly the same time, and show him the
clock.”

“And how long is that
going to take?”

“Everyone is different,
Mom, but you should start as soon as he is discharged from the hospital.”

“Isn’t there anything
else I can do?”

“I know it must feel like
you’re lumbered with something you don’t need, but believe me; it is only
temporary if you do what I said. Besides that, you can call the home care
center in your neighborhood and ask for a home care worker to come in once or
twice a week so that you can have a few free hours to do your own thing.”

“How about you take some time
off…”

“Mom! How can you ask
that? I’ve just started working six weeks ago; I don’t have vacation days for
another year at least. So please, don’t count on me to come home any time
soon.”

“What about Thanksgiving
or Christmas, aren’t you coming home for the holidays?” She sounded frightened.

“Listen, Mom, I’ll do my
best to get away, but I can’t promise anything. In the meantime, let’s get over
this hurdle, okay?”

“Okay, okay. I’ll call
you on Monday after your dad is back in his room.”

“Okay, Mom, you do that.
And, please, take it easy.”

The jog that morning was
just invigorating. I wished Tiffany had been with me to enjoy the whole thing.
I had come to know a few of the regular joggers and always said hello as we
passed each other. This morning was no different. Actually, there were a few
more people on the trail. This being Saturday, more people had time to spend on
their exercises.

As I came around the
corner from the woods, I noticed a jogger trying to catch his breath. I had
seen him before. He might have been in his early forties, nice and lean and quite
an athlete by the looks of him. He was bent over with his hands on his knees.
The odd thing about him was that he didn’t straighten up. He stayed like that
until I was about to reach him. Suddenly, he fell to his side, unconscious. I
didn’t wait, I grabbed my phone out of my hoody’s pocket and called 911. I had
no idea yet what was wrong with him, but I imagined he had a sudden shock, if
not a heart attack. I knelt down beside him and felt his pulse and looked into
the white of his eyes. With no stethoscope, I could only listen to his
breathing and his heart the old-fashion way. Although his pulse was erratic,
his heartbeat seemed strong. A few seconds later, he came to. He looked at me
as if coming out of a fog.