Human Blend (14 page)

“I was just checking on her. I hadn't done
anything yet,” Julie informed.

“Yet. Damn it, Julie, I thought we had an
understanding. You are not supposed to do anything unless you tell
me first. Did we, or did we not have that agreement?” Eli
asked.

“Why are you so angry with me? I'm still
getting used to working with someone, okay? I just thought if I
could make her more comfortable, she would heal herself faster,”
Julie tried to explain. “Besides, you weren't around,” she
added.

“Where were you, Julie? I went looking for
you to tell you about Michele, myself. I heard some of the nurses
giggling about you and some boy in a supply room,” Eli stated.
Julie frowned.

“Austin came to see me. He had heard about
the murder and was worried about me. I hadn't had time to call him.
I didn't feel like having everyone hear my conversation, so we went
into the supply room. Big deal,” she said angrily. They stared at
each other, neither one willing to back down. Julie caved first.
“Eli,” she said, taking a step towards him. “Look. I'm sorry. I
should have waited for you. I'm still new at this whole 'teamwork'
thing. Truth be told, I am glad to have someone else who knows what
I can do. I never got a chance to really talk to anyone about it,
before you,” Julie leaned with her back against the table, “I never
saw you get this angry before,” she added before looking away.

Eli came and stood before her. “Do you know
why I was so angry?” Eli asked her. She raised her eyes to look at
him. “I was angry because of the danger you put yourself in. You
know you are weak. What if you had passed out and I wasn't here?
What if another doctor tried to care for you? I remember how
shocked I was when I tried. That would have jeopardized your safety
here. I want you to be able to stay, Julie,” he touched her face
lightly. He was moving his face closer to hers when his phone rang.
His hand remained on her face as he answered it. He kept his eyes
locked with hers. She watched him speak into the phone, but was not
able to focus on anything that was said. She watched the movement
of his lips. The sensations she was feeling now were different then
his calming ones of before. She found herself taking deeper
breaths. What happened next surprised her and the doctor. He had
just hung up the phone when she reached for his jacket collar and
pulled him to her. She kissed him hard and deep. At first the
doctor was stiff, but within seconds he was responding to her just
as aggressively.

The room seemed to take on a thickness as
they both let the passion take control. Neither one knew who pulled
back first. They suddenly where staring at each other, surprised at
their behavior. Eli was looking down at Julie who was on the table
with him above her. He quickly righted himself, pulling Julie with
him. “What just happened?” he asked, unsure of whether that had
been another dream. One look at Julie's unease told him it was
not.

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” she
said, unable to look at him.

“Julie, I...” Eli was at a loss for
words.

“You were touching my face and then...
something happened,” Julie tried to connect the dots that led up to
their actions.

“I didn't do anything, Julie,” Eli assured
her.

“I didn't either... at least, I don't think I
did,” Julie responded, suddenly unsure. Julie rubbed her arms,
feeling a coldness around her. She closed her eyes. Something about
the incident was familiar to her. She looked up at Eli. “I think...
this happened... before,” she spoke brokenly, trying to pull up a
memory. She could only see flashes, and what she saw scared her.
She shook her head. “I can't think about it,” she said and wiped
her face. She had started crying without realizing it.

“Julie,” Eli whispered and hugged her. First,
Julie tried to pull out of his embrace, but he held her close. She
finally let out her anguish, and hugged him back. She didn't even
know why she was crying. She wouldn't allow herself to revisit the
memory, but still felt the pain caused by it. Julie was glad that
Eli let her calm down naturally. He released her when she moved
back.

She let out a nervous laugh. “I feel so
stupid sometimes,” she said.

“Julie, from what you have told me, you were
taken from the one person who could've possibly told you more about
yourself. You're not to blame,” Eli tried to make her feel
better.

“I just... I dunno...” she replied and
laughed again. “I think I'm going to go home,” Julie said, then
remembered that Austin was picking her up.

“I can drive you, give me a minute,” Eli
suggested.

“No, it's fine. I forgot, Austin is picking
me up and taking me to dinner. I need to do that. I need to do
something... normal,” Julie said. “Um, I'll see you at home. Let me
know how Michele is doing then. She's... she's not absorbing the
fluid as quickly as she should be,” Julie told him, but her voice
was distant.

Eli watched her go, worry creasing his face.
He wanted to call out to her; to tell her not to go, but his voice
was silent. He didn't know what to say to make things easier for
her. Eli looked internally to figure out why his reaction to her
was so strong. He knew he was attracted to her, but the
powerfulness of the attraction bothered him. It seemed too strong.
His emotions were usually much more reserved.

“Doctor,” Nurse Hacher was calling him from
the doorway. “Mr. and Mrs. Royal are waiting for you to give them
your update on Michele,” she reminded.

“Yes, of course. I'll be right there,” Eli
responded, and had to put thoughts of Julie Miller out of his head,
a feat which was getting harder and harder to do.

Julie changed out of her uniform. Thoughts of
her sexually charged encounter with Eli danced in her head.

She was staring down at her hands when Austin
came up beside her. “Hey,” he said.

“Hey, where's your skateboard?”she
teased.

“Right this way ,madam,” he gestured to the
dark colored sedan parked in front. “I had it spruced up just for
you,” he said, opening the door for her. “You okay? You seem kinda,
I don't know, sad?” Austin tried to find the right word.

“I'm fine. I think I'm just a little run
down,” she explained.

“Do you want me to just take you home?” he
asked.

“No. No, I've missed you,” Julie said,
embracing him. “I feel like I haven't spent enough time with you.
Work has just been crazy,” she said.

Austin kissed the top of her head. “I have an
idea. Wait here for one second,” he told her, placing her in the
passenger seat.

“Wait...what are you doing?” she asked as he
went back into the lobby of the hospital. As the automatic doors
slid open, Julie saw Eli shaking hands with a man and a woman.
Austin went right up to him. “Austin, what the hell are you doing?”
she wondered aloud. As curious as she was, she found herself unable
to move. She watched as Austin and Eli spoke and then shook hands.
A few moments later, Austin was on his way back out to the car. Eli
waved to her from inside. She waved back and gave Austin a
questioning look. “Mind telling me what that was all about?” Julie
asked.

“I'll tell you on the way, now put your legs
in and buckle up,” he ordered. She frowned at having to wait to
find out but did as instructed. Austin put the car in gear and
exited the hospital lot.

“Spill it,” she commanded.

“I asked the doc if it would be okay if I
took you home, meaning his place, so you could rest, and we could
order a pizza,” Austin explained as he parked in the parking lot of
the apartments next to the hospital. “He was very accommodating,
actually,” Austin continued. Julie was silent, absorbing everything
that Austin was saying. “He agreed that it was a good idea. He said
you've been working too hard,” he finished.

Julie didn't know whether to feel perturbed
or comforted by all of this. “What if I said I wanted to go dancing
or partying? Would you take me, or would you insist on me staying
home?” Julie asked.

Austin was puzzled by Julie's reaction.
“Where's this coming from, Jules?” he asked.

“I just need to know that if I make up my
mind to do something, that you and guard doc will not try and
convince me otherwise,” Julie argued. She could tell by the look on
Austin's face that he was dumbfounded by her attitude, and of
course, he would be. He knew nothing of her past. “Austin... I'm
sorry,” she sighed, lowering her head. “I'm overreacting as usual,”
she stated, closing her eyes. She opened her eyes when Austin
raised her chin.

“Julie, you know I would never make you do
anything you didn't want to do. Is someone making you do
something?” Austin asked.

“No,” Julie replied. “Not now. That was my
past talking,” she said. She knew Austin was waiting for a better
explanation. He deserved one, but Julie wasn't ready to change the
relationship that they had. She needed him to be disconnected from
that part of her, to keep things between them normal. “Please,
Austin. Don't push me on this subject. I don't want to revisit my
past by talking about it. I just want to live the normal life of a
normal girl,” she explained.

It pained Austin to see the distress the
conversation was having on her. “Okay,” he said softly, resting a
hand on her neck. “So what does this normal girl want to do
tonight? Pizza, dancing or both?” he offered.

Julie smiled. “This normal girl wants a
quiet, normal evening at home, with a normal boy, and a pizza...
fully loaded,” she laughed.

“Fully loaded, huh?” Austin smiled. “Such an
adventurous normal girl,” he teased and got out of the car. The two
walked slowly toward the main entrance, holding hands.

“Aw, ain't that sweet,” the man watching from
his dark blue van commented to himself. “Laney, Laney, Laney. You
never learn. Time's almost up, beautiful.” He laughed, imagining
the look on her face when she realized that he had been close by
her the whole time. His cell phone rang, breaking him from his
thoughts. “Yeah,” he answered. “Nope, no luck on my end either. I'm
thinking Texas. Yeah. I'll be heading that way soon, myself. I bet
he's still pissed. She covered her tracks good this time,” he
replied and laughed. “Yeah, see you in about a week,” he ended his
conversation. “Stupid assholes,” he cursed, lighting his cigarette.
“We've got big plans, Laney. Big plans,” he said and snickered.

Julie went to freshen up. She didn't like the
antiseptic smell on her clothes. Even though they had been in the
locker room, they still seemed to have absorbed the scent of the
hospital.

Austin was in the kitchen, taking down plates
and putting them on the counter. “Feel better?” he asked her.

“Much,” she replied.

“I ordered a large, fully loaded pizza from
Sal's. They make the best pies,” Austin said and smiled. “Should be
here in about twenty minutes,” he informed.

“Sounds awesome,” Julie replied. She perched
on a stool in front of the counter.

Austin rested his chin on his hands. “What's
with the decor?” he asked. “It just seems so... boring,” he
commented.

“I noticed that too. I just figured he was
too busy to add any personal touches. His office at the hospital is
the same way,” Julie stated.

“I'm surprised he has a television. I
couldn't find a radio at all,” Austin complained.

“I don't think he spends a lot of time here,”
Julie mentioned.

“Oh, I wanted to ask you something. Tomorrow,
my school is having an end of the year carnival. Kind of a last
horrah
before graduation. I was wondering if you would like
to go with me?” he asked.

“Carnival?” Julie tilted her head. “Is that,
like, with rides and stuff?” she asked.

He was about to question her on whether she
had been to one or not, then thought better of it. He was learning
fast to not question her about her past. “Yes it is,” he replied.
“Along with games and
make-you-sick-to-your-stomach-but-it's-so-good carnival food,” He
embellished.

Julie's eyes lit up. “Sounds positively
heavenly. Count me in,” she said.

Austin came around and stood in front of her
stool. “I can see the way to my girl's heart is through her
stomach,” he teased.

“Your girl, huh?” Julie smiled and wrapped
her arms around his neck.

Austin rubbed his nose against Julie's. “Uh
huh,” he whispered before kissing her. There was something about
Austin's kisses that made her tingle from head to toe. She ran her
fingers through his hair as the kiss deepened. She was lost in his
kiss when she felt him pull back. “Julie,” Austin moaned her name.
She tried to pull him back into the kiss, but he stopped her.
“Julie, slow down or the pizza guy is gonna get a hell of a show,”
he breathed. The doorbell was ringing.

She laughed; she hadn't even heard it.
“Oops,” she giggled. The doorbell rang again, but Austin wasn't
moving.

“Um, I think you better get it,” he said. “I
can't really go anywhere at the moment,” he said and chuckled.

Julie raised an eyebrow, not understanding,
then she looked down and realization hit. “Oh! Yeah, no problem,”
she said with a big smile. Austin just shook his head as he watched
Julie head to the front door of the building.

Julie was glad she that had a habit of always
keeping money in her pockets, but found it was unnecessary this
time. “Bill was paid over the phone by the caller,” the delivery
man stated. Julie tried to hand the man a five dollar bill for a
tip, but the driver declined. “That was covered too, ma'am,” he
replied.

“Oh, okay,” she said, accepting the pizza.
“Have a good night, then,” Julie replied and closed the door. The
aroma of the pizza wafted up to her. “Oh my, that smells good,” she
voiced and headed back to the apartment.

Austin seemed to have pulled himself together
as Julie placed the pizza on the counter. She was tempted to tease
him about it, but then thought better of it. She had been just as
aroused as he had.