Chapter 5

Lesson one: Only trust people with big butts. They cannot lie.

-E-card

Payton

My palms were sweating. I was nauseous, and I wasn’t sure I should even be here. When Ember called, she told me Max was hurt and my heart broke. Literally shattered in a million pieces. I dry heaved for nearly an hour, and I’ve been sick to my stomach ever since. When he got onto that plane, I watched it take off, and I knew that something bad was going to happen. I knew that our relationship was never going to be the same. What I hadn’t counted on was him having no memory of me, or the last year of his life.

 

According to Ember, when Max got to the States, they decided that he was stable enough to come to Texas for his care. Other than bumps, bruises, a concussion, a few cuts, and a broken arm, he was relatively healthy. All things said and done, he was lucky that he was the first off the helicopter, because otherwise he might have been a lot worse off, like the pilot, or the poor woman who was presumed dead, but whose body was never found.

 

“What the fuck are you doing touching my sister?” I heard Max yell.

 

I was outside his room, and I snickered covering my face with my hands. This wasn’t even remotely funny. Not in the slightest. Except for the part where he didn’t remember that his sister was married and had a kid, that is. My part in it wasn’t funny in the least. Painting on a brave face, I walked into the room and stopped dead at the sight of him.

 

He was shirtless, blanket up to his armpits and folded under his arms. His hair was shaved to a fine stubble, revealing a nasty cut that ran the length of his skull, down the middle of his forehead, and came to a stop at the eyebrow above his left eye. His face was battered and bruised, arm covered in dressings most likely due to the burns they said he had. His arm was covered in a bright fluorescent green cast, and a jealous ball slid up my throat when I saw the name Jenny in cute artsy fartsy handwriting with a number underneath.

 

I gritted my teeth at the surge of anger, and told myself the first chance I got I was kicking that bitch’s ass. Finally, I allowed myself to meet his eyes, and was taken back at the amount of emotion there. I wasn’t sure he would remember me, but it seemed, instinctively, he knew I belonged to him, and it didn’t matter that he didn’t remember.

 

A leaning mountain of dog nearly took me out at the hip, but I caught my balance by grabbing hold of the end of the bed. Well, I thought it was the end of the bed, when in reality it was Max’s foot. He didn’t seem to mind though. His blanket slipped down his chest, revealing his nipples, and dog tags that hung down between his pecs. I looked down and collected myself. I bought myself some time by scratching Alpha between the ears. Over the past two weeks, we’d grown attached to each other. He seemed to know me better than I knew myself at times.

 

I came in early to work so I could stop by and see Max. Just in case, I wanted a contingency plan to fall back on if Max didn’t want me here.

 

“You’re not my nurse.” Max finally said.

 

“How do you know that?” I countered.

 

“Your ID badge has pink on it. The other nurses don’t.” He stated.

 

I was pretty damned impressed that he figured that out in the two minutes I’d been in the room.

 

“You’re right, I’m not.”

 

He nodded. “Come here.”

 

I hesitated, and Alpha sensed it, so he put himself in between Max and me. Ember and Gabe sat in a chair across the room, and watched silently while we had a battle of wills.

 

“Platz.” Max demanded in a funny accent.

 

Alpha seemed to understand the word, but he wasn’t trained to follow anyone’s command but mine.

 

“What the hell, Apollo. Why aren’t you listening to me?”

 

“Uh, Max? This isn’t Apollo. This is Alpha. You bought Alpha for Payton when you left for Iraq.” Gabe said from his seat.

 

“Oh, man. I’m so fucking confused.” Max said, bringing his hands up to rub his forehead. His groan of pain had me at his side in a flash. I took his hand down from his face, and inspected the cut on his head. Tiny stitches bisected the cut, holding it together. It would leave one hell of a scar unless he did something about it. The wound wasn’t bleeding, and I felt a knot of sickness well in my throat again. Leaning down, I gave his cut the lightest of kisses before leaning back and looking into his eyes. Which were heated.

 

“I know you.” He said roughly.

 

Fuck me. His gravelly voice sent shivers down my spine. My nipples beaded, and I licked my lips wishing that I could take him right here and now.

 

“You do.”

 

“Should we give you two some space? Y’all aren’t going to have sex in front of us, right? You know, for my virgin sensitivities and all.” Ember said sarcastically from behind me.

 

I ignored her, and ran my hand down over his arm letting it settle on the thick cast.

 

“This is her, isn’t it Emmie?” Max asked.

 

My eyes shot up from the cast to his face, and I heard Ember laugh her sadistic laugh and say, “I knew you would remember her!”

 

“I don’t actually. I just know it’s her. She makes my dick hard.” Max declared.

 

“Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Max.” I said before reaching up and tweaking his nipple.

 

He laughed, and flinched away from my hand, acting for the entire world as if he didn’t just fall out of the sky in a helicopter.

 

“That’s just sick.” Ember squealed and covered her ears repeating, “lalalala” over and over again.

 

Gabe just rolled his eyes, and ran his hand up and down the length of her thigh. Max’s eyes narrowed, and Gabe’s hand stopped the movement. He seemed to understand that it was upsetting him, so he stopped to keep Max from getting out of bed and starting something he couldn’t finish.

 

The nurse came in soon after Ember’s outburst, and gave her an annoyed look before walking up to the bed on the opposite side of me. Her eyes flickered when she noticed my hand resting lightly on Max’s cast, and I made note of her nametag that read Jenny Fields, R.N. So, this was the bitch who signed his cast.

 

I sat my ass down on the side of Max’s bed, and his arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me more firmly into his side.

 

Her face went mottled, and she said, “Hospital regulations say you can’t be in the bed with the patient.”

 

“Actually, hospital regulations don’t say shit about being in bed with a patient. Although, I’m not his nurse, so that wouldn’t matter even if they did.” I countered.

 

Max’s body started shaking, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at him. “Do you have a marker?”

 

“On the table beside you. Ember brought it.” He said.

 

How he could make those simple words sound so sexy, I don’t know, but I could feel myself getting wet. I wanted to jump him, ride him like a cowgirl until I couldn’t see straight.

 

He must have sensed where my thoughts had gone, because he reached down and adjusted himself under his blankets. My eyes were attracted to the junction of his legs, and I couldn’t stop the satisfied smirk that lifted the corner of my mouth. Good, if I had to be horny, so did he. At least he didn’t have to walk around with an oil slick between his legs the rest of the night.

 

Pulling away from his hold, I took the marker off the bedside table and went to work on his cast. I was distracted for a few minutes, but my attention came back in a snap when the nurse started pulling his blankets down.

 

“What are you doing?” I demanded.

 

“Checking his catheter, it doesn’t seem to be producing correctly; I think there is a kink.” Jenny the gigolo lied.

 

“What do you mean it doesn’t seem to be producing correctly? Is there any urine in the bag?” I asked.

 

“Yes.” She huffed.

 

“Well, then it’s fucking fine.” I snarled.

 

“Well there isn’t as much now as there was earlier. I was just going to check it.” She argued.

 

“Jesus, lady. Get out. I’ll check it, but I know for certain it’s fine.” I said as I came around the bed and checked the fluid levels on the catheter bag. “There’s over half a bag of output here; your head needs examined.”

 

She left in a huff, and the silence in the room penetrated my enraged mind. They were all staring at me with amused expressions.

 

“What?”

 

“Down, Bubbles. If you wanted to see my penis, all you had to do was say so.” Max said in his deep placating voice.

Was he aware he’d just used my nickname?

 

I lifted my lip at him in a silent snarl. He didn’t find this scary; in fact, he laughed even harder. He lifted his casted arm up to his face like he was going to run his hand over his scruffy jaw, but stopped when he caught sight of the cast. He started to lower it back down when the drawing on it caught his attention.

 

He studied it for three seconds, and then promptly started laughing so hard he nearly fell out of bed.

 

“Ahhhhh, it hurts.”

 

But, obviously, not bad enough for him to stop laughing.

 

Ember got up and studied the drawing herself, and then quickly pulled her phone out and posted it on Facebook, all the while laughing.

 

I drew a bulldozer with a stick figure hanging out the window that looked like it was about to shovel Jenny’s name and number right off the cast. My stick figure had a bubble over his head reading, ‘Move bitch, get out tha’ way.’

 

I smiled, totally proud of myself.

 

The alarm on my phone reminded me it was time to go to work; I silenced it and went up to Max’s bedside.

 

“I have to go to work; I’ll stop by on my way home in the morning. Get some sleep; don’t try to do too much when they finally release you from your bed prison.”

 

Leaning down, I grazed my lips over his, and stepped back, only to find myself hauled back forward with my lips smashed against his.

 

“Ewww, yuck, make it stop.” Ember whined from behind me.

 

I flipped her the bird, and disentangled my lips and tongue from his, backing away from him slowly. I gave him a smile, and exited the room. Alpha was at my heels, and I couldn’t help but smile.

 

The man was freaking awesome. I couldn’t wait for him to get better. Two weeks is too long to be deprived of his body. This went a lot better than I’d expected it to. He may not remember me with his mind, but his body sure does.

***

“Who is that sexy hunk of man?” Laura asked.

 

Laura Huffman has been a nurse for forty years. Thirty-eight of them have been in this hospital, on this floor. She’s seen it all, and it’s a rarity when something sets her off. In this instance, I knew exactly whom she was talking about, and I acted as if I didn’t know he was there. One of the nurses on the floor that Max was supposed to be on had called to warn me.

 

“Six foot, shaved head, scar on his forehead, and an IV pole trailing behind him?” I asked blandly.

 

She looked at me and her wrinkled face spread into a wide smile. She reminded me of my mom with her smile lines and crow’s feet. She lived a good life, and it showed.

 

“Do you know Mr. Low Rise Sweats with a wife beater that shows you every single ridge and valley?”

 

“That’s him.” I said distractedly.

 

I was currently taking the newest addition’s vitals. She was a perfect little baby with a ton of crazy brown hair covering her head. I combed it down with the soft baby brush, pasted on the tiny little bow with a dot of KY Jelly, and then wrapped her up in a tight swaddle. All the while, I felt Max’s eyes on me like a hot brand. He watched every single move I made, and didn’t miss one single thing.

 

Not even when I reassured myself that the ID bracelet that had a tracking device attached to it was well in place. The monitor tracked the baby’s movement while they were in the maternity ward. When a baby got too close to the elevator doors or a stairwell, the maternity ward would go on lock down. Doors wouldn’t open unless you had the special ID tag all of the nurses wore and a passcode.

 

I got the baby placed into the bassinet, and then wheeled her down the hall to her new parents. Mom was sleeping as I entered the room, but dad was more than excited to take over baby duty. Once the ID bracelets were checked, I left the doting dad with his new daughter, checked mom’s vitals, and then left the room.

 

Max was now in one of the rolling chairs that surrounded the nurse’s station, being doted on by Laura. She’d gotten him a Styrofoam cup, complete with bendy straw, a chocolate chip cookie, and a warm blanket. Max, the lush that he was, soaked up the kindness and preened at the attention he was receiving. Alpha laid at his feet, blanketing his sock covered feet.

 

The picture that he made was so funny that I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. I loved the man, and it broke a little piece of my heart to know that he didn’t remember me. Although, that wouldn’t stop me from trying to make him remember. The man had said that he loved me a little over three days ago. I know he’d hung up before I had a chance to say it back, but if he’d waited, only a few more seconds, he would have heard me return the sentiment.

 

I walked up behind him and leaned up against the back of his chair. My breasts hit him in the middle of the head, and he leaned back into me, rubbing his head back and forth against them. My nipples pebbled, and I knew then that that had been his original intention. He had to have felt them with his first pass, and he’d continued to do it, repeatedly, until I held his head forcing him to stop.

 

“What are you doing out of bed?” I asked.

 

He leaned his head back more until he could make eye contact. “Nurse Jenny tried to check my catheter again. I decided a little walk was called for after that.”

 

I growled, and his smile stretched wide.

 

“If you’re able to get up, you don’t even need a stinkin’ catheter.” I gritted out.

 

“Precisely the reason I’m here.”

 

The silence ensued, and finally I broke it.

 

“You don’t even remember me, Max.”

 

My voice cracked when I said his name, and he wrapped me up in his arms tightly.

 

“I could never forget you for a second. I had a brain fart. I remember everything. It only took you leaving for it to hit me like a fucking sledgehammer. I remember the way you part your hair, the smell of the lotion you use, the tiny freckles on the swells of your breasts, and even that other fucking tattoo.”

 

“Eek.” I squeaked.

 

I thought I’d gotten that little thing by him. Obviously, I didn’t though.

 

The tattoo was on a drunk night out with friends. I’d finally made it a week without pain medication after my attack, and I was not thinking straight in the least. The tattoo artist had pretty much refused to give me a tattoo when I was drunk, but after convincing him of how much I loved this particular show, he allowed it. The next morning I woke up with one hell of a hangover and that tattoo. It was embarrassing as hell, but it’s so totally me.

 

“What the hell were you thinking?” He asked before he burst out laughing.

 

“Oh, how original. Couldn’t you have thought of something else to talk about it?” I said blandly.

 

“You do know that he’s a fictional character, right?” He teased.

 

I slapped my hand over his mouth and hissed, “Shhhh. He’ll kick your ass if you don’t believe in him.”

 

He looked up at the ceiling as if praying for patience, and then returned his eyes to mine. “Him and what army?”

 

“Chuck Norris once pissed in a semi truck’s gas tank as a joke; that truck is now known as Optimus Prime.” I informed him with as straight of a face as I could manage.

 

He blinked, and then blinked again. “Was that supposed to be funny?”

 

“Chuck Norris doesn’t sleep with a gun under his pillow; he sleeps with a pillow under his gun.”

 

“Are you done?” He asked dryly.

 

I could go all day. Chuck Norris was my hero. I used to watch episodes of Walker Texas Ranger every day. It devastated me when they stopped showing it on television. Now, I have every single season they ever aired on DVD.

 

When I was contemplating the tattoo, I knew it would have to be something I loved, that I would never regret getting. To this day, I still love it just as much as I did then. On my lower right shoulder blade, I sported Chuck Norris in his tight jeans, gold star badge, and a tight western shirt doing a roundhouse kick in the air. It was purely awesome.

 

“Oh my God, you aren’t human!” I yelled, since he still refused to crack a smile.

 

Thoroughly disgusted, I turned and stomped to the bathroom. I wasn’t really mad. It was rare to find someone who understood how awesome Chuck Norris was. I tried to lock the bathroom door, but a slippered foot poked its way inside before I could close the door all the way.

 

“Will you take this thing out of me already?” Max pleaded, while gesturing to his groin.

 

I took pity on him. “Drop your pants.”

 

Taking the syringe out of my pocket, I dropped to my knees and started the process of removing the catheter. His cock lengthened, but I ignored it and went about what I was doing.

 

“Fuck me.” Max gritted out from above me.

 

I just laughed and removed the catheter the rest of the way before standing up and throwing it into the biohazard bag that was in the corner of the bathroom. Once I turned, Max’s arms circled around me and caged me in against the wall. His pants were still below his penis, the waistband pushing his balls and cock up, which were now rubbing against me suggestively.

 

“Am I allowed to have sex?” Max questioned.

 

“I don’t know; I’m not your doctor. What I do know is that I’m not having sex at work, big boy.” I said before giving him a quick peck on the lips and exiting the bathroom to his aggravated growl.

 

“Do I need to leave this IV in, or can I take it off? This pulling shit around with me is annoying. If I don’t get you to do it, I’ll just rip it out, then where will we be?” Max grumbled from behind me.

 

“Come sit down in your chair. I’ll grab a band aid and take it out.” I called over my shoulder.

 

I didn’t want him messing anything up. Most likely, I should have his doctor’s permission first, but I knew he was serious about doing it himself.

 

When I got back, all of the nurses were crowded around Max laughing about something. Once I got within hearing distance, I understood what they were carrying on about; apparently, Max felt it necessary to show everyone my drawing. Shithead.

 

The rest of the night went swiftly. I was in love with my job. Getting to hold babies was the most rewarding type of nursing there was. This was the purest form of life. These babies were just starting out, their innocence intact, nothing there to mar their existence or taint it in any way. They were all beautiful in their own way, and almost every time the parents were over the moon about having them in their lives. Some of the women tried for years and years to have a baby, and when it finally happened, they became their mommy’s little miracle. Others had them by accident, but their love for them still shined through.

 

Max flirted with every single mother on the floor that night, even holding their babies, chatting; he was genuinely interested in my job. Even Tammy explained her job as the charge nurse, and let him bug her about anything and everything under the moon.

 

It was apparent to me that Max was a ladies man, but I wasn’t worried. I was secure in our relationship and myself. This was just the type of person he was, and I knew he probably didn’t meet a single stranger that he couldn’t strike up a conversation with about something.

 

Max went back to his room around six that morning, spending nearly my entire shift on the floor with me. I went to his room after my shift was over to find him waiting for me to get there so we could leave together. He convinced the doctor that he had a private nurse, and that she would take care of his every need.

 

I guess that meant that I was spending my next three days off taking care of him. This wasn’t my favorite thing to do. Men had a way about them when they were hurt or sick. They over dramatized everything. Where something wouldn’t even affect a woman, a man acted like the earth was coming to an end.

 

I’d had my share of male patients over the last two years of nursing school. On top of that, my brother and father were just as bad. You would think with two big men, like themselves, could handle a teeny tiny cold. You’d be wrong. Unfortunately, the old saying was true. The bigger they are, the harder they fall, and I had a feeling the next three days would blow.