**Stacey**
Pressure in my head. Scratchy throat. Eyelids made of lead.
I woke up to a deep rumbling engine, and looked around, the sun’s rays attacking my irises. There were cars packed in neat rows from all sides, as if we were at a dealership, but upon further inspection they were from all years and brands. I’m in an outdoor parking lot, and alone.
‘Chris?’ I asked, my voice surprisingly small and hoarse.
‘I’m right here,’ his warm, masculine voice came from behind me. I heard something metal hit the pavement, and then the whirring of the Escalade’s trunk lowering. Relief replaced the initial pang of anxiousness when I laid eyes on him, his presence reassuring me.
He pushed a comfortable-looking wheelchair around to my side of the car before opening the door, the cool November air invading the cabin. ‘Here,’ he said as he lowered me onto the chair as easily as if I was a straw doll, and I gripped the hard muscles of his upper arm instinctively, providing me with a secure point where I could lean my weight.
‘Why are we at the hospital?’ I asked, noticing the white cross on a red background painted on the familiar building.
‘You fell unconscious,’ he replied solemnly, easing me into the chair. ‘For over half an hour.’
‘Oh.’
‘Yeah, oh.’
Though I wanted to complain about being treated with such fragility, I had to admit, my legs felt like jelly. However, my mouth was too quick for my mind.
‘I can walk fine myself you know, that’s what I usually use these for,’ I murmured, patting my thighs after I was seated.
‘Wasn’t planning on getting a wheelchair, but the chair shop was on the way,’ he replied as if purchasing a wheelchair was like picking up milk from the grocery store.
‘You *bought* a wheelchair?’ I gasped, head spinning. ‘Don’t you know that hospitals have like a thousand of them?’
‘Dirty and squeaky,’ he grumbled. ‘You deserve better.’
‘I – you –,’ I breathed. While I wanted nothing more than to give him an earful about his excess spending, the soft and supportive cushioning of the wheelchair felt therapeutic on my back. The suspensions absorbed all the shocks of the uneven pavement as well, and I could tell that he must have picked something top of the line.
I wasn’t going to ask; ignorance is bliss.
For whatever reason, the front entrance was congested with news crews, so we entered from a side entrance instead. ‘Where are we going?’ I coughed as he wheeled me past general check-ins.
‘Emergency unit.’
‘Chris, that’s totally – ’
‘Necessary,’ he growled. ‘Whatever you have, it’s not just a cold. You were burning up back there and when you didn’t respond to me, I . . . don’t fight me on this Stacey.’
I sighed. ‘Fine.’
‘Good.’
‘Hello, we’d like a private room and a doctor immediately,’ Chris greeted the receptionist at the emergency unit. Unlike the complacent energy at general check-ins, the people sitting around the lobby of the Emergency Unit were edgy and alert, and I noticed many of them with travel luggage. Some seemed shaken up themselves, and a few even sported bruises and cuts on their heads and arms.
‘I’m sorry, we’re fully booked here. What’s the emergency?’ She seemed tired, cracked lips and hazy eyes, as if she had seen many patients already.
‘My, uh, girlfriend here, had the flu and fell unconscious. I’d like to have her see a physician immediately to make sure it’s nothing more serious.’
*Girlfriend?* I looked up at Chris, matching his sheepish smile with one of my own and suddenly, my cheeks felt hot and puffy.
The receptionist sighed a long, tired breath. ‘Look mister, we have a lot of surgeries going on today, and unless it’s life threatening, I’m afraid that we can’t make any more room for a flu case. Here, fill this out and bring it to general check-ins. You’ll get to a doctor eventually,’ she said as she pushed a light blue form towards Chris.
‘Okay, we’ll do that. Thank you,’ I smiled at her, but she wasn’t looking my way.
Instead of taking the form, Chris maintained his icy stare onto the receptionist’s face, who looked more uncomfortable with every passing second. ‘Whatever the cost, I’ll pay it,’ he said lowly, just loud enough for us to hear. ‘But if you don’t get us a room in the next five minutes, my law firm is going to slam this hospital with so many negligence lawsuits that it’s going to be swimming in more legal text than health records. And when the hospital director asks us why, whose name do you think I’m going to give him, Shania?’
‘Uh – I – we do have the VIP room available,’ she stammered, looking as if she wanted to shrink away into her chair.
That made two of us.
Pulling out his black American Express Centurion card, he said, ‘Charge me for the night.’
‘Okay sir, that’ll be five thousand dollars,’ she replied nervously as she took his card, watching Chris. If that was a large sum to him, he didn’t show it, face hard and solemn. ‘It’s down the hallway, the last room on the left. The nurse will come in to run some tests, and then the doctor will be there shortly.’
‘Thank you,’ Chris said as he pocketed his credit card.
‘You didn’t have to do that,’ I scowled as we were out of earshot before coughing again.
‘I did,’ he said. ‘Or else she would have never offered us the room. It’s not meant for the general public.’
*Right, and what are we?*
‘And five *thousand* dollars? I know you’re living large and all, but Chris, that’s just excessive.’
‘Look angel, I’m a very wealthy man, and I’m going to spend my money as I see fit,’ he said sternly. ‘But don’t think of me as someone who is irresponsible with finances. It’s just that I take health issues very seriously.’
I sighed in resignation, and a few quiet moments came and went as we passed room after room in the off-white hallway. ‘Watching you pull out that black card . . . it was kind of hot,’ I murmured embarrassingly.
‘Yeah?’ he whispered as he bent downwards and kissed the side of my ear.
‘Mhm. I felt like I was part of a Bond movie.’
‘James Bond? Yeah right; I’m way taller than that guy,’ he mumbled in complaint.
I rolled my eyes. ‘So is your ego.’
___________________________________________
**Christopher**
‘And can we get another blanket?’ I asked the nurse, who just returned with an extra pillow and a clean syringe.
‘Yes, yes sir I will be right back,’ she said with a hint of annoyance, to my irritation. I didn’t see what was wrong with asking for some extra amenities, this *was* the VIP room after all. ‘But after the blanket I need to take her blood and temperature okay? Please have her change into the gown first.’
‘That’s fine.’
Propped up with the extra pillows so that she was sitting up, Stacey’s looked frail and weak. Ignoring her complaints, I took her in my arms and carried her over to the private change room, setting her down on her wobbly feet. ‘I’ll help,’ I said as I dragged the curtain closed behind us.
‘Aren’t you a sweetheart,’ she mocked as raised her arms straight up high above her head. Grasping her t-shirt and sweatshirt together, I lifted both up off her body, showing her tight pale torso and round breasts underneath a navy bra.
I couldn’t help but issue a satisfied moan.
Kneeling down, I hooked the sides of her tights, pulling them down, first revealing her matching panties, then inch by inch, those milky thighs.
‘Wouldn’t want you to strain yourself,’ I grinned, inhaling her scent of flowers mixed with sweat and musk. Dragging my hands up her endless legs as I stood, I heard her breath catch and muscles tense. Her body was fatigued, yet still so responsive to my touch. Unable to help myself, I planted a firm kiss onto her lips, claiming the upper one with a carnal bite.
Releasing her, I noticed that her pupils were dilated with excited want. The space was cramped with the two of us inside, and her soft and supple skin radiated underneath the fluorescent lighting. I could feel the warmth of her body meeting mine, the fine amber hairs along her streamlined figure catching all of my attention, and every cell in my body was begging me to just take her on the spot.
I tried ignoring the blood rushing down, but within seconds, my cock was stiff as a board, and the way she was pressing her stomach against him didn’t help. Her breasts laid comfortably against my ribs, and if her body wasn’t already at it’s physical limit, I’d be taking her there myself.
‘Almost done in there? I’d like to take some blood before the doctor arrives,’ the nurse called out.
‘Yes, we’re nearly finished,’ I muttered. Scowling, I quickly tied the gown strings behind her back and opened the drapes. At least with her in that oversized curtain, I wouldn’t be tempted to tear it off.
Though I knew it was for her own benefit, I couldn’t help but feel a destructive urge to rip the nurse away from Stacey as she impaled her with the needle, seeing the scrunch of discomfort on her face. My primal need to protect her was surprising, even for myself.
‘Will the doctor be here soon? Is he an influenza specialist?’ I asked, arms crossed.
‘The only doctor we have available is a young rookie. No, he’s not an influenza specialist per se, but all of our physicians are well acquainted with the illness,’ she said, pulling the needle out of Stacey’s upper arm and applying a circular Band-Aid to the site.
‘I’d like a different doctor,’ I growled, unable to hide my vexation. ‘Someone more experienced and with enough years in him to have hair on his chest.’
‘Sir, the only reason I was even able to get Dr. Gomez was because he was the only one who agreed to meet you two. He just came out of a ten-hour spinal replacement surgery. All of our other physicians are in surgery right now; there was an aviation accident at LaGuardia last night, and we’ve be flooded.’
‘Oh,’ I said, feeling completely embarrassed. ‘I understand then.’
The nurse gave a curt nod before leaving with the blood sample for testing.
‘That explains the media outside the entrance,’ Stacey coughed, looking more withered with each passing second.
Taking a seat on the bed beside her, I held her hand, staring into the vast beauty in her eyes. ‘If we feel that this Dr. Gomez is in any way subpar, I’ll take you to a different hospital.’
She began laughing unnaturally, as if she was forcing it, but it morphed into coughing once again. ‘Right. First, I need a store-bought wheelchair at the *hospital*. Then, I need this private, overpriced room in the Emergency Unit. And of course, that means I must need the *best* doctor to match all the other ridiculousness!’ Her mood suddenly turned brooding, she sat up, and her forehead showed heavy creases. ‘Chris, it’s just a flu. I don’t need all this. I’m . . . I’m not used to it.’
I rubbed the back of her hand, the skin smooth and hairless. ‘You will, angel,’ I whispered. ‘In time.’
‘Hi folks, my name is Dr. Gomez, and I’m going to be your primary physician today,’ a slightly South American accented voice called out.
Turning around, I took in a calming breath as I assessed our doctor. With ruffled, messy hair and square glasses, he looked like the long lost brother of Velma from Scooby Doo. Even with bags under his eyes, he couldn’t have been out of his mother’s womb for more than thirty years, and the way he was looking at Stacey made me wish he was never born.
Hesitating slightly, he pointed to Stacey, eyes crinkled into curious slits. ‘Stacey Kavanagh from University of North Carolina? Is that you?’ he asked, and I pinpointed his accent as Brazilian.
Or maybe it was Annoying.
‘Yes, it’s me . . . wait, is that you Enrique?’ she replied, her voice raising at the end when she said his name.
I looked from her pleasantly surprised face to his punchable façade. Who the fuck was this guy?
His face spread into a wide smile, showing perfectly straight teeth. ‘Yes, it’s me!’ he exclaimed with a disturbing amount of enthusiasm. Didn’t the nurse say he just finished a ten-hour surgery? ‘I wanted to check for myself when I saw your name . . . oh my goodness I haven’t seen you since . . . what are you doing in New York?
She opened her arms for an embrace, and as they did, I stuffed my hand in my pockets before deciding they were better at my sides, fists clenched. Even though he was a doctor and they seemed to know each other, I wasn’t a fan of another *man* touching her in any way.
‘I’m here for work. It looks like the same goes for you?’ she asked, and I may as well have been a fly on the wall.
‘Yes, this was where I did my residency, and I just decided to stay when they offered me a full-time position. Wow, it’s so good to see you again.’
‘You too,’ she replied, and they took a moment just looking at each other with smiles on their faces.
I cleared my throat quietly, and when neither of them noticed, I did it again with exaggerated emphasis, my uvula stinging from the force of the upheaved breath. They broke eye contact and looked over. ‘Excuse me Dr. Gomez, must I remind you that she is ill?’
Blinking rapidly, he looked my way, scanning from top to bottom, and then back to Stacey. ‘Right, of course. So, it seems like we have a tricky flu situation on our hands?’
‘It’s really nothing,’ she coughed. ‘I think I just got a little tired and fell asleep.’
‘Hmm, how long have you been coughing for?’
‘Pretty much all weekend,’ she said hoarsely. ‘But it’s normal to cough with the flu right?’
He shook his head slowly. ‘Not the way that sounds. Has your throat been scratchy at all?’
‘Very, actually.’
‘And you fell unconscious?’
‘Yes, but like I said, I just got tired.’
‘Hmm, I’ll have to wait for the results of the blood test to come back, but from what I hear and see it seems like your flu may have developed into a respiratory infection.’
‘What do we do about that?’ I asked firmly, staring into him with raw intensity. I didn’t know whether I wanted to know the answer that badly or was trying to intimidate him.
He waved his hands, shaking his head slowly. ‘They usually go away on their own, although I could also prescribe you some Penicillin K to speed the process along. I’ll give you two a few minutes to decide on what to do,’ he said as he smiled at her and nodded to me before leaving the room.
‘Okay what the hell was that?’ she asked, crossing her arms.
‘What?’
‘Don’t play games with me, Chris,’ she seethed. ‘You were a minute away from whipping your dick out and pissing a circle around me.’
I clenched my teeth. ‘Who the hell was that guy? How do you know him?’
She stared daggers through me. ‘He was one of the teacher’s assistants in this first-year biology class I took in college.’
‘It seemed like he meant a lot more to you than just someone who marked your exam once,’ I scoffed.
She sighed, uncrossing her arms. ‘Can you please just let this go?’
I wanted to say no. I wanted to shake her shoulders until the truth rattled out, but her eyes were so lifeless and defeated that I decided to withhold my possessive curiosity, at least for now. ‘Fine,’ I mumbled. ‘But you’re getting those antibiotics.’
‘Okay.’
‘Good.’
Suddenly, my phone rang. ‘Hello?’
‘Where the *fuck* are you?’ Jillian’s trumpeting voice blared from the other end. ‘You have a meeting with Harvey Stein in half an hour, this isn’t one you can miss.’
I sighed, wrapping my free palm around my eyes and rubbing my temples. She was right about that; Stein was our largest client, bringing us nearly half of all our revenue and if I left now I could still make it back in time for the meeting. ‘Right, okay then I’ll be there,’ I muttered before hanging up.
‘I have to go,’ I said apologetically to Stacey, bending down to kiss her cheek. ‘Are you going to be okay here?’
‘Yeah, I’ll be fine,’ she coughed, offering a weak grin.
‘I booked the room for the night, so you could stay here if you prefer,’ I said, but as soon as the words left my mouth, I wanted to stuff them back inside. The thought of her spending a night in a place where that Gomez guy had access stirred a chaotic jealousy inside me.
She shook her head. ‘No, I think I’d prefer to go home. I’ll just stay here for a few hours to take a nap.’
A dash of relief swept through me. ‘Okay, I’ll pick you up after work?’
‘No need, I’ll have Abigail come by; we were supposed to spend time together anyways.’
‘Oh,’ I mumbled, slightly disappointed. ‘Okay then. I’ll call you.’
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘And Chris?’
‘Yes?’
‘Thank you,’ she smiled, blushing a shade of rose.
‘You’re welcome,’ I said, smiling back widely and feeling warmth surge through me. But as soon as I closed the door behind me, that elation dissipated as I rapidly began thinking of excuses to explain my sudden disappearance to Jillian, fearing for my balls.
________________________________________________________
**Stacey**
‘Explain to me why we are taking this thing again?’ Abigail asked as we loaded the wheelchair into the trunk of her hatchback, face coated in her brown hair that was blowing in the wind.
‘I won it,’ I lied, shrugging my shoulders. ‘Some type of raffle.’ Though it was far-fetched explanation, I wasn’t ready to tell her the truth.
She thinned her eyes. ‘What a strange prize,’ she exclaimed, then sighed defeatedly. ‘I would enter if the prize was round tickets to Hawaii. With the wedding coming up this weekend, I tallied up the expenses and was missing my lower jaw for ten minutes when I saw the total.’
‘It’s going to be perfect Abbs,’ I swooned, hugging her tightly. ‘Luke is a very lucky man.’
She waved her hands. ‘Don’t shortchange my hot lawyer; he’s not perfect but he’s damn close.’
‘Definitely the best-looking Brimstone,’ I laughed, soon joined by her light giggles.
‘Where to?’ she asked as we took our seats in the car. ‘I’ve got a freezer full of ice cream and all ten seasons of *Friends* on standby.’
‘Sounds good, but could we swing by a pharmacy first? I want to be healthy for your wedding this weekend and the doctor told me these antibiotics would speed that process along.’
‘Of course,’ she replied as we buckled up. We talked about the specifics of her wedding as we drove to the pharmacy, but by the time we parked, she was so flustered about the whole thing we decided to change topics.
‘Did you hear about the plane collision at LaGuardia last night?’ she asked, shaking her head. ‘I heard that most of the injured were sent to your hospital; you must have waited hours for a doctor.’
‘Actually, one of the doctors knew me, so we were given preferential access,’ I said as we exited the car. ‘Remember Enrique? Our TA from first year biology class?’
She stared at me with round orbs. ‘*The* Enrique? The one that you dated for two months? The one that was applying for med school?’
I nodded, clutching my sides. Even with the thick wool jacket Chris left me, my body wasn’t ready for the late fall chill. ‘Yeah, he’s a full timer at that hospital now. Small world, huh?’
She tilted her head. ‘Yeah, small world,’ she said absently, as if her mind was focused on something else, then proceeded to pull out her phone. I used the break in conversation to give my prescription to the pharmacist.
As soon as I was finished, she pulled me to the side. ‘Okay Stace, your love life has been a sore spot after Todd, and I know that. I held my tongue after your date the other week when I *so* wanted to ask,’ she said and I tensed slightly, uncomfortable with even her even indirectly referring to Chris and I together. ‘But I think that seeing someone who isn’t a total stranger is a great way to dip your feet into the dating world again.’
*What the hell? Does she know? How could she know?*
‘What – what are you talking about?’ I asked, coughing out of nerves more so than my itchy throat.
‘Look,’ she said excitedly, pushing her phone so close to my face I had to move back a foot to read the screen. ‘He’s available.’ The Facebook application was open to a profile of a person I already knew.
**Enrique Gomez**
**Relationship Status:** Single
I blew out a tight breath, smiling downwards. ‘So that’s who you meant.’
‘Of course,’ she exclaimed like it was the most obvious thing in the world. ‘Who else could I be talking about? Anyways, I think you should try dating him again now that there isn’t the danger of expulsion and all.’
I took in a deep breath, bringing those two months back into memory. That’s how long it was before Enrique and I decided to call it quits. Even though we were happy, we figured that happiness wasn’t worth the risk of being expelled.
Smart, loyal, and nice, Enrique was a by-the-book good boyfriend. He always let me choose the restaurant, would back me up on all my opinions, and never brought up the topic of sex until I got frustrated and jumped on him.
If I was being honest, he let me walk all over him, and it was the same quality that drew me towards Todd initially as well. I was used to being the driver. However, the thought of being in a relationship with him again . . . there was something off-putting about a man who wouldn’t challenge me now.
If you had asked me a month ago, I’d have said that dating Enrique would be a great idea, chalking up his sudden presence in Manhattan a sign from the cosmos. But now that I met Chris, my expectations and wants have all changed.
His bitter growls and chauvinistic protectiveness have somehow latched onto me, and I couldn’t get him out of my mind. Though he made sure that there was always friction between us, that friction created heat that I never thought possible.
I’d been disappointed at my body all afternoon for not holding out for just another twenty minutes before blacking out, because though my throat was sore and itchy, at least my sex wouldn’t be giving me hell as well.
Source: reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/80q7el/brimstone_series_book_2_episode_8_a_familiar