Bad Boys Rule

by Naughty Aphrodite

“Is that truly Aisha?” Kate asked. “I just spoke to her and she seems to not know me. There was no ounce of recognition in her gaze.”

  “If I had been driven to death by you like she was, I would also pretend to not know you if I happened to survive and run into you again.”

  His statement seemed to jumble up her entire train of thought and it was a few moments later before she regained herself. Driven to death by me? Caleb! Have you gone mad? How dare you place such an accusation on me?

  Caleb glared at her, confident that she would not miss his hatred, and rolled his eyes at her show of ignorance.

  “Caleb...” she whispered. “Is this why you left? Is this why you abandoned everything and came to the middle of nowhere? You suspect me? Kate?” She could not believe it.

  He could not believe her. Too impatient to put up with the act, he rose to his feet.

  “She is not Aisha,” he said. “Her name is Joan and she does indeed bear an uncanny resemblance to my dead fiancé. I hope this is enough to convince you to stay away from her, but I suspect that my hope will be futile. Shut the door behind you when you leave.”

  He walked out of the office and headed towards the ER. Just as he arrived at the reception, however, Kevin came running down the stairs.

  “Caleb,” he screamed. “Dr. Pace!”

  He flew down the remaining flight of stairs and almost ran into him. Caleb caught him by both hands.

  “What is it?” he asked, worried at the panic in his eyes.

  “The girl...” he swallowed. “Joan...”

  Caleb felt his blood freeze over. He shook the nurse’s shoulders. “What about her? Speak!”

  “She’s gone,” he said. Caleb stared at him for a few seconds without seeing him and then turned at the sound of thunder that struck the sky. It was about to rain.

  He let go of the nurse and proceeded to run out of the hospital, but just before he could leave he was stopped.

  Chapter 8

  The ambulance skidded to a stop in front of the hospital and Caleb watched as two paramedics jumped down and began to hoist the patient into a gurney.

  “Dr. Caleb!” he heard a call from the ER, but could scarcely pull his eyes from the bloody scene in front of him. It froze him in place as all he could think about was going to Aisha, but when two nurses ran past him to receive the patient, he knew that he would be unable to leave.

  The Head Nurse spoke to him as rapidly and calmly as she could. “He was working at a construction site and fell off the building,” she said to him. “He was installing window panes, but there was no safety bar on the scaffold.”

  Aisha…

  Just then there was a screech out in the front yard announcing the arrival of a taxi. A hysterical woman jumped from it with a little boy in her arms and ran into the hospital.

  “Where is my husband?” she instantly grabbed the arm of the nurse. “I just got a call, where is he?”

  “Take her to him,” the Head Nurse instructed another, and then turned to Caleb. “Dr. Pace, we need you this instant.”

  Furious thunder struck across the sky and it shocked him back to his senses. The rain began to pour. He made his decision then and turned to hurry into the ER.

  “Get me an epidural,” he said to the nurse, and she headed off in haste.

  It was four hours later when he stepped out into the still pouring rain and ran towards his car. He knew where to go, so he headed to the bakery, and let out his first deep breath when he saw that it was still opened. He met a young girl at the counter, but when he inquired on Aisha, the answer he received turned his blood cold.

  In disbelief that she had been fired and sent away from the establishment, he began to stumble towards the door, but then at the last moment, he turned around to stare at the girl with wonder. “Are you not aware that she got into an accident and had surgery barely a week ago?”

  “I am aware,” the girl said and came around the counter to stand in front of him, her proximity and shy smile revealing her interest in him. “But my dad was pretty upset at the damage she had cost him, so we had to let her go,” she answered in a chirpy tone. “She looked fine though, so there was no harm done.”

  Caleb wanted to harm the girl. His anger had spread so much through his body that it wanted to choke him. He spoke through gritted teeth. “How do you figure that a woman who just had surgery is okay?”

  The girl was taken aback by his cold tone and darted her eyes in shame as she pondered on a response.

  “W-well, she-”

  Caleb didn’t want to hear it. He looked out into the cold, dark night with despair, the pattern of the rain seemed to rev up the anxiety that was already brewing within him. “Where could she have gone?” he asked. “Does she have any friends that she would have gone to stay with?”

  The girl shrugged. “I doubt that. I haven’t met any since she began working here almost a year ago, and she never went anywhere. She was quite the hermit, with little ambition, and more than willing to while away her time here. But that’s not me,” she said with a charming smile. “I have big dreams.”

  Caleb could feel his self-control slipping, so he pushed the door open, and walked out into the rain.

  He spent the next two hours searching through all the motels and bars in the small town, and when he sat in the parking lot of the last one that she could probably have been to, he broke down and began to cry crippled with despair.

  Such outburst of emotion was so foreign to him but he found himself unable to hold back as he wailed out his broken heart and shattered existence. He had not even shed a tear when he had been told she had died years ago, refusing to believe that such a vital part of his existence was gone. But now…

  If she ran away again, it would probably take the rest of his life this time around to find her.

  He pounded his fist against the steering, the horn blaring in protest until the fear of destroying his hands finally came through to his head. They were bloodied and bruised from the blows, but if he continued on, his life as a surgeon would be in jeopardy too. So he got out of the car and raised his head to the heavens with a cry of fury. He cursed at it, the rain camouflaging the tears that ran down his face, but then blinding headlights shone directly at him. He raised his head to see that it was from a bus that has just stopped by the side of the street to let off some passengers. At first, he stared at it without thought, but the moment comprehension dawned on him. He ran up to the bus just before its automatic doors slid shut.

  “I am the last round for the night,” the driver said to him upon his inquiry. “There are no more passengers at the bus station, so you’ll probably have to wait until tomorrow to check. If you go now, all you’ll see are litters and a few homeless people that shack up by the walkways, or on the waiting benches.

  Caleb turned around and was about to descend the bus when it occurred to him. His head darted back to the driver’s. “Homeless people?”

  The aged man nodded. “They take advantage of the shed, so you will see a few of them there.

  At first, he didn’t want to believe the possibility, but since it was the last lead he had, he headed for his car and a few minutes later, arrived at the bus station. True to the driver’s words, he looked around and saw people clothed in black scattered across the wide shed. He scanned the few people until he came across one that was huddled in a corner.

  The person was completely covered from head to toe but when he glimpsed a banana yogurt drink by the person’s side, his heart did a little flip. It was a drink that currently held up quite some space in his refrigerator and one that brought recognition to him in an instant.

  He jumped from the car and ran over to the person, his clothes a damp, rumpled mess from his night’s misfortunes.

  “Aisha,” he called as he approached, but there was no response.

  “Aisha.” He stopped when he reached the walkway, but then he saw the person’s head falling over, and rushed to catch the
person’s shoulders. Pulling away the blankets and the parka’s hood, he revealed the person’s face, and his heart plummeted into his stomach.

  For a second, he could not believe that he was seeing her and all he could hear was the furious beating of his heart. But then he came to his senses and realized that she was not conscious. He instantly panicked.

  He placed his fingers to the pulse in her neck and almost collapsed when he was assured that she was still alive. Lifting her into his arms, he carried her into his car and flattened the front seat so that she could rest.

  He sighted her bag then, a black duffel that she had been seating on and quickly retrieved it. Soon, they were on their way. He kept glancing at her and tried his best to keep his eyes on the road, the tears now falling silently down his face. He thought of taking her to the hospital, but at the last moment he changed his mind and brought her home.

  When they arrived, he laid her in bed and set up an IV line for her. Then he fed her medicine through the IV, changed her damp clothes and fell into bed without changing his to watch her.

  The next time he was conscious, the morning had come and there was no one by his side.

  Caleb instantly jumped out of bed. He grabbed his phone from the bedside table to see countless missed calls and messages, but he ignored them all and sprinted down the stairs. When he was almost at the bottom, he began to hear movements in the kitchen so he slowed his steps and looked ahead onto the ground floor. Past the living room was the kitchen and dining area, and there she was rummaging through the refrigerator. Eventually, she lifted her head and smiled at the stout bottle of banana yogurt in her hand.

  He headed towards her, however, only when his phone began to vibrate in his hand, did she realize that he was around. He picked it up just as she turned around to meet his gaze.

  “Caleb Pace,” he said without taking his eyes from her. He could not remember the last time he had felt this way- warm and hopeful. It was such a tiny sliver, but as he watched her place a small batch of pastry into the oven, he realized that her mere presence intoxicated him to such excitement.

  “We have a burn victim!” the resident said. “We have been trying to reach you all night, where did you go?”

  “Something came up,” was all the explanation he gave, as he watched her wash her hands under the running faucet. She was dressed in the pair of shorts and shirt that he had changed her into the previous night, and as she cleaned her hands and then pulled her hair into a ponytail, he could not believe how in the space of just a few hours, this place that had been nothing more than a house to him, had begun to feel like a home.

  “The burn victim,” he said into the phone, “speak up.”

  “He was just brought here with third-degree burns, what do I do?”

  “Third degree?”

  “Yes!”

  “First of all calm the hell down. Secure his airway first and begin intubation.”

  “The trachea is already swollen,” the resident reported a few moments later.

  “Then perform a cricothyroidotomy. When you’re done, set up IV lines with 2 liters of warm saline hydration. Then immediately start to dress the burn. Tell the Head Nurse to immediately contact the burn center to get them out of there. Make sure you take note of his blood circulation as you work. If burn contracture begins immediately perform an escharotomy.”

  He kept giving out instructions as he guided the resident until she came over to the table with plates each filled with some biscuits and eggs. She flashed a smile at him as she sat down and for a second, it cost him his train of thought. Only when the resident began to bark into his receiver did he recover himself. He rounded up the instructions and drew the plate to himself.

  “Thank you for the meal,” he said to her, and after a few moments, she responded.

  “Thank you for helping me out last night. How did you find me?”

  “I searched for you,” he said and kept eating. Soon he was done and rose with his plate to head over to the sink. He subconsciously began to clear all the mess that she had made, and the reminder of her messy kitchen habits made his heart swell with emotion.

  “I’ll do it.” She stood up, but he sent her a cold glance. She immediately fell back into her seat before it occurred to the both of them that he had scared her.

  A strange silence ensued before he began his questioning. “You seem to like that drink,” he said, just as the hollow sound of the emptied bottle began to come through her straw.

  She shyly out it away. “You have so many of it, do you drink it every day?”

  “Not really, but I always ensure I have a supply in my fridge. It’s an old habit.”

  “Oh, you must really like it then.”

  “I don’t… but my fiancé did. Seeing it and consuming it reminds me of her. It’s a little token of her presence that I need to remain sane.”

  “Oh,” she said in a remorseful tone. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  He didn’t respond.

  Soon he was done and came over to take his seat. Just as he expected, she began to speak before he did, wringing her hands in anxiety.

  “I’ll leave in a few hours,” she said. “And I truly didn’t intend to run away without paying for my bills. I just wanted to secure my job and then return.”

  “But you lost it,” he said. At first, he saw the flash of suspicion in her eyes that he was mocking her, but when she met his gaze she saw that he was not.

  “You found out.”

  “I did.”

  Silence.

  “So what are you going to do now?” he asked.

  “I’ll get another job, I don’t have much savings but I’ll be able to scrimp together as much as possible. I’ll sign an agreement if I have to with the hospital, but I will pay them back… and you. Thank you for your kindness.”

  He stared at her, and when she finally found the courage to lift her head, he said. “I’ll recommend you for a job at the hospital.”

  “What?”

  “The pay there is decent and much better than whatever you may make working anywhere else in this town.”

  A few moments passed yet again, and then he rose to his feet. “Take your time to consider it,” he said. “I have to return now.”

  “What could I possibly work as?” she asked. “I have no medical training.”

  “Leave that to me,” he said and walked out of the house. It was only when he’d entered his car that it occurred to him that she might run away again. He tried to dig deep into his memory of his understanding of her personality, but when he couldn’t find any assurance, he sighed deeply and hoped for the best.

  Chapter 9

  Joan took the rest of the day to make her decision. But few hours after Caleb left, the symptoms of a fever began to plague her. She found some medicine for it in his cabinet and went to sleep. When she awoke, a fear gripped her heart at the decision that she knew she was going to make.

  “It’ll be for just a little while,” she told herself and placed the call to the hospital to speak to Caleb.

  “Do you want me to come over now?” she asked after she had relayed her choice to him.

  “No need,” he said. “I’m already home.”

  She jumped up from the bed and confused at what to do, she just went to stand awkwardly by the kitchen table as he came in. She hurried to take a bag of groceries from him and then went to place it on the counter, rummaging through the bag to see what he’d bought. It was all the essentials and some things that she particularly liked but she didn’t say a word.

  “I forgot to remind you to restock,” she said and began to arrange the produce in the empty fridge. “You had very little food left.”

  “Hm,” was his response, and she watched as he went over to the sink to wash his hands.

  “What do you want to eat?” she asked him, and he glanced at her.

  “What do you want to eat? I’ll order in.”

  “Uh, no
need. I can just cook something. I…”

  “Joan,” he called and pulled his phone from his pocket. “Do you not realize that you’re still a patient?”

  She shut her mouth then and listened as he placed the call. She told him what she wanted when he asked and soon they were sat at the table, eating in silence.

  “About the job,” she began.

  “What about it?”

  “Can I ask of what it will entail? I can clean the wards, or help out the nurses.”

  He was silent for a while before he spoke. “You’ll work as a resident doctor,” he said, and her fork clattered from her hand and onto the plate. He looked up at the clash of steel against ceramic.