Jonas goddamn motherfucking Thrust.
He had one more Grammy's than Beyonce. His music... you could listen to it with your parents, no problem, but you may cream your panties before the song is over. There was something wholesome about it, but at the same time, fuck. And the man himself was a god. He supported charities, he did free concerts whenever he could, he was literally God's gift to the earth.
"Mr. McConnell is an insurance salesman," Deondra said. "He has been experiencing chest pain, but he was admitted with a diagnosis of exhaustion. He'll be spending a couple days here getting some rest until he's well again."
He was beautiful. So fucking beautiful. He smelled good. Maybe he smelled like hospital. It didn't matter. Whatever it was was good. If it was associated with him, it was good. What the fuck is this effect, Anna wondered. She reminded herself that Dr. Patrick McDaniel existed. Dr. McDaniel and Mr. McConnell sounded similar, she thought.
Deondra pushed some buttons on an IV pump, and then touched Jonas Thrust's shoulder. Anna's own hand felt electrified vicariously.
"You're going to rest, right, Mr. McConnell?" she asked, with the emphasis on the word "rest," because based on his lifestyle, rest wasn't a concept he was familiar with.
"Yes, your majesty," he smiled. "I will give you my full cooperation for my full recuperation."
"This is Anna," she said. "She is taking over for me for the night. She is an excellent nurse and she taught me everything I know about patient care. I'm leaving you in very capable hands."
"If she's half as gracious as you are, Deondra," he said. "I think I've exhausted myself straight to heaven."
Ugh. He's charming, Anna thought.
"Mr. McConnell has requested no visitors," Deondra told Anna. "That shouldn't be a problem. He has admitted himself and no one knows that he is here."
"Sounds good," Anna said to Deondra. Then she looked to Jonas fucking Thrust and said, "It's nice to meet you Mr. McConnell. Deondra is going to introduce me to my other patients, and I'll check in on you in a little while. Let us know if you need anything."
In the hallway, Anna tried to stay calm. She was too old to react like a teenager at a boy band concert. She wondered how Deondra was able to contain herself. The maturity meter right now was pushed so far to the right it was about to explode.
"Oh my god," Anna whispered calmly to Deondra in the hallway.
"Right?" Deondra whispered calmly back. "Are you... crying?"
"No," Anna said, "Maybe. Maybe a little."
"No one can know he's here, okay?"
"My lips are sealed," Anna said. When she said lips, her mind went straight to the gutter. She was damp.
Deondra smirked. She knew.
"Stop it," Anna laughed.
"Behave," Deondra said. "Be cool."
"I'm behaving." Anna said, calmly. "I'm cool. I'm calm. Calmer than you are."
"You can do this," Deondra said.
"Calmer than you are," Anna said, calmly.
~~~
Vanessa couldn't focus at work tonight. She told Charles she had an affair and he wasn't mad... he just wanted to be involved. She had never even considered that possibility. Who would?
Their bedroom had been dead for years, and she was hopeful that this would rekindle their romance. She was definitely excited about this. She wanted to try it right away.
Who would the first time be with? The last thing she wanted was for it to be special. She didn't want emotions involved. She didn't want a coworker involved. She didn't want the complication of another married man. Maybe they would get into swinging couples situations later, but that wasn't the agreement right now.
She'd heard about a mobile phone app called Gettit that was used for hookups, but she didn't want her photo to be on there for everyone in the world to see. She was a married woman, and the general population wouldn't look kindly on what she was doing. She downloaded it and filled in some basic information, including what she was looking for. She slipped into the restroom and took a tasteful photo of her tits in her bra. She took another one of her bra unclasped and the shoulder straps loose off her shoulders. She took another one of her bra dangling free from one finger. There wasn't anything personally identifiable in any of this. She uploaded everything, and went back to work.
It was a while before she realized she had to look through the profiles to get a match, so she spent a few minutes mostly swiping left. Most of the profiles were obviously fake. She swiped left. Too good to be true. Swiped left. Too many abs to be true. Tempting, but swiped left. Hollister models. She looked at all their photos, but still swiped left. She realized her profile probably looked fake too. She kept going until she found a single cable installer that looked interesting. He wasn't perfect, he wasn't gross, he didn't send up any red flags. His name was Paul. No one would lie about that. She'd said her name was Veronica. Paul wasn't a name someone would put on a fake profile to be sexy, was it? She swiped right to match with him and went back to work.
Within an hour, her phone vibrated. Paul had matched her and sent her a message.
"What are you looking for?" it said.
She didn't know for sure. She knew that there was a lot she needed to talk about and work out with Charles. And a lot of ways it could go horribly wrong. But she selfishly wanted to at least do it first. It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. All she knew is she wanted to fuck and her husband wanted to watch. So that's what she told him.
"I want to fuck," she typed, "and my husband wants to watch."
"Sounds good," he replied. "Do you want the three of us to meet for drinks first or do you just want to get to it?"
"Drinks sounds good," she said.
"How's Friday night?" he asked. She hadn't thought about that part. She would be at work Friday night.
"I work nights," she said. "All weekend. Can you do a weekday next week? Maybe Monday or Tuesday?"
"Tuesday night works for me," he said. "I teach a yoga class on Monday nights."
"The cable guy teaches yoga class?" she asked. "That's interesting."
She sent that, and then added a smile emoticon.
"Haha," he said. "I shouldn't have mentioned that. Let's say at Finnegan's on Salvador Street, 8 p.m. Tuesday?"
"Sounds perfect," she said. "Looking forward to it."
"Feel free to contact me anytime," he said. "I wouldn't mind seeing more of you. Your face maybe."
"We'll see," she said. "I need to get back to work now."
This was all happening so fast.
~~~
CHAPTER 11 – EQUAL AND REACTIVE TO LIGHT
W hen Anna pulled Jonas Thrust's meds from the pharmacy's dispenser machine, she wasn't entirely surprised to see he was on antibiotics for chlamydia and gonorrhea. He seemed too good to be true, but he was just a man. He made millions of women lose control, and no man would be able to resist that temptation for long. Knowing he was a walking sexually transmitted disease made him a little easier to resist.
She needed that ammo when she took the meds into his room.
He was sitting up in bed, reading a book. He was wearing glasses slid down to the middle of his nose, as of course he should be to complete the image. She had a feeling he was always the complete image.
"What are you reading?" she asked, making informal friendly conversation with a fucking god while she administered IV antibiotics and a benzodiazepine sedative.
"The Sound and The Fury," he showed her the cover. "It's a book Faulkner wrote just for the money."
"Is it good?" she asked.
"Probably," he said. "Who can even tell? I sat in on a screening of a film version in Venice. It wasn't bad. James Franco directed it. I like that guy."
"Venice, eh?" she asked. "What brought mild-mannered insurance salesman Mitch McConnell to Venice?"
He laughed.
"We always have the annual insurance salesman convention at the Best Western there," he said. "We get a really good rate."
"You must," she l
aughed.
Just then, he grabbed her by the pussy.
"What the fuck?!" she said and moved away instinctively. She instantly almost regretted it because this, after all is, Jonas Thrust, and she'd be lying if she said she hadn't fantasized about similar encounters. But then she also remembered he currently had a gross situation on his penis. And this is real life and she doesn't abide being grabbed by the pussy by a stranger. No woman would, no matter how much of a celebrity the grabber is. No one would tolerate that. No one. In what world would that possibly be okay? If the press found out he'd done that, his career would be over, she thought.
"Come on," he said. "Are you serious? No, you're right. That was inappropriate. I'm out of line. All the stress, and you're so beautiful. That's no excuse, but fuck, you are beautiful."
"It's fine," she said. "Forget about it."
"Do you want me to do it again?" he asked.
"What?" she said. She kind of did want him to do it again. "No. You need to respect women. Seriously. What the fuck?"
"You're right," he said. "I misread."
"Yeah," she said. "Just try to get some rest, okay?"
"Okay," he said. "Can we keep this misunderstanding between you and me? Please?"
This wasn't a misunderstanding. This was assault. And she wondered how many other women he had done this to and then told to be quiet about it. She wondered what would happen to her if she didn't.
"It's fine," she repeated. "Just get some rest."
"I'd like some pudding when I wake up," he mumbled sleepily, slurring his words. "Chocolate pudding please."
He should already be asleep, with the dose of sedative she'd given him.
What the fuck kind of name is Jonas Thrust anyway? Creep.
~~~
At the med-surg nurse's station, Anna had charting to do, and the only place to sit was next to Olivia.
"What are you doing up here," Anna asked. Olivia was a surgery nurse and this is the med-surg unit, but Anna hadn't heard about any new admits.
"We brought a guy up," she said. "He's in 422. Martha is taking him."
"Okay," Anna said. She didn't want a conversation.
Dr. McDaniel came out of a patient's room and into the nurse's station, searching through drawers.
"What are you looking for?" Anna asked.
"Batteries," he said. "Triple A batteries. My penlight is dead."
He held the little flashlight up like a cop wielding a Maglite, and clicked it a couple times. No light.
"In the cabinet above the sink," Anna said.
He loaded the fresh batteries in the flashlight and held it up again. Click. The light shined in Anna's eyes. She shielded her eyes.
"Stop it!" she said.
"That's what it's for," he said. "It won't hurt you."
"You're like an 11-year-old with a laser pointer," she said.
He laughed and headed back down the hallway to the room he'd come out of.
"I call dibs on that," Olivia said.
"What?" Anna said. How did that even make sense?
"I'm going to fuck that man," Olivia said.
"Oh," Anna said. She wasn't going to dignify that with a response. But she was triggered. She could feel her ears getting red. This fucking bitch.
Anna stood up and went to Mrs. Landry's room just to get away from Olivia before a cat fight broke out. Anna wasn't trash. She was classy. Mrs. Landry was sweet. They'd talk about paintings and flowers. It would be pleasant. Anna needed pleasant.
~~~
Vanessa hid in an empty hospital room and called her husband on the phone. Charles didn't text. They only voice-talked on the phone. Like savages. That created a kind of second life for her, because she loved texting. All day and all night. She loved sexting. She loved reading the dark and dirty things her lover wanted to do to her. She'd downloaded an app to send private messages so they wouldn't show up on their phone bill, but Charles never would have noticed anyway. Vanessa handled the bills.
She didn't want to broach the subject of the sexual arrangement. Maybe he wasn't serious. She'd let him bring it up. She asked him about his night and whether he finished repairing the BMW yet. When she said the owner picked it up not long after Vanessa left for work, she said that was too bad, like she was disappointed. Subtly turning the conversation to sex. It worked.
"Are you calling to tell me you found somebody?" he asked. Straight to the point.
"Yes," she said.
"Okay," he said, and then he was quiet for too long before he asked when and where.
"I told him Tuesday night," she said, "and that we'd meet at Finnegan's for drinks first. Is that okay?"
"That sounds good," he said.
"You really want to do this?" she asked.
"Yes," he said. "Do you?"
"I want to make you happy," she said, and then out of nowhere, threw in, "daddy".
"Fuck," he said.
"You like that?" she asked.
"I do like that," he said. "Keep that up."
"Yes, sir," she said.
"What if," he said. "I want to do it tonight?"
"I'm at work," she said.
"I like that too," he said.
"I don't have sex at the hospital," she said.
"You do tonight," he said. "Make it happen."
"Yes sir," she said.
~~~
Anna emerged from Mrs. Landry's room just in time to see a man enter room 472 carrying a teddy bear. Jonas Thrust's room. He's not supposed to have visitors. She almost yelled down the hallway, but she remembered that she was supposed to show discretion, whether she liked the guy or not. So she just power walked nonchalantly to the room and burst in.
Jonas Thrust was asleep. The interloper looked startled.
"You can't be in here," Anna said.
"I think I'm in the wrong room," he whispered. "My nephew is supposed to be in room 572, but this obviously isn't him. My nephew is 5 years old. Do you know where he was moved to?"
The story sounded plausible. He was about 30 years old and wearing khaki pants, a cardigan sweater, and loafers. He didn't look like someone who would be up to no good.
"Oh, I see," Anna said, escorting the confused man from the room. "You're on the wrong floor. This is the fourth floor. Your nephew is on the fifth floor. Just take the elevator up."
"This is so embarrassing," he said. "Sorry for any trouble."
And he headed to the elevator and was gone in seconds. Anna headed back to the nurse's station and froze in her tracks.
When the confused man left he didn't take the stuffed teddy bear with him.
In the room, Anna found the teddy bear on the window sill, shiny black get-well-soon eyes gazing lovingly at the sleeping superstar. The confused man must have just set it down and forgotten it when she walked in. She couldn't risk him coming back to get it, so she'd just run it upstairs to him.
But when she picked it up, it was heavier than she expected it to be. Heavier than a bear stuffed with cotton should be.
There was zipper on the back of the doll. Inside, Anna found a camera. A little red light glowed. Someone wanted to spy on Jonas Thrust. Of course they did. The confused guy must have been paparazzi.
There was a Delete button on the camera. Anna pressed it. She pushed the Record button. The little red light lit up again. She put it back in the bear. She found an angle to put the bear where it wouldn't see her leave the room, but still had a full view of Jonas Thrust's bed. And she left the superstar's room.
Anna had a plan.
~~~
CHAPTER 12 – MOON BOOTS
R uby was riding the elevator up from the supply room. She had gone down to get what she called moon boots for a patient. The door opened on the fourth floor and she was about to get out, but a guy in a cardigan sweater came in before she was able to step out.
She knew the rule was out and then in. She had asked that question a lot just to be sure. Let everyone out first, and then you can go in. Otherwise everybody gets cr
ammed in the elevator and there isn't any room, and the people who need to get off the elevator can't get off.
"I need to get off," she said, trying to get past the man, her hands touched his chest. She suddenly realized he was pretty cute. She stepped back into the elevator with him. She pumped the button that's supposed to close the elevator doors.
When the doors were closed, she turned to him and said, "I need to get off."
"Excuse me?" the man looked startled.
"Where are you headed?"
"Um," he said. "The fifth floor to visit my nephew."
"Mind if we stop at the sixth floor on the way?" she asked, touching his chest again. "There's something I need to do."
"Um," he said, "Okay?"
She closed the elevator at the fifth floor and took it to the sixth, which she knew was empty.
"What are you doing?" he asked, when she took his hand and led him out of the elevator.
It was usually Ruby asking all the questions. She had questions for him, for sure, like what his nephew was in the hospital for. Like why he was so cute, but dressed like a frumpy old man. Like why he was on the fourth floor when his patient was on the fifth floor. But she was bottling them all up for now. The patient she was getting the moon boots for had barked at her earlier and told her she asked too many stupid questions. When she asked what he meant, he blew his motherfucking top at her. So she was trying to tone the questions down. She was still fuming about it when she got on the elevator. She wanted some release.
"You're going to fuck me," she said.
"Okay," he said.
She took him to an empty patient room with a bed with clean linens wrapped tight around its edges. She closed the door and pushed him onto the bed. He fell onto his back with his legs off the edge of the bed, and he propped himself up with his elbows. She ran a finger down the buttons on his oxford shirt, down the buttons of his cardigan, over his belt buckle, and along the zipper flap of his khaki pants. She could feel him responding to her touch. She stroked it through his pants.
"Why are you...," he started to talk and Ruby put a finger to his mouth.
"Shhhh," she said, "No questions."
She was trying to take control, and be dominant like the heroine in a book she had been reading. It wasn't really her style. She didn't even know what to do. But maybe it would still be fun.
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