by Amber Nation
“Don’t you think you should let Maggie decide what makes her happy? And I guarantee she’s going to say that it’s you. I know telling her about your job really isn’t about trust, because I’m sure you trust her implicitly, but you have to weigh the pros and cons. If in the end you think it’ll be worth it to let her in on the loop, then I say go for it.” He walked down towards the other end of the bar, and pulled a bottle of water out from the refrigerated case, and walked back to where I was standing.
Of course I trusted her. I think she was the one person who I trusted the most. I loved her for crying out loud. Love. That felt amazing associating love with Maggie. But God, did I ever love her. The question was did she trust me? Did she love me? She shouldn’t on either account…I was holding a major piece of myself back. I was openly betraying her and this information could very well break us.
Opening his bottle of water, Grady brought it to his lips, but before taking a drink, he asked, “So what is the other thing holding you back?”
Grady took a pull on his water at the same time, I said, “She’s a virgin.”
Water sprayed over all of the liquor bottles he was facing as it went spewing out of Grady’s mouth.
Pointing at the newly drenched bottles of alcohol, I grumbled, “I am NOT cleaning that up.”
“No shit! Back the truck up, man. Maggie is a virgin?” Grady asked, the bewilderment and surprise in his voice was overwhelming.
“Yeah. I was even more surprised than you. She blurted it out to me after our first kiss. I didn’t react well, but after I thought about it for a bit I was fucking elated, to know that I’ll be the first one to touch her, the only one.”
“So why haven’t y’all had sex? Is she not ready yet?” he asked, as he went to go grab a bar towel so he could start cleaning up his mess.
“That’s the thing, she’s very eager. I’ve had to stop her advances. It’s not that I don’t want to have sex with her, because I do, it’s just the fact that I haven’t been entirely honest with her.”
A customer came up and asked for one of our locally made beers that we had on tap. I took an ice cold glass out of the freezer and placed it at an angle underneath the tap and pulled down the handle so it released the dark ale into the glass, spilling the foam off into the drain in the process. Bringing the drink back to the customer and taking their payment, I turned my attention back to Grady who had now finished cleaning all the bottles.
“Man, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m suddenly pretty grateful for Emmy’s pregnancy hormones. If it were me, I’d think long and hard about telling Maggie that you’re…” he looked left and then right to make sure no one was within hearing distance, and faintly whispered, “FBI.” He clasped me on the back, “I’m going home. Good luck, man.”
“Yeah, bye.” I said to his retreating back.
Well he was no help. I still had absolutely no clue what to do. But I did know that I missed Maggie and I wanted to see her. Pulling my phone back out of my pocket I sent her a quick text.
Me: Hey beautiful! I miss you! Would you want to grab breakfast with me in the morning before I have to be at work?
I quickly pressed send and only had to wait a few moments before the chime of my text tone rang out.
Maggie: Hey sweetie! I miss you SO much more! We are having a dance party! And I might be a little drunk, those Georgia Pie’s are just too delish to resist. But of course I want to grab breakfast with you. I’d do anything with you. ;)
She was becoming more and more persistent and my resolve was lessening just as much.
Me: I’ll see you around 10?
Maggie: It’s a date!
My first thought once I opened my eyes this morning, was that I was up entirely too early, but the sunlight streaming through the curtains, reflecting right into my eyes didn’t allow for another minute of well-deserved sleep. I didn’t get home until around three, after closing the bar at two and haphazardly cleaning up the place, and I immediately face planted into my bed and was sound asleep before my head hit the pillow.
My second thought, was that I got to see Maggie this morning. And I missed the hell out of her, so that instantly made all of my tiredness dissipate.
I had to work tonight from four to close and then again tomorrow from eleven to seven. At least I would get to hang out with Maggie some tomorrow night after my shift. This having two jobs was wearing me down. I couldn’t even bring Maggie back to my duplex in case she happened to stumble across some of my case files. Not that my place was worth her attention, it wasn’t even a home, just someplace to sleep and shower.
I had a huge surprise for her tonight. I just hoped that it would be something that she liked. She’s talked about wanting to see me and The Nation’s Capital perform, well tonight she would get her chance.
Getting up out of bed so I wouldn’t be late picking up Maggie, I took a shower opting to forgo shaving since Maggie said she liked me with a little scruff. I was wrapped around her finger as much as she was wrapped around my heart.
I’d admit I did have to take a little extra time to ahem…take care of business. In my defense I did replay Maggie’s video twice this morning. I had never seen her look more gorgeous and all she had on were her pajamas. She had let down her resolve and was having a great time.
I was ready with thirty minutes left to spare, while the drive to Maggie’s only took ten. I didn’t want to arrive too early but I was really very eager to see her.
I locked up my duplex and slipped into my cherry red Camaro. My car had always been my first love, my baby. But now it had to take a backseat to Maggie.
I pulled into her lot, parked in the first available spot and leisurely made my way into the front of the building. It bothered me that she didn’t have her own private entrance, but I guess that was just the FBI in me talking. I did do background checks on all of her neighbors, her safety was of upmost importance, so I had to make sure she was in a safe environment.
I lightly knocked on her door, and almost immediately heard the distinct sounds of her deadbolt unlocking and her chain unlatching. She swung the door partially open, noticed that it was me and threw it open the rest of the way inviting me in.
She always took my breath away and today was no exception, she looked so cute dressed in just a pair of jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. You could tell that she had just gotten up and wasn’t fully alert, she hadn’t even bothered to put in her contacts. Her glasses made her look scholarly and sexy as hell, and the messy bun on top of her head just added to the overall affect. She didn’t have a lick of makeup on, and I honestly couldn’t recall a time where she had looked more beautiful. This is how I could tell that I was truly in love with her, and could imagine waking up to that face every single morning, she didn’t feel the need to be constantly gussied up in public, she was comfortable just being herself.
I was ready to run up and down her hallway professing my love for her, but I would reluctantly have to save my confessions for another time.
“Good morning, babe. Rough night?” I joked, as I turned to shut her door.
Following her towards her kitchen that overlooked her living room, she sat down on a barstool, put her head in her hands, and groaned. “I don’t know why I thought it was a good idea to drink last night. It was fun, but I’m paying for it this morning. I faintly recall about two or so months ago making a vow never to drink again, and here I go sucking it down last night.” She looked up to me where I was leaning against her counter, her eyes looking perplexed through her glasses, “Those Georgia Pie’s are just so good. They taste like candy, which is where they get ya. Damn alcohol companies,” she huffed.
I couldn’t suppress my chuckle. She was definitely something else. And to think just a mere month and a half ago, she was this shy and timid little thing. It thrilled me to know that I had a part in helping her out of her shell.
I pushed away from the counter and walked up behind her, enveloping her tightly in my embrace. I planted a single kiss
atop of her head, then rested my cheek on her hair, inhaling her scent and committing it to memory. I would always associate peaches and cream with Maggie.
“I missed you babe,” I said, still giving her a gentle squeeze. I felt a shiver run through her at my words, and it pleased me to know that I had that effect on her. Releasing her from my clutches, I ran my hands down her arms, “Are you ready to go?”
She made a move to get up, “Yeah, I’m hungry. And I suppose some grease would help my hangover.” She walked with slow movements as if she moved too quickly, it would cause agonizing pain. Watching her with a hangover was entertainment at its finest.
Breakfast went great, with company like Maggie, it was bound to be anything but. I took her to the local greasy spoon diner, coincidentally called The Diner. After shoveling numerous calories of eggs, bacon, and pancakes into her mouth and drinking copious amounts of coffee, Maggie was finally beginning to perk up a bit.
“Feeling a little better?” I asked her, as we were back in my car heading towards her apartment.
“A bit better, yeah. At least I don’t feel like death anymore.” She chuckled at her choice of words.
I figured now was a good a time as any to ask her about coming tonight. “Hey, babe, since I work tonight, would you like to come meet me on my lunch hour? It’d probably be about seven.”
Her eyes lit up, “Of course! You know there is nowhere else I’d rather be than with you. You always look so nervous when you ask me, like you expect me to say no or something. Silly!” She shoved my arm playfully as I pulled up to a stoplight.
I was inching my face closer towards hers to steal a quick kiss, since we were at a complete stop, when a look of sheer horror crossed her face.
I turned my head to see what caused her reaction, about the same time, I saw a pickup truck plow into the side of a car that was facing the opposite direction from us. The car went careening sideways, as glass flew everywhere, and the sound of metal crunching made an excruciating sound.
Maggie didn’t even hesitate in throwing open the passenger door, and she was out of the car before I was even able to throw it into park. Jumping out of my car, I ran to catch up to Maggie who was racing towards the car.
“Call 9-1-1!” she yelled, as she turned her head back to look at me.
“I’m already calling!” yelled Agnes, the owner of the Coffee Cup, which was located right on the corner where the accident occurred.
Several people had already gathered around the truck, so I jogged my way over to Maggie and the driver of the car to see if I could offer my help with anything.
The entire driver’s side of the car was completely smashed in and the tire flattened from the impact. It would be an absolute miracle if the driver came out of this unharmed.
Maggie was already in the backseat, having to crawl through the back passenger side door since the driver’s side was in ruins. She was reaching around holding the drivers head against the seat, to where it was secure so she didn’t cause anymore possible damage.
The driver, who was a younger looking woman, probably in her mid-twenties, was visibly shaking and in a state of shock. Her eyes were darting all around not able to focus on any one thing. I could tell there were various cuts and abrasions on her face and arms from the shards of glass that broke upon impact. Neither her front nor side airbags seemed to deploy, which they could’ve been faulty, she was fortunate enough to have been wearing her seatbelt.
Maggie was calmly and quietly trying to ask the driver questions, without any response being given. I crouched down beside the smashed in driver’s side door, in the path to where the driver could see me.
“My name is Charlie and my girlfriend Maggie, is the one who is holding your head back in position. She is a trauma nurse at the hospital here. Do you know where you are?” I asked, trying to get some kind of acknowledgement out of the woman.
“I…I…don’t know. I was just passing through town.” She said, the tremble in her voice was making it slightly difficult to understand.
“What’s your name?” I asked Maggie’s original question again.
“Sheridan…Sheridan Nichols.” She managed to finally say, while her breathing was coming in quick, small spurts.
Maggie leaned up closer to her ear, her voice and demeanor just as calm as could be, and said, “Sheridan, like Charlie said my name is Maggie. I’m going to need you to try and calmly take slow, deep breaths. You’re in shock and if you don’t slow down your breathing, you could go into a panic attack. Slow and steady,” she kept repeating in Sheridan’s ear. I was absolutely in awe of the job Maggie was doing, I couldn’t have been more proud of her.
I was finally able make out the sound of sirens in the closing distance, while Maggie was continuing to talk to Sheridan. Looking over, I could see that the driver of the truck was sitting on the curb of the sidewalk with his head in his hands. I didn’t think he had a scratch on him.
“Now, Sheridan, can you tell me if anything hurts?”
After a moment of silence, Sheridan screamed out in pain, “My ankle, it hurts to move it.”
“Ok honey, that’s good. Try and remain still. I hear the ambulance approaching now. They are going to get you out of the car and assess your injuries. So were you passing through on your way for vacation?”
Maggie was trying her hardest to keep Sheridan calm, and keep her mind on other things besides the accident. I heard feet hitting the pavement, so I turned around to see Mikey running towards us with his responder bag in hand. Mikey was an EMT who had very recently completed his paramedic courses and clinical. I knew him fairly well, being he was our drummer for The Nation’s Capital.
Stopping right beside the car and dropping his medical kit, he looked at Maggie and said, “Talk to me Mags, what’ve we got?”
That was all that it took for Maggie to start spouting off medical jargon, “Sheridan Nichols, age twenty-six, passing through Brown County. She was sitting at the stoplight on the opposite side of the street when the pickup truck,” she jerked her head in the direction of where the truck was parked, “went through the intersection during his green light and just somehow plowed into the side of her vehicle. I’ve held her neck steady in case of any head or spinal damage. She’s been conscious the entire time, pretty shaken up though, and was on the verge of a panic attack, until I got her to calm her breathing and heart rate down. She stated that it hurt to move her ankle, and I noted several lacerations on her arms and face from shards of glass.”
“Very good, thank you Maggie,” he said then looked at me, “Have you tried getting the door open?”
“No, I didn’t want to take a chance on damaging anything.”
He took a moment to peer inside of the vehicle and then looked back to me, “Nothing is obstructing the door, and Miss Nichols’ body isn’t touching, so we should be fine to try and get the door open.”
It only took us a few tries to pry open the driver’s side door, and enough to where Mikey and Maggie would be able to get Sheridan out of the vehicle.
“Mags,” Mikey said, “I’ve gotta run back to the ambulance to retrieve the long spine board and the cervical collar, you alright to position her neck just a little longer?”
“Yah, Mikey, go ahead!” she exclaimed. “Now Sheridan, Mikey here is one of the best, so you will be in very good hands. He’s going to get a back board and a c-collar that will help support your neck. Why he is putting that around your neck is to make sure we don’t damage anything further in case there is some kind of trauma to your head or neck. Just a precaution.”
I held open the driver’s side door since it wasn’t in proper functioning order. It also kept me out of the way since I was completely out of my element. If I was in this type of situation, I would be on the police end of it all, which made me realize just how much I would like to deal with average citizens of an average town. We knew I hated traveling around and dealing with high end criminals, and bartending just really wasn’t my thing. I would make it a
point to speak with Sheriff Mitchell to see what my options were, if any around Brown County.
Mikey hurried back with the items he needed from the ambulance, while his partner was assessing the driver of the pickup truck. He bent down beside Sheridan, and got the first real look at her. He seemingly froze.
“Mikey. Hello earth to Mikey,” Maggie complained.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” he muttered, as he snapped out of his trance and began to place the cervical collar around her neck. “Miss Nichols, I’m Mike Jameson, is there anyone you would like for us to call?”
She tried to start shaking her head, which was still being held firmly in place by Maggie. Her body started quaking violently. “No!” she screamed out. Her jaw locked tight and her fists clenched together, she was undoubtedly in a panic.
Maggie lifted her head to look at me, a flash of empathy appearing in her eyes, and a little tear in the crease. So small anyone could overlook it, but because I knew my Maggie, I knew what was running through her head. Something or someone was troubling Sheridan.
Mikey was able to get the neck brace secured in place, and then he reached around to unbuckle her seatbelt. He slowly was able to pull her out of her car and lay her on the back board to strap her down. She was crying hysterically from the pain in her ankle, which appeared to be broken. “Ok Sheridan,” he looked almost affectionately into her eyes, and all sense of hysterics stopped as she gazed back at him. “I’m going to go get the stretcher, and then we will be on our way to the hospital.” Taking the slight nod of her head as an affirmative, he ran back to get the stretcher.
Maggie stepped out of the passenger side of the car, and stretched her legs since they were curled up underneath her in the backseat. I went and clutched her in a warm embrace and she wrapped her arms around my middle and held tight. It felt like it had taken hours when in fact the entire situation took maybe about twenty minutes, but I could tell she was exhausted and understandably so. “You did great, Maggie. You’re not only an amazing person, you are an amazing nurse and I am so incredibly proud of you,” I spoke gently into her hair.
