The Reconstruction of Cyprian

by Michelle Love

  And what thoughts are filtering in are about her and that seems to make it worse.

  What have I done…

  Chapter 5

  CAMILLA

  “Did you hear about the rich guy, last night, Camilla?” Kyle asks me as I come in for my evening shift at the store.

  I pull my green smock on and shake my head. “Are you talking about that guy I used to see?”

  “Yeah, Cyprian Girard. It was on the news. I was driving down the road when the ambulance left his house last night. There was a long black car following it and a BMW came out after that one.”

  I stand perfectly still and look at him. “What happened to him? I just saw him last night.” And I had ignored five calls from him after I left him!

  “He had appendicitis. He was sent to surgery and he’s yet to come out of the anesthesia. The reporter said it happens sometimes. He seems to be in a coma.”

  My knees buckle and I have to hold the counter to stay up. “What hospital? Did they say?” I find myself taking my phone out and calling him. I cross my fingers that, by some miracle, he answers it and tells me he’s okay. But I don’t get that.

  “I don’t know if they did say the hospital or not. It was the channel six news. Maybe you could check their website,” he says and I go to that next.

  I find out which one he’s in and look at Kyle. “I need to leave.”

  He shakes his head. “I don’t know how to close the store. You have to stay, Camilla.”

  I’m stuck! I’m fucking stuck!

  Hurrying to the office, I start trying to find someone to come in to take my shift, who can close the store. The first call goes unanswered. “Of course, Gina isn’t answering. She has some high school reunion tonight. Damn!”

  There’s only three of us who know how to close this damn store. Then I make a decision. I’ll leave and be back in time to close. I get up and walk out to tell Kyle what I’m going to do when three men in suits walk in.

  I stare at them as Kyle greets them. “We’re from corporate. We have a pop-inspection and audit to do. Are you the night manager?” one of them asks me.

  I nod and another one gestures to the office. We should start up as soon as we possibly can. This could go until late.”

  “The store locks at one-fifteen tonight. It can’t go longer than that,” I say as I go with them to the office.

  “We can override that. It could take up until four or five. Depends on how well you all have kept the records and things in order,” the other guy says and I feel the blood running out of my head.

  “All night?” I ask. “I really need to leave for at least a little while, please. I just found out my boyfriend is in a coma in the hospital.”

  One of the men sighs, “Honey, we’ve heard every excuse in the book. You aren’t going anywhere, unless you’re ready to quit this job.”

  One of the men holds up his hand. “And that’s not an option right now. You see, if you leave and things are found to be out of order and money or inventory is off, it’s you who’ll be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. So, take a seat and let’s get this going.

  My heart is pounding and I look out the office door at Kyle. He looks a bit panicked too. With a shrug, he turns around and I find myself feeling more unstable than I ever recall feeling.

  God, I hope he wakes up…

  Chapter 6

  CAMILLA

  The rising sun has me blinking and pulling on sunglasses at six in the morning. The manager is coming in as the three men and I are leaving after the all-night audit we managed to pass.

  She gives me a look as she comes to the door we’re leaving. “What’s going on.”

  One of the men hands her a paper. “Here’s a copy of our findings. You passed. You have yourself a very competent night manager. Keep up the good work.”

  “I want the night off,” I tell her as I go to my car.

  “You got it!” she shouts after me. “Take the next three nights off. And thanks!”

  I’m a zombie as I go to my car and drive out to my house. I’m going to shower and change then call that hospital and find out if Cyprian woke up. If he did, I’ll talk to him over the phone then sleep. If he didn’t wake up, I’ll go up to the hospital.

  I keep thinking this is my fault, somehow. Maybe the stress of our breakup caused it. I’m a scientist, I know that’s not very plausible but stress can do some weird shit to the body.

  An experiment with lab rats where there was a very dominate female had all the other females becoming infertile as she was so aggressive to them anytime a male was introduced into their enclosure. It was weird but true.

  Going into my house, I find my body trying to give up on me. My eyes go to my bed and my body migrates to it. “No! Cyprian’s in a bad spot. Come on!”

  I shake my head to ward off the exhaustion and go to the shower. It helps me refresh and wake up some. I hurry to bathe then get out and throw on jeans and a T-shirt then slip on some sandals. My hair has to be tamed a bit, so I put it into a clip to hold my wild curls down. Then I leave the bathroom and find my phone.

  The damn battery is dead so I plug it into the charger and make myself some coffee as it charges up, so I can turn it on. The pot is shaking in my hand as I fill it with water.

  Suddenly, I’m overwhelmed by sorrow and slowly, go to the floor, leaving the coffee pot in the sink as I start crying. “Why didn’t I answer his calls?”

  Have I missed any chance of ever hearing his voice again? Have I missed any chance of ever having him in my life? What have I done?

  My phone makes a beep as it comes back on. I pull myself up and turn the water off and go back to my phone and find the number to the hospital. “AnMed, how can I direct your call?” a woman answers the phone.

  “I need to ask about a patient.”

  The phone makes some clicking noises then another woman answers, “Patient care.”

  “Hello, I’m wanting to know if Cyprian Girard has woken up yet,” I blurt out.

  “And you are who to him?” she asks with a professional tone.

  “His girlfriend.” I cross my fingers.

  “Oh. Um, well. I can’t tell you anything more than what room he’s in. His family has asked that of us.”

  “Give me his room number.” I pick up a pen and write 228, on my hand, when she gives it to me. “Thanks.”

  Dropping the pen, I grab my purse and keys and head out to the hospital. It’s about forty minutes away.

  A long as hell forty minutes…

  Chapter 7

  CYPRIAN

  Bright light filters through beige curtains, a steady beep is near my head, filling my ears as antiseptic stings my nose. “I made it,” I croak out.

  The pain was unbearable. I asked Aston to take me to the hospital but he thought it would be better if an ambulance came to get me. He called my father and he got to me before the ambulance did.

  I called Cami more times than I can remember. She never answered any of my calls. I guess she’s done with me. And I cannot blame her.

  “Hey there,” a soft voice calls out to me.

  I turn my head to find a nurse, in pink scrubs coming into my room. “Hi,” I say and find my throat is so dry.

  She smiles and picks up a cup of water with a straw in it and gives me a drink. “The IV is keeping you hydrated but it can’t help the mouth stay that way. How’s the pain level, Mr. Girard?”

  I recall the paramedics asking me that and telling them to register it between one and ten. It was a ten when they had me. “A five.” I point to my side. “Here is where it hurts.”

  She nods. “That’s where they made the incision to take out that pesky appendix that ruptured on you a couple of nights ago. That will no longer bother you.”

  “What did I do to make it give up on me?” I ask as I don’t recall ever finding that out in the past. “What makes them rupture?”

  “There’s nothing you could’ve done to prevent it from happening. It just happe
ns to some people, not all. There’s no way to tell. You can be sure it won’t happen again, though. It’s outta there!” She laughs and checks my machines. “You gave your family quite a scare with how long you took to wake up. They’ll be glad to see those pretty brown eyes, open.”

  “Did anyone else come to see me?” I ask her. “A beautiful young woman with curly black hair and dark blue eyes, perhaps?”

  Her green eyes droop at the corners as her lips form a straight line. “No. Would you like me to help you call that beautiful young woman?”

  “No,” I say then think twice about it. “Maybe.”

  She picks up the phone next to the bed. “Give me her number and I’ll call her for you.”

  “Is my cell phone here by any chance?” I ask. “I don’t have her number memorized.”

  She shakes her head. “There’s no cell phone in here. Sorry. Perhaps she’ll see the news when they report you woke up and come see you.”

  “I’m on the news?”

  She nods. “Yes, your story was. Clemson is waiting to hear you’ve woken up. Everyone will be so relieved. You had many worrying about you.”

  “Not many know me,” I say as I doubt her words.

  With a gesture to one side of me, she says, “Then where did all these get-well cards and flowers come from?”

  Turning my head, I see a ton of cards and flowers as well as balloons. “Wow!”

  “Yes, wow. So, I’m going to run out to the nurses’ station and deliver the good news and send your doctor in to see you. Should I call your father and mother? We have their numbers.”

  I nod and she leaves me. My heart thuds in my chest as I now know my story was on the news and Cami has not even checked on me.

  Somewhere, deep inside of me, I thought she would give a shit. I suppose what I did was so bad, she never wants to see me again. And it’s pretty obvious she doesn’t care if I’m alive or dead.

  It’s both good and bad to wake up alive. On the one hand, I have life. On the other, what good is it if you have to live it all alone?

  A man in dark blue scrubs comes into the room, looking pretty happy. “Hi, man am I glad to see those eyes open. Mr. Girard, I was the man who administered your anesthesia. When you didn’t wake up, you had my nerves frazzled.”

  “Sorry to do that to you,” I tell him then look out the window. “What time is it?”

  “A bit after seven in the morning. So, do you feel groggy at all?”

  “No, I’m sore and stiff but my mind is growing sharper with each passing moment.” And becoming more and more aware of how Cami really feels about me.

  She’s done with me. I should leave this town. If I run into her, it’ll just continue to fuck my head up.

  “Do you have anyone to help you at home, Mr. Girard?” he asks me as another man walks in with tan slacks and a gray button-down, a clipboard is in his hands.

  “I have my staff.”

  “Great,” the other man says. “I am Doctor Wilkins. I performed the surgery. You didn’t get to meet me. This guy had you out by the time I got to you. The procedure was complete and you will need to give yourself a full month to completely recover.”

  The nurse comes back in and takes over where the surgeon left off, “No heavy lifting. Nothing over 5 pounds. No tub baths. Showers only.”

  My father walks in and says, “How about sex, doc?”

  The nurse looks at him then at me. “A month, I’m afraid.”

  The surgeon taps my leg to get my attention. “Seriously. None until you see your personal physician for your one-month post-op appointment. And that doctor will be the one who will release you or won’t. If you don’t take good care of the incision and do what the orders say, you will end up needing more time to recuperate.”

  I look back at the nurse as she pushes my hospital gown up so the doctor can inspect his handiwork. “By the look of those abs and the rest of you, it’d bet you make vigorous exercise part of your daily routine,” she says.

  “I do. An hour every day.” I smile at my commitment to keeping myself fit.

  “Yeah,” the surgeon says. “No more of that. Not until your doctor releases you. You can take small walks, no more than a half-mile. Then you can ease up to a mile.”

  The nurse takes over again. “No more than that.”

  “I know, I know. Until my personal physician releases me. Got it. Now, when can I get the heck out of here and go home?” I ask them all.

  “Are you sure you have adequate care at home?” the nurse asks. “Because we have many nurses who could take shifts, taking care of you at your home. Your father has told us you have a large estate and you could have constant care. If you have no one else to do that for you. You will need tons of help, Mr. Girard. I cannot express that enough.”

  “I’ll set it up, son. You’ll have nurses there to help you. Don’t worry,” my father says to me then my mother walks into the room too.

  “Cyprian, you’re awake!” She sounds so happy. She’s all over me, kissing my whole face.

  “Mother!” I say as I laugh. “You’ve never been so affectionate to me before.”

  She takes my hand and holds it to her cheek. “My baby wouldn’t wake up. I was a mess. A complete mess, Cyprian. Did I hear them talking about you needing nurses?”

  “You did. I think the staff will be enough. I don’t need any nurses. I’ll be fine.”

  “Nonsense,” Papa says as he steps up to the foot of my bed.

  I laugh a bit and find it hurts, so I stop.

  But the idea of having women all around me, living in my home has me worried.

  What will Cami think…

  Chapter 8

  CAMILLA

  The smell of the sterile environment has me rubbing under my nose as it threatens to make me sneeze. Not many people are moving around yet as it’s still pretty early.

  I get onto the elevator, finding two more people getting on with me. I push in the 2 button and they each push in other floors. We get to mine first and I step off and look up and down the long hallway.

  Easing down the hallway, I try to settle my nerves by twisting my hands in front of me. It’s not helping.

  I know Cyprian will be glad to see me if he’s awake. If he’s not, I don’t know how I’ll cope with it. If I never hear his voice again, I don’t know what I’ll do.

  The numbers tick off as I walk down the hallway. I pass a room with someone crying with low and long moans. It’s heartbreaking. The door is slightly open and I can’t help but peek in and see an old man sitting by an old woman, who seems to be sleeping in the hospital bed. “Bertha, please come back to me,” he whispers.

  The sight and sound hurts my heart and it makes me wonder what I am willing to offer Cyprian if and when he wakes up. I see the numbers 228 on the next door, just across the hallway and my heart stops.

  Walking across, I listen at the closed door. “Don’t worry, son. You’ll be well taken care of. I’ll only hire the prettiest nurses to care for you.”

  I lean my ear on the door and listen harder. “Papa, you spoil me.”

  It’s Cyprian!

  He’s awake!

  And asking for nurses?

  “Only the best for our boy,” a woman says. I assume it’s his mother. “Only the prettiest.”

  I hear him laughing and shake my head as I was so damn worried. And for what?

  “I’ll get you a list of available nurses, Mr. Girard,” another woman says.

  “Pictures with their files, please,” the man I think is his father, says.

  Cyprian laughs again and I walk away. He doesn’t need me.

  Any woman will do…

  To be continued…

  The Sensualist

  The Reconstruction

  Of Cyprian

  By Michelle Love

  Chapter 1

  CYPRIAN

  Pink and odd shades of green fill the sky outside the window of my hospital room. My father sits in one of the chairs, staring out the win
dow, as do I.

  “A hurricane,” my father says. “You’re being so stubborn, Cyprian. A hurricane is coming and you’re being released in a couple of hours and instead of coming home with me, you’re choosing to go to your place and not even taking a nurse with you. Are you trying to kill yourself?”

  “No,” I tell him as I get off the bed and show him how well I’m getting around. “Look at me. It’s been two days and I barely feel a thing. I’m fine. And I’d rather ride out the storm at my place. I’ve called the staff and they have the necessary things in the house. Even if power is lost, I have a generator for the kitchen.”

  He turns his attention to me, instead of the foreboding evening sky. “It’s the idea of you being all alone, Cyprian. At least let me come over. I get it. You don’t want to be around women when you’re unable to perform because of your injury.”

  “It’s not that. It’s about my needing time alone. I’ve been going about things so very wrong. I’d like to get into my bed and read until I know how to make the changes I need to.”

  “This sudden urge to become someone different is annoying.” My father gets up and gets his cup of coffee. “I don’t understand it. The woman you were doing it for has lost interest in you. Can’t you see that? You’ve been in this hospital for five days and she’s not even made an inquiring call about you. She has to know you’re here. It was on the news.”

  I watch him take a sip of the coffee which is now cold. He makes a face and puts if back down. “Papa, you should leave. Go home. Relax and get ready for the storm to hit. They said it would be around ten or eleven tonight. Ashton is driving me home, anyway. He’s waiting outside for me. As soon as the doc comes to check on me, one last time, I’ll be set free.”

  He nods and picks up his jacket. “I’m not making any headway with you anyway. You give me a call when you get home and settled. And if anything happens, you let me know. If you need anything…”