by Lauren Wood
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but sometimes I have to tell them the truth. I can work miracles and I was hoping that I could do that for him, but the spot on his brain scan has grown considerably.”
“I don’t know why you just didn’t tell me this over the phone,” Arnold said, giving over to the angry side of grief. Arnold Julius was an up and coming PGA star that had both the accolades and the sponsors who were clamoring for the chance to sign him on the dotted line. But an unforgiving drunk driving accident had caused him to not only to lose his livelihood, but had also placed his life in jeopardy. “This can’t be happening. I need some time to think about this.”
Arnold stood and drew a few deep breaths, but otherwise fell into silence. He knew that going underneath the knife meant possible brain damage, or even death. If he had his choice, he would rather die on the table than live as some sort of vegetable.
Stephanie stood and moved to his side of the desk, putting her hand on his shoulder. This momentary comfort was the push he needed to transition his grief from anger to sadness, and gave him license to cry on her shoulder. She tried to talk to him, but he was inconsolable.
This was the part of the job that Stephanie didn’t enjoy at all, and she had been through a few too many of these scenes in recent weeks. She was getting burned out and she needed time to recharge her batteries someplace tropical with some bronzed bodies and tropical drinks. She could already feel the warmth of the sand underneath her toes and the baking sun bronzing her skin and turning her into a desirable creature of the night. “I have basically given him a death sentence. His only hope is a surgeon that is worth his salt. I’ve given him my two best recommendations. The rest is in the hands of him and god. I can’t get emotionally involved. If I do, I will only lose myself, and that is not something I’m going to allow to happen.
Arnold new this prognosis was a possibility, and he knew that he wouldn’t be pleased to hear it, but he didn’t expect to break down. His doctor’s warm hand on his shoulder was the action that broke the dam, and everything flooded out. As his tears began to slow, he realized he knew the decision he would make: he would go under the knife and hope for the best.
“I know that you have done everything that you can, Dr. Wallace. There’s been nobody like you. Everybody told me that I was a lost cause, but you said that there was hope.” Arnold paused for a moment and then gave a rueful chuckle. “Hopefully that was not an error in judgment on your part. I’m grateful for the time that I have been given. I wish that it could be longer, and maybe it can. Only time will tell.” Arnold didn’t feel like he was living up to his reputation as a strong and confident black man. Rather than stay and risk another emotional outburst, he gave the doctor a nod and moved towards the door.
Stephanie watched him walk out of the office, giving her a meek smile before he turned the corner. She wanted to run to him and tell him that things were going to work out, but she wasn’t sure she believed it herself. As she pondered his future, she could hear her nurse in the background, muffled, as if she were inside a tunnel. She was more concerned with Arnold and what his state of mind was like, unsure if he could truly understand that it wasn’t a lost cause.
“I don’t mean to interrupt your thoughts, as I’m sure that you have a lot on your mind, but I believe you will want to hear this. Your father, Coach Avery, has asked me to tell you to look at your messages. I’ve never heard him sound so worried. I hope that there hasn’t been anything that is going to prevent him from winning the championship.”
Jennifer Belle was a consummate professional, but when it came to college football, she was a fanatic.
“If there’s anything that you can do to make sure that the cup comes home to this town, then I implore you to do whatever you can.” Jennifer was hardly the only person in the town invested in a win—the college team was on the cusp of doing something that would give the area something to be proud of for years to come.
Stephanie looked at Jennifer, taking in her bubbly personality, and she wanted to shake her. There didn’t seem to be anything that rattled her or made her feel like life was getting her down. She was always enthusiastic, and the fact that she was the coach’s daughter had given Jennifer a reason to take the job out of hand.
“I’m not taking anything that you say seriously at the moment, Jennifer. I had to give Arnold some bad news. I know that I shouldn’t let it weigh heavily on my mind, but sometimes I can’t help it. There are always those that get underneath my skin.”
“I wish that I could say the same thing for my love life. It’s been on life support from the moment that my ex-boyfriend took a job overseas.”
“I don’t think that you should get caught up with other people’s problems. You’ve told me from the moment that you hired me that we should never take our job home with us. With that being said, maybe it would be best to dedicate your time to something that will be more worth your while. Coach Avery has all the hopes and dreams of this town on his shoulders. Go and talk to your father and see what he wants. It will do you good to get some perspective. Stop and buy yourself something nice and put a smile on that face.”
In a past life, Jennifer was a motivational speaker. She’d gone to several high schools to put people on the straight and narrow. She had left that and went to nursing school after one of those kids decided that a life of crime was where the money was at. She felt responsible, but what she didn’t realize was that this kid was on the downward slope from the moment that he was old enough.
“I don’t have any pressing engagements for the rest of the day. I was planning to leave the office early and could swing by and see what my father wants. I’m not promising anything. Surely I’m not going to throw a team member underneath the bus for the chance at the championship.”
Stephanie grabbed her short, black, leather jacket. “Time to hop on my Harley and hit the open road.”
She went down to the parking garage and strode towards her black and red masterpiece. It was a beautiful design, with blue lightning bolts and flames that made her quite the conversation piece. She’d taken it to a custom shop and had paid an extravagant amount of money to get them to tailor it to her specifications.
“I see that look in your eyes. Believe me, I have that same look on the weekends,” Jeremy Nicholson said from behind her. “That is a beautiful piece of hardware. I don’t suppose that you know anything about motorcycles. Is this a hobby, or is this a lifelong dream that you have made a reality?” Jeremy was one of the new doctors in the office. He had liked Stephanie from the moment that he had come on board, but he had sensed that there was something painful in her past.
“I think that I bought it out of a knee jerk reaction to rebel against my parents. My mother is no longer around, but my father is always constantly on my back. The first day that I bought this thing, I made it my mission to drive over to his home and rev the motor. He came screaming out of the house and I only smiled. I turned and drove away with him shaking his fist in disbelief that I would put my life in danger like this.”
“My father had sent me an attachment on my phone. There were no names mentioned. He was worried that this was going to get out to the public and wasn’t taking any chances even with his daughter. The results of the scans were a little disturbing. That knee would need major rehabilitation. He was asking for a miracle and I wasn’t sure that I was gonna be able to give him what he wanted.”
“I know what it’s like to have a domineering father, and believe me, it’s not easy to get their approval. They expect so much from you that they don’t realize that you have your own mind and your own ideas about where your life is going to go. I did go into medicine for my parents, but I didn’t exactly make them proud by taking going into sports medicine, as lucrative as it may be. They wanted me to be a surgeon, but for me, it was all about those dreams that had yet to be fulfilled. I lost my chance to play professionally when I blew out my knee and my shoulder at the same time. Not to mention that I had a heart c
ondition that needs to be monitored each and every day for the rest of my life.”
Stephanie gave him a sideways grin. “I guess we do have something in common. My father has always stressed the importance of family, but mostly he has the team on his mind. He wants to project that family-man persona, but it’s not exactly the truth. I believe that my mother died of a broken heart. He was never able to give her the kind of time and dedication that she deserved. He had his eye on the prize. That has never been more evident than it is now. If he can make it through to the finals, then that elusive cup will be right there for the taking.”
“I had dated Jeremy for one night of complete boredom that made me want to blow the back of my head off. He was a good friend, but I didn’t see it going beyond that. I’d made it very clear to him that I wasn’t interested in a relationship. He had done me the service of not pushing the issue.”
“I think that we do these things for our parents, so that they can live vicariously through us,” Jeremy mused. “I’m sure that a lot of kids do that to get their parent’s approval. I can’t say that I’m not happy with what I’m doing, but I always get this distasteful look when I walk through the door on Christmas holidays. They jokingly get underneath my skin, until I dismiss it out of hand. I can’t let them see that their words hurt. It won’t stop me from going home, but maybe I should take a page from your book. They have never seen my motorcycle. It’s a long journey, but maybe it would be worth it to see the expression on their faces.” Jeremy could almost imagine the shocked and stunned expression on his family’s faces. He loved them, but he didn’t need their constant needling or asking him when he was going to settle down with a good girl.
He didn’t like the good girls, and maybe that was what was keeping him from pursuing something more with Stephanie. He liked raw sexuality and women unafraid to be wild in the bedroom. He’d had his fair share of lovers that showed him what a real woman could do behind closed doors. It didn’t seem to matter where he found his next conquest; it could be one of his patients, or could be in the grocery store picking up a zucchini that was close to the size of his package. It was a great way to get them to know what his endowment was without having to sneak it into a conversation. It was his way of lightening the mood.
“You should really do that, Jeremy. That might get them off your back about having a family or settling down.” With that, Stephanie swung her leg over her bike before putting her helmet in place. Turning on the bike, the vibrations ran through her denim-clad thighs before she switched gears and pulled out of sight.
Chapter 2
Stephanie drove her motorcycle over to the stadium where her father worked. The weekend would have this place packed to the rafters to see who was going to move on and who was going to be left crying in their beer. This was going to be the seventh and final game. Both teams were evenly matched, but her father’s had the edge over the competition; their star quarterback, Brock Nevins, was sidelined with an injury, and it finally dawned on Stephanie that maybe that was the reason why she was here.
Stephanie saw Jake Eagles, a retired football star in his own right, standing at the front door getting that necessary smoke break.
Jake looked up at her and shook his head in disbelief; he couldn’t believe that she would actually have the gall to ride that thing there, of all places. He had heard several arguments between her and her father on the subject. It was like she wanted to get a rise out of him, and maybe that was the only way that she felt like she was getting the attention that she deserved.
“I could swear that was you, Stephanie, but that can’t be. The Stephanie that I know would never try to push his buttons, especially when we are getting so close to the championship.” Stephanie rolled her eyes at him, but that only spurred him on. “Do you know that he hardly ever sleeps anymore? He pops caffeine pills like they are candy. I believe that there is only one person that can help him, and that’s you. Tell him that he’s burning the candle at both ends. Get him to delegate and maybe that will help him to soothe his troubled nerves. You know that he has a high blood pressure, and bringing that thing here is not going to help matters any.”
Stephanie sighed. “He may not like it, but I really don’t care. It’s a nice, spring day and I decided to get it out of the garage. I don’t have many opportunities to drive, and when I do, I seize the day You think that he can tell me what to do, but that is not how our relationship works. He might be able to do that with his team, but I’m not one of those that he can browbeat into doing anything. I came over here as a courtesy.”
“I know how hard he rides his players. I’ve gone to a few of his sermons before a big game, not so much a speech as a proclamation from god.”
Stephanie knew that her father was a pigheaded, chauvinistic man that was stuck in his ways and she steeled herself for her interaction with him. Nodding a goodbye to Jake, she headed into her father’s office. Seeing him at his desk going over plays was like seeing a throwback to her childhood.
Avery looked up from his desk and saw his daughter. He could only hope to god that she was the answer to his prayers. He motioned for her to come in and she sat down with her legs crossed in a ladylike fashion. He couldn’t get over how much she was like her mother. They may have had different styles, but what he saw in his daughter was the same thing that he saw in his soon to be wife back in the day: they both had attitudes and knew how to emasculate a man.
“I’m sure that you have perused the file that I have sent you already. I’ve called for that specific player to come to the office right away. I want your honest opinion and to tell me straight if you think that he can play this weekend. I don’t want to injure him, but I think it’s necessary to find out what he’s capable of.”
“I really don’t know what you expect from me. I have taken a look and I believe that he would be better suited to sitting on the sidelines for the rest of the season. It would give his knee time to heal, but I don’t think that I’m telling you anything that your other trainers haven’t told you already. I do have some experimental procedures, and you don’t need to look at me like that. You know that I’ve always gone in for that holistic side of medicine.”
“I’ve always had great success with acupuncture and even reflexology. I’ve dedicated my life to those things that would prevent going under the knife. No surgeon would ever tell them, but there are always different ways to skin a cat.”
Brock was approaching the coach’s office and he could see the back of some woman sitting in front of the desk. He looked down at his impressive member. He patted his crotch to remind it that he had already satisfied those urges last night. That girl knew how to work her body, but he never did feel anything more for her than that chemistry connection.
He was walking gingerly and could feel the weight of his 250-pound frame on his knee. He saw the coach wave him in and then he stood and looked at this woman from the angle of seeing down her blouse. Those puppies looked good enough to devour. He imagined what it would be like to stick his head between them.
“Brock, I want you to meet the possible answer to what is plaguing you. Dr. Wallace will be taking over your care. It’s not that I don’t trust the trainers, but I really do need somebody that is going to have both of our best interests in mind.” The coach was not stupid and he could see the way that Brock was looking at his daughter. There was no way that he was going to take that lying down. “Dr. Wallace is my daughter and I think that it goes without saying that you’re not to use your special charm on her. Besides, I think that you’ll find that she’s not a match for somebody with your callous attitude towards women.”
Stephanie had her arms crossed demurely, but her eyes were in line with Brock’s bulge. That piece of hardware was definitely more than a mouthful. She didn’t even consider that her father was standing right here. His body was a hypnotic sight that had her anxious to get him out of his clothing.
Hearing that this was the coach’s daughter had put ice water down his pants. It
wasn’t enough to fully diminish his condition, but it did make him think that this was a bad idea.
“I’ve looked over the results of your tests and I believe that you have promise for an experimental procedure. I don’t know how you feel about acupuncture and reflexology, but I believe that is your best bet to get on the field by the weekend. I don’t see anything out of place in the scans. That at least gives me hope that you can come back from this fully healed and ready to storm the field next year. If I had my choice, I would have you stand out, but I don’t think the coach is going to be very happy with that prognosis.” Stephanie could barely sit still, squirming noticeably and trying her best to find someplace that was comfortable. She hungered for something more than a TV dinner and the meat that he was packing certainly would quench her appetite.
“I know that I’m going to regret saying this, but I forbid any kind of relationship between the two of you. I don’t care if it’s physical or otherwise. If I find out anything different, then you won’t be out there this weekend. There are going to be many scouts from various football teams in the NFL looking to size you up. If you’re not out there, then they will turn their attention to somebody else. I know for fact that there are at least four that are going to be here watching you specifically. I don’t want you to ruin it for a few minutes of pleasure. I’m sure that you have a lot of other women looking to take their place in your bed.” The coach had laid down the law and he was hoping that his words were going to be met with a favorable response.
Brock nodded. “I would never think of doing anything with your daughter. I don’t know why you would even think that I was that kind of guy. I will treat her like she is off limits.” He couldn’t take his eyes off her bosom, but he was doing it subtly to prevent the coach from seeing that he was interested in more than just a professional arrangement.
While Brock professed his innocence, Stephanie was incensed by her father’s controlling attitude. “I don’t know where you get off dictating my love life, but believe me I have no interest in this Neanderthal.”
