3. 3
3
D oc
I did my rounds when I got to the hospital and then went to take a nap in one of the on-call rooms. It was quiet and dark, exactly what I needed. I woke up to my phone vibrating against my side. Looking at the time, I saw that I had slept for over six hours. It was seven in the evening. Shit!! I needed to get back home and check on Dawn. The message was from Katherine.
I got up and slipped my shoes back on and listened to the voicemail. I could hear Dawn screaming in the background as Katherine left the message.
“Doc, she fell asleep after lunch and then just sat up in bed and started screaming and thrashing around. I’m trying to calm her down, but I can’t seem to pull her out of it.”
I drove straight home and walked in the house to find Katherine rubbing Dawn’s hand and Dawn curled up in a fetal position whimpering. She was looking at nothing. Lost in her nightmare and memories.
“I’ve got this, you can go home. I’ll call you later.” I told her as I sat beside Dawn on the bed. When she walked out, I scooped Dawn up and sat back against the headboard with her curled into my lap and sang to her. I sang anything that came to mind as I gently rocked her and rubbed her back. I knew she would hate to know Kat had seen her like this. Dawn was very proud and hated showing weakness. This whole nightmare had shaken her to the core. I noticed she had a death grip on my shirt and was quiet now. I gently laid her back against the pillow and went to the bathroom for a washcloth to wipe her face off. As I came back into the room she tracked my movements.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered. I was surprised by the apology. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. You have been through a horrible trauma, and you are reacting as expected. I’d like to have you speak to a trauma counselor soon. I think you would benefit from it a lot.” I suggested as I wiped her face. “When was the last time you ate something?”
“I got sick after breakfast, but Katherine fixed me a sandwich after.” She said as her stomach growled. “I didn’t feel sick to my stomach so much as the flashbacks made me nauseous. I could eat.”
“I could too, why don’t I go make us some stir-fry. I have some chicken, broccoli and zucchini. Will that be, okay?” I asked her. She nodded and gave me a small smile. “I’m going to shower since I just came from the hospital and then I’ll fix dinner. Should only take about thirty minutes for both.”
“I’ll look at some of my schoolwork and check my emails while you do that. Austin brought my stuff since he wasn’t sure how long I would be here.” She slid the tray over and opened it. I guess I needed to figure that out as well. I left her to do her schoolwork while I went to shower.
Standing in the shower I thought about how I had been sleeping in the room with her and how comfortable she was with me. I knew Gears didn’t like it and was just chomping at the bit to take his baby sister home with him. I understood that and I didn’t want him to think I was going to take advantage of her. Fuck, he should know me better than that anyway. I guess considering the way she has been clinging to me I can understand the suspicion. I washed off quickly and then slipped on some sweatpants and a tank before heading to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
I had always enjoyed cooking since it relaxed me, and I liked to keep busy. I tried to eat as healthily as I could since I didn’t always have time to work out as much as I’d like to. Being part of a motorcycle club had never been in my plans growing up, but after serving with a few of the guys and then being discharged for a bum knee, I needed something to keep me going. I started working at the hospital and the guys would call on me to patch them up after missions. Axle and Undertaker came to me and asked if I would be interested in pledging. They said the club could use a doctor on missions and they already thought highly of me. I still had to go through the process of being a prospect and earning my patch. After that, the rest is history. I have been a member for the last eight years and I loved the brotherhood as well as the family atmosphere we had here. Plenty of the guys were a bit rough around the edges but we didn’t hurt women or children. We also did a bunch of charity runs throughout the year. All in all, I have had a good life since I was medically discharged from active service.
When dinner was ready, I decided to see if Dawn would prefer to eat at the table and get out of the room for a bit. I walked in to see her working on her laptop. She looked so cute biting her lip and a little line on her forehead as she concentrated on what she was doing. I hated to interrupt her, but she needed to eat. I cleared my throat, and she looked up at me.
“Did you need something?” she asked me as I stood at the door watching her.
“Dinner is finished, and I wondered if you would like to eat in the dining room with me. Thought it would be nice to have a change of scenery. We could also watch a movie on Netflix if you feel like it.” I suggested to her. Her eyes lit up a bit and she closed her laptop and pushed the tray to the side to sit up.
“I’d love to get out of bed for a while. I feel fine, other than being a little sore.” She assured me as she stood up and followed me to the dining room table. I had her plate fixed with a glass of ice water beside her plate. She sat down and took a drink of the water and then started eating. We ate in silence. I was glad to see she had an appetite.
“You have some color back in your cheeks. The bruising will look worse before it fades but that can’t be helped. You are definitely on the mend. I still feel like you would benefit from counseling. I think I’ll get some names and numbers to give you and then you can decide when you’re ready.” We finished our dinner, and I rinsed our dishes to put into the dishwasher.
“I don’t really feel like a movie. I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it knowing how much work I have to catch up on for the past week. Do you mind if I bring my work to the table in here so I can at least be out of the bed for a bit longer?” she asked me hopefully.
“Of course. I’ll go get your things and then get you some more water. Unless you would prefer some hot tea?” I asked her.
“I can get it.” She insisted as she started to get up. I gently placed my hand on her shoulder and shook my head.
“I’ll get it. You can be all independent in a couple of days.” I said as I got her set up at the dining room table with her work and some tea. I decided that since she was going to study that I would work on some paperwork of my own. I went to my office off the kitchen. I used the actual dining room as my office since the kitchen was big enough for a full-size table. It’s not like I had company often. The rhythmic typing was actually relaxing. I got a lot done. When I was finished, I got up and found her laptop closed and she was back in bed asleep. I watched her sleep for a few minutes, then laid down on the cot in her room.
I woke up feeling really warm and realized I wasn’t alone in the cot. I opened my eyes to see Dawn curled up to me with her fist under her chin. She must have woken up in the night. I didn’t hear any screaming though. She was just wearing a tank top and some boy shorts. Her soft skin was pressed against my chest and her scent surrounded me. Her beautiful dark hair was covering my arm. I felt my body react to her nearness and suddenly I felt her stiffen up. Her eyes shot open, and she looked into mine. Her face was beet red, and she stumbled off the cot as quickly as she could, closing herself in the bathroom. I rubbed my hand over my face and sighed. I heard a knock on the door and got up to go answer it.
I opened it to see Gears standing there with a bag of donuts. I stepped back so he could come inside.
“Is she still sleeping?” he asked me, as he looked around. We heard some water running in the guest bathroom, so he put the donuts on the kitchen counter. “I guess not. How is she doing?”
“Physically, she is healing quickly. The bruising should start to fade soon. Last night was the first night she didn’t wake up with nightmares.” I told him as I walked over and started the coffee. “We just got up when you were knocking.”
Gears turned toward me slowly and narrowed his eyes. “What the fuck do you mean by we just got up?” I saw his hand twitching and knew I had to diffuse this quickly.
“I have been sleeping on a cot in her room because she has been having nightmares. Nothing happened and last night she didn’t have one.” I informed him. “I figured if she went for a couple more nights with no nightmares then you could come take her home so I can get back to work and start sleeping in my own bed again. I’m not trying to put the moves on your sister. Are you crazy? She is like ten years younger than me.”
It was then I realized I didn’t hear the water running anymore and I heard a gasp behind me. I turned to see a stricken look on her face that turned to hurt. She turned and went back into the room. I heard drawers slamming and a few minutes later she came out, grabbed her laptop off the table and walked out of the house. Gears shot me a look and then followed her out.
FUCK!!! I didn’t mean for her to hear that. It wasn’t completely true. I had not been trying to put the moves on her, but I was very attracted to her. However, she was my patient, and I couldn’t do that. I took an oath. I wanted to follow her but physically there was no real reason she couldn’t go home. I also knew she had a temper and now was not the time to approach her. Whatever, I poured myself a mug of coffee, got dressed and headed to work. I got a group text from Axle that we were going on a run in a couple of days and that we had a meeting with another club in Denver. I’d ask for details later.