5. Chapter Five ~ Brayden
Chapter Five ~ Brayden
Being under the same roof with Mia had more of an effect on me than I thought it would. I thought I'd ignore her, stay on my side of the cabin, and forget all about her being there, but that wasn’t the case. I felt this sexual pull toward her; the same way I always had. I could smell her perfume lingering in the air and it only distracted me more from my annoyance with her being there.
Having her so close reminded me of the first time we had sex. We were each other’s first. I had no idea what I was doing at the time, but she helped me learn my way around her body and the experience was one I'll never forget.
I was so turned on by her, I nearly exploded the minute she touched me. When she slipped me inside, the sensation was so magical, I felt myself grow extremely stiff and my hips started to move at a rhythm of their own. Hearing her sweet moans each time I plowed into her made me quiver with goodness.
“Slow down,” I remember her saying. “We’re both new at this.”
I slowed my pace and made things more enjoyable for her. When I did, it was like a new gateway had opened and we both flooded everywhere. I thought we’d be embarrassed by our sudden explosions, but we were too busy trying to catch our breath and wrap our minds around what happened.
“So, this is what sex feels like?” she asked.
“I guess so,” I said. “That was good. I never thought it would feel that way with an actual partner.”
At the time, I thought she knew what I meant. It wasn’t until we were a few years older that she reminded me of that moment and confessed that she learned of self pleasure as she got older.
I thought a little more about Mia and I while I waited for my nurse to arrive. I thought that as time passed and we spent more time in each other’s space, we’d eventually get over our dislikes and become friends again. I hoped so, anyway. It had been years since I’d seen her in person. Years since we even exchanged so much as a hello to one another. Although my anger got the best of me and steered me away from her, I still cared about her. No matter how hard I tried to tell myself I didn’t.
She was my first true love; the first woman I ever cared about, other than my own mother. She made me see the possibilities in life, little did she know. She just didn’t allow me enough time to transition from being a badass, to being the man she needed me to be. We were still young, and both had a lot of growing to do, but she grew impatient.
I tried not to think about the good times we had; pushed them to the furthest place in my mind and buried them with the dirt of my past. I figured if she could walk away from everything we shared and tried to build, then so could I. I had to. Otherwise, I would only drive myself crazy thinking about it.
My nurse showed up not long after. She was an older woman with a younger trainee in tow.
“How are you this morning, Mr. Knight?” Olga, my nurse, asked. “Did you sleep okay?”
“I slept fine,” I said. “The pain meds helped a lot.”
“Good,” she said. “Sleeping with third degree burns can be a bit difficult.”
I was sure doing anything with third degree burns was difficult. I couldn’t even believe I was a burn patient. After years of fighting fires, I fell victim. Surely myself and my ego needed a reality check.
“What’s on the agenda for today?” I asked. “I need to prepare myself for the pain I'm sure is coming.”
“Yeah,” Olga hissed like she was the one in pain. “We have to change your bandages today. So, we’ll clean the wounds, lather them up with ointment and put new bandages on. Then you’ll get a little PT in, as much as you can handle, and we’ll be out of your hair.”
Pain was something I didn’t do well with at all. I'd broken bones and got a few scrapes and bruises in my life, but nothing as severe as third degree burns. I wouldn’t have wished that kind of pain on my worst enemy. Unless it was Nate.
Once Olga and her assistant had all their supplies laid out and were ready to cut away my old bandages, she gave me a pep talk and let me know the task wouldn't be easy, but she would get it done as quickly as she could and as gently as she could. I prepared myself as best I could, but nothing could have prepared me for what I felt in my legs.
“Ah! Christ!” I shouted at her. “What are you doing, trying to kill me?”
“You have to relax, Mr. Knight,” she said. “The more you tense up, the more pain you’ll feel. I have to get these legs cleaned and sterile. Otherwise, you could risk infection.”
While she continued to scrape and wipe away the old skin from my legs, I shouted and cursed and wriggled around in my bed, trying to fight away the urge to kick. I said some pretty vile and nasty things during my pain. Things that Olga ignored because she was a tough woman and said she’d heard worse.
I shouted so long and so much, eventually Mia came running to my room to see what was going on and when she saw that it was only my nurse trying to help me get better, she gave me a piece of her mind for old times' sake.
“Jesus Christ, Brayden. I thought someone had broken in and was killing you, what the hell?”
I was in so much pain I couldn’t respond to her. I only continued to shout and punch my fist in the air out of frustration.
“Hey, hey,” she rushed over to grab ahold of my hands. “Calm down. They have to do their job and clean you up. Those burns look really nasty.”
The feeling of her touch soothed the pain a few notches. Her hands were so soft and gentle on my skin, I almost forgot about my legs being charred. Of course, I still felt the pain, but it became bearable.
“We’re almost done,” Olga said. “Are you the girlfriend?”
“Oh, no,” Mia chuckled. “An old friend. Just visiting for the summer.”
“Ahh,” Olga slowly nodded as she continued her cleaning. “Well, good. At least he’ll have some company to keep his mind off of being bed bound.”
It seemed like it took forever to get my legs cleaned and wrapped in new bandages. When Olga finished, she did a few leg exercises with me to make sure I still had feelings and could still move them, which I was thankful for. It hurt like hell, but as long as I could still use my legs, I fought through the pain.
Before she left, her and her assistant gave me a bed bath, which Mia stepped out of the room for. They also got me into my wheelchair and showed me how to maneuver myself back into bed when I was ready. I halfway wished she would have stayed and watched the bed bath, just to see if she’d be turned on like she used to be whenever she saw me naked. That was wishful thinking.
“Alright, Mr. Knight, we’re all done for the day. I'm sorry to have caused you so much pain, but it’s all for the greater good. You understand, right?” she teased.
“Sure,” I said. “All for the greater good.”
“Right,” she chuckled. “We’ll see you in a couple of days. You have your meds and everything else you need in the meantime, but if you find yourself needing anything more, don’t hesitate to give me a ring. I'm on call and at your service.”
After having my legs scraped clean, I didn’t think I'd need anything else too soon. I need a rest. Some quiet time. Food. I need to be healed and back on the fire truck. Not Olga.
“Thanks,” I said. “I’m sure I'll be fine until you come back.”
I wheeled myself into the kitchen to grab a beer and something to snack on once Olga and the assistant were finally gone. Mia was there at the table watching the news on her iPad looking beautiful as ever. Her hair was down, and she wore a spaghetti strap shirt that showed off her full breasts.
I couldn't help but steal a peek at them. They were nice; round and plump, and her nipples showed a little through the fabric.
“What happened to you?” she asked.
“Work,” I said.
“No shit,” she rolled her eyes. “What happened at work? You were trying to be a macho man and got yourself into trouble?”
Her guess was spot on, though I didn’t admit to it. She knew me well, even after all those years.
“Something like that,” I said, grabbing a beer. “This guy I work with, we don’t get along too much and I let my feelings get the best of me because of it. I ran into a burning building, blindly, and ended up being caught in the fire. I got the people out safely though.”
She nodded as if she wasn’t surprised, then the room went silent again. I wanted to ask her about her life, make small talk, see how she’d been. But I didn’t know how to be vulnerable with her again. Each time I tried to open my mouth to speak, my words got caught in my throat. I was glad when she finally spoke up first.
“So, how have you been, Brayden? Still stubborn and carefree?”
“Something like that,” I said. “Just trying to make the best of this life.”
“Yeah,” she nodded. “Good for you. Not everyone is fortunate enough to still have a life on the outside.”
She was talking about Trent. I knew it was only a matter of time before he came up. She was still angry about him being gone and it showed each time she looked at me. I was angry and hurt about him being gone too, but I couldn't turn back the hands of time. I hoped she would get over it.
“Can we not do this?” I asked. “Trent and I made a lot of mistakes when we were kids. I've been trying to get over things and move on with life, you should do the same. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don't think about my best friend. So don’t come here with your bullshit. I've got enough bullshit going on in my life already.”
“If you had listened to me and not gone with him that night, none of this would be going on right now. He'd be home. But no, big bad Brayden Knight never listens to anyone. He does whatever he wants to benefit him, no matter who he hurts.”
“Oh, whatever Mia,” I scoffed. “You know what, I don’t have time for this. I don't have to listen to this. You want to keep blaming me for everything, go right ahead, I'm out of here.”
I grabbed another beer from the fridge and wheeled myself out to the patio. The day was still young, and I told myself I wouldn't let her ruin what was left of it. Do I wish we could have sorted through the whole ordeal about Trent, yes. I wanted that more than she knew.
There was a lot about that night that Mia didn’t know, and she would never give me the chance to explain it to her. I didn’t have the energy to keep fighting with her about it, so I let her think whatever she wanted to think.