Cain (2 page)

~CHAPTER TWO~

Cain paced the hallway. Damned girl,
what did she think he was going to do? Pounce on her? Beat her
butt? He’d put the damned stitches in her, for the love of
Christ.

Cain stopped his pacing when he noticed
the nurses eyeing him strangely. Running his fingers through his
hair for what seemed like the hundredth time, he looked over at
Mrs. Parker.

“
Don’t you glare at me,
young man. I don’t know why she threw you out. I do know that she’s
as stubborn as I’ve ever seen a woman and most of the time I want
to shake some sense into her. But that’s about all I
know.”

“
Do you know why she’s
homeless?” At her surprised look, he continued. “She was here for
one of the nurse’s brothers. Meds, I think.”

“
That would be Rodney.
Yes, Julie has been caring for him for a couple of years now. She
comes in and gets his diabetic and mental health medications for
the week. He’s healthier than he’s been for years. Did she tell you
how she got hurt this time?”

Cain looked at the closed door. Other
than asking for her clothes, she’d not said anything to him. “No,
ma’am, she didn’t. Will Damon be able to find out?”

Before she could answer, Damon stepped
through Julie’s door and into the hall. The look on his face showed
he wasn’t any happier with Julie than Cain was.

Damon stood there taking several deep
breaths before he spoke. Then it was to ask them to wait here, he
needed to see the nurse in charge. Cain sat down next to Mrs.
Parker.

Cain had known the Grants since he was
in middle school. His house, when growing up, had been just down
the street from what was now the Parker house. The Grant boys were
all grown then, but Cain still hung around them. Theirs was what
he’d always wanted in a family. When Cain had gotten hurt at a high
school football game and broke his ankle, Damon had taken him to
the hospital. His parents hadn’t gone to the game—his mother had
been too drunk and his father had been off with one of his other
women; in other words, they’d been too busy to be there.

Mrs. Parker had gone to the house to
let them know he’d been hurt and had brought his five younger
sisters to her house. Mrs. Parker had never said another word, but
soon after, someone from Children’s Services had come and taken
them all away. As soon as Cain could, he’d made sure his sisters
were with him.

Cain’s father had gone to prison in
Cain’s first year of med school and had just recently been
released. The senior Waite, Roscoe, had been trying to contact Cain
since the day he got out over four weeks ago.

Cain stood when Damon returned. Mrs.
Parker told both men she was going home. Each kissed the elderly
lady’s cheek and told her goodbye before Damon spoke.

“
They gave me an office
here. Come on, let’s go there to talk. I’ve not set it up yet, but
I know the furniture has been delivered.”

They were sitting down when Damon’s
phone rang. Cain sat back and looked around the spacious office.
There were boxes of stuff everywhere. He could see that someone had
hung a few pictures and a few of Damon’s certificates. The room
smelled clean with the slight undertone of cigar smoke. Since Cain
knew that Damon didn’t smoke, he thought it belonged to his
predecessor.

“
That was Charlotte. She
said to tell you that you’re coming to the house for dinner
tonight. I wouldn’t argue with her. She’s having major empty nest
syndrome and cries about everything.”

Cain smiled. “So when did your daughter
move out? It had to have been recently.”

“
Three weeks ago. I
thought it would be hard on her when Connor moved out, but it’s
nothing compared to this.” Damon sat up, giving Cain what he had
always called his “I’m gonna come down on you cause I love you”
look. “Thanks for seeing Julie. If you hadn’t volunteered, Molly
wouldn’t have called me. Julie is...I’m not even sure if that’s her
real name. But she’s pretty special to my mom and me. All of us
really.”

Cain was a little startled by the tears
in Damon’s eyes, but didn’t comment on them. Cain looked away again
to give Damon a minute to get himself together. When Damon cleared
his throat, Cain looked back.

“
I’m sorry. Whenever I
think...she saved Connor’s life about three years ago. He’d been
out with a bunch of his friends and they’d been drinking.
Connor...the accident killed three of the kids. Connor’s only alive
because Julie pulled him to safety just before the car blew. She
stayed with him until help came. I was there when the medics told
her that he was too far gone to save. My God, you should have seen
her.” Damon smiled at the memory. “She told them she was going to
beat the shit out of him if he stopped trying. When he looked like
he was going to hit her, she punched him square in the nose and did
CPR herself until someone else stepped in with a defib.”

Cain’s estimation of the girl went up a
few more notches. “Do you know what happened tonight? Why she
needed medical attention?”

“
No. The damned girl. Like
I said, I’m not even sure what her name is. Whenever she brings one
of the indigents in, they call her by something different. Rodney
calls her Julie, as does Molly. I have never heard her last name.
And wouldn’t even be sure if that was it or not. She is...I’ve
never met a more private person in my life.”

Cain thought about Molly talking to
Julie. Molly seemed to be very familiar with her and he wondered if
the nurse knew more than she was letting on.

“
Now what happens to her?
You two have a deal, but how long do you think you’ll be able to
keep her here with just that? She doesn’t strike me as a
cooperative person.”

Damon sat back in his chair before
answering. For reasons he wasn’t sure of, Cain just knew he wasn’t
going to like what Damon was going to say. He started to tell him
to forget he asked when Damon dropped the bombshell.

“
Julie doesn’t like it,
but I told her you were her doctor. I know this Chief of Surgeon
gig is only until they find someone to replace Gabe, but I was
enjoying my part-time status as a doctor and I don’t want to have
to change things around now. I just don’t have the time for someone
as stubborn as Julie right now.”

Nope
, Cain thought,
not at
all
. Before he could protest, Damon went
on.

“
You can’t be all that
busy right now. I know you just moved back and all. And one slip of
a girl won’t take up too much of your time. Not really. You don’t
mind helping out an old friend, do you?”

Cain threw back his head and laughed.
Damon had just neatly boxed him in. Not that Cain minded all that
much, but Damon had him right where he wanted him. “I don’t have
privileges here yet. My application is still awaiting
final—”

Damon picked up his phone and just like
that, Cain could now practice at Ohio State University
Hospital.

“
Do you happen to know of
a house too, Oh Mighty One? I’m tired of living in a hotel. I want
something with several bedrooms for when the girls come to visit.
And anyone wanting to take on a partner with option to buy
in?”

“
Partnership? Hum, let me
think on that one. Devin’s house is empty right now. Well, it’s
furnished, but he isn’t living there. I think he may sell it to you
cheap. It has six bedrooms and a nice two bedroom cottage out back.
With him and Ronnie in Washington so much since he got into
politics, they aren’t here as much as they once were. I’ll talk to
him tomorrow. Come on, let’s get you settled in with Julie, then
we’ll go back to my house.”

Cain smiled. He had a patient, a house,
and a job. Not bad for three hours work. He went by to check on his
mother again and was relieved she was still asleep. Damon and he
entered Julie’s room five minutes later.

~~~

Julie was playing with her food when
the men walked in. She’d always thought Damon was handsome, but the
younger man, Cain Waite, was beautiful. She was still embarrassed
at him catching her staring at him. His grin told her that he
hadn’t forgotten either.

“
You’re supposed to eat it
not roll it around on your plate. I told you that you needed to
clean plate everything they brought you,” Damon said when she
shoved the tray away.

“
Fine. You tell me what
sort of food this is supposed to represent and I’ll gladly eat it.
Or drink it in this case. How do you expect someone to get better
when you feed them water? It even smells rank. I thought you said
you were leaving. Is it too much to hope you’re finally going to
leave me alone?”

“
I came to give you a good
night kiss and to make sure you remember what I said. You do
remember, don’t you, Alice?”

Julie noticed the confused look on Dr.
Waite’s face. “He thinks he’ll be able to guess what my name is
like this. You know, say a name and see if I react to it. What he
doesn’t realize is that I don’t care if he ever guesses. So no
matter what he guesses, he’s shit out of luck,” Julie
explained.

“
Behave, Julie, or I’ll
tell Becky to be your nurse tonight.”

Julie shut up. She hated Becky. The
girl didn’t have a compassionate bone in her body and she hated
Julie as much as Julie did her. She grabbed the sheet when Damon
was about to pull it back from her. But let go when he raised a
brow at her. Closing her eyes, she leaned back hard into the
pillows.

The wound was a long slice across her
belly. She knew it was bad. She’d been trying to take care of it on
her own for two days. Julie couldn’t even stitch it on her own; her
breasts kept getting in the way.

Moon, Julie wasn’t sure what his real
name was, had sliced her open when she’d come across him sleeping
in the rain one night. Someone had peed in his box and when Julie
had touched his shoulder to wake him, he’d come at her with the
knife, raking it across her belly in a heartbeat.

It was deep and it had bled like an
artery had been cut. For a few minutes after it had happened, she
was sure Moon had eviscerated her, spilling her guts out on the
cold, wet ground. Julie had tried taping it closed, but she had
started to pass out from blood loss and had gone to the hospital.
She’d had to pick up Rodney’s meds anyway.

“
Julie, look at me,
please? I’d like to judge how much pain you’re in when I touch
around the stitches.”

“
It fucking hurts. I don’t
think you looking at my face is going to make a spit of
difference,” she told Dr. Waite.

“
Julie...I’m serious. You
want me to call Becky to come in here and sit with you?” Julie
glared at Damon. With a low “prick,” she looked at Dr.
Waite.

Cain was laughing. She wasn’t sure if
it was at her or Damon, but figured it was at her. When he pressed
a little too hard on her sore belly, she had to bite her lip to
keep from cussing at him. As it was, she called him plenty in her
mind. His apology had her look at him again.

“
When can I leave?” she
asked as he finished up. “He said three days.” Julie jabbed her
finger in the general direction of Damon. “But you’re my doc now.
So, what do you say?”

“
Five days. You’re still
very—”

“
No fucking way am I
staying five days. I have things to do. You just rethink that right
now.”

Dr. Waite looked ready to pop
something. Humor suited him, she thought, and wanted to make him
laugh more. But she in was no mood to appreciate his sparkling eyes
and twitching lips.

“
Ten days then. If you
continue along those lines, Miss Julie, I can double it until you
die of old age. Damon’s deal works with me. Would you like to argue
with me some more, Julie? I’m sure I could get you completely
healthy in say...about three months.”

Julie looked at Damon, who was coughing
behind his hand. He either had a horrific cold or he too was
laughing at her. Julie decided that payback was going to be a real
bitch for these two.

“
Fine. But if Nurse Becky
Bitch steps one foot in this room, I’m not going to be responsible
for what happens to her.”

“
Five days and I’ll make
sure she stays away. And before you open that pretty mouth,
remember that it goes to twenty if you do.”

Julie decided that Dr. Waite was going
to pay dearly for this. But she wisely kept her mouth
shut.

~CHAPTER THREE~

Cain stopped by to see his mother the
next morning. She was awake and being rude to one of the nurses.
Cain neatly slipped in and took the meds from the nurse, who looked
ready to cry, and told her that he would take care of
it.

“
That’s her job, you know?
Stupid girl should just learn to take a little constructive
criticism and learn from it. Not have doctors do her job for
her.”

Cain handed his mother her pills and
wondered about the carton of milk and Danish sitting on her tray.
“Whose is this?” He pushed the tray away when she went to reach for
it.

“
It’s mine. Your father
brought it to me...hey! That’s mine. Damn it, Cain, I was going to
eat that.”