Chapter 9

We both put on the minimum we could get away with. Our shoes stayed on the floor, kicked over near the guest bed; our bras and panties went under the pillow. I went to the door and opened it.

Jeff was standing in the hall. He smiled, took a look at me, then noticed Sissy standing against the wall, near her brother.

He looked back at me, and said, "Well?"

"I... uh... uh..."

He shook his head and said, "Oh, you're no help," then walked over to Sissy and held out his hand. "I'm Dr. Bradley. I'm willing to bet you know our patient here." He gestured at Bubba, still fast asleep with a goofy smile on his face.

She had more presence than I did. She reached for his hand and said, "Sissy Albert. I'm Anthony's sister."

"You mean Bubba?"

She giggled. "Yes, Bubba."

He looked over at the bed, then back at Sissy. "How in the world could someone as ugly as him have a sister as beautiful as you?"

She turned red and mumbled "Thank you."

He went over to the bed and moved the blankets down to Bubba's waist. He slid his hand under the splint where the break was.

"Everything seems good here." He lifted up the blankets and looked under them. "Ah. Good old Grossmont. Much better than that stupid hospital gown." He looked over at Sissy. "Your idea?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Sir? Do you see someone else in the room? My name's Jeff. Dr. Bradley in extreme circumstances. Right Nancy?"

"Yes, Jeff."

"Well. At least you can talk now. Your patient looks happy. And he doesn't stink anymore."

Sissy giggled again.

"Were you here before he got his bath?"

"No, S. No, Jeff."

"Well, then, you don't know what I'm talking about. Your brother smelled pretty rotten this morning. They wanted to take him down to the morgue, but Nancy talked them out of it." He held his hand up to his mouth so I couldn't see his lips. "I think he and Nancy over there have something going on. What do you think?"

"Well, I don't know..."

"Oh, come on, Sissy Anthony. You're not blind, are you? Look at her. She can hardly talk. And he didn't get that smile on his face like that from any drugs I prescribed. Poor girl can't even dress herself."

"What do you mean, I can't dress myself?"

"Go look in the mirror, Nancy."

"I'll look, but I think you're just being a smartie pants, Doctor Bradley."

"Ooh, Doctor Bradley. Smartie pants. You go look in the mirror and then we'll talk, young lady."

I went into the bathroom and turned on the light. I had to shut the door to see the mirror, and I was glad once I did. Shit! The buttons on my blouse were offset. The top button was in the second hole and one side of the collar was almost two inches higher than the other. I re-buttoned it and went back into the room. I'm sure my face was bright red.

"See? I... Oh, my mistake. Sorry about that, Nancy." He flashed me a smile.

"Uh... That's OK."

"Good. No harm done, then. Your patient looks good. No swelling that I can see. Just make sure you don't do anything to stress the fracture and I'm sure he'll be chasing you around in no time."

He went to the foot of the bed and got the chart. "Good, Good. Make sure he gets plenty of fluids. He can lose a lot just lying in bed like he is." He smiled at me, then he looked over at Sissy.

"I bet he usually eats like a pig, doesn't he."

She giggled once more. "Yes, Jeff."

He made a note on the chart. "I'm putting him on a high protein diet. Don't want him going through withdrawal."

He came over to me and kissed me on the forehead. "You're doing a good job here, Nancy. Keep it up and he should be able to leave here Monday or Tuesday. Of course, I'm assuming the two of you will keep an eye on him at home."