Chapter 27: Patients

Riley decided on Wednesday afternoon that he wanted to talk to Mia. He coaxed a friend into driving him over to Argus Falls where he met up with Mia as she got off the school bus near her home. When he saw her get off the bus he quickly walked toward her. "Hey," he waved and approached.

Mia was stunned to see him, "Hi," she said shyly.

"Can I walk you home?" He asked.

"OK," Mia said tentatively. Carly was with Mia, but she quickly faded into the background when Riley showed up, and went her own separate way.

Riley had no idea where they were headed as they walked along the sidewalk. His friend waited behind in the car and began talking to some of the other girls who had gotten off the school bus.

"Pretty crazy what they say about my dad and your mom," Riley said as they walked along.

"Yeah," Mia agreed nervously.

"I don't know if it's true or not," Riley said and he turned to look at her, "But obviously if it's true; I guess we better not date each other."

Mia wanted hide, "Yeah, it would be weird."

"Very," Riley managed a grin and realized as they walked along that he felt better than he had in days being around Mia, "I mean I can't date my own sister."

Mia was afraid to look at him. "The possibility that we have the same dad is beyond weird, you know?"

"Yeah," Riley nodded, searching for the right words. "Whatever happened fifteen years ago, I wanted you to know that if you're my sister, well that's cool."

It was awkward for both of them as they spoke openly about the possibility of being brother and sister. When the words were said out loud it somehow made them seem more real. Mia sighed, "This is really messed up."

"I know," Riley said and he wished he could make her feel better because he could tell she had been struggling just as much or more than he had, "I want to be your friend no matter what."

Mia looked at him tentatively, "I want to be your friend too."

"Good," Riley sighed, "That's settled."

Mia was on the verge of tears and she didn't want to cry in front of him, "Listen I need to get home, I can't really talk right now," she said and quickly turned away from him and rushed off, leaving him behind in the dust.

He watched her hurry away and then he cursed his dad before turning around to walk back to his friend who was waiting, "Let's get the hell out of here," Riley said as he climbed inside his friend's car.

"You got it," his friend revved up the engine and they sped off.

Jordan and Angel were up north seeing patients, but they didn't have a very full calendar and they were finished quite early. Jordan smiled at her with affection as they packed up their equipment, "You make a pretty damn good nurse."

"Thank you Doctor Parker," She grinned. The truth was she truly enjoyed assisting him with his patients.

"Calling me 'doctor'," Jordan laughed, "It's about time you became more respectful."

"Oh get over yourself!" Angel teased and she darted away from him as he attempted to grab her by the arm so he could tickle her. He chased her around playfully until he finally managed to grab her by the arm and hug her to him. "Take that," he said playfully poking her in the side and kissing her.

She laughed, "I notice you haven't spanked me in several days."

"Oh my God," he said in a serious tone, "Thanks for reminding me," he laughed and swatted her backside several times playfully.

"You call that a spanking?" She giggled.

He remembered the night before and how she had woke up screaming and terrified of Ethan, "Let's run away and get married," he said out of the blue.

"What?" she pushed him away, "What brought that on? I think a spanking would be easier to take."

"Well when you woke up last night so worried about Ethan," he said slowly, "It got me thinking that I would have a better claim to you if we got married."

"No Jordan," She said in irritation, "I can't believe you're even asking me that, I'm not going to get married to you."

"Why, because I'm not good enough?" He pretended to be wounded by her words.

Angel grinned and pushed him away and went outside to smoke a cigarette, "I'm the one who isn't good enough," she said as came outside a few minutes later after he finished gathering up the remainder of their equipment and locking all the doors.

"I wonder," He mused as he stood beside her; watching her smoke, "What your life would have been like if that rape had never happened to you."

Angel scoffed, "What good does it do to wonder that now?"

He put the bags he had been carrying down on the pavement and reached over and took her in his arms, "I see a spark in your eyes every now and then," he grinned, "Just like now. You have this impish little spark," and he grabbed the cigarette from her fingers and threw it down to the ground, stubbing it out with his boot. They were alone in the deserted parking lot of a small makeshift city building in a remote town. No one was around for miles. "I can see how maybe you were a little rebellious as a teen."

She laughed at his words, "A little? You think?"

He caressed her tenderly, "I sure would have loved to have seen how you would have turned out if you had been allowed to live a normal life."

"There is no such thing as a 'normal' life," Angel said uncomfortably and pushed him away so she could light another cigarette.

"Why won't you marry me?"

She shook her head, "Well aside from the fact that we barely know each other, you don't want someone like me Jordan."

"How do you know what I want?" He asked. He wondered how he could make her understand that she was exactly what he wanted, more than he wanted anything else in the world.

Angel looked at him affectionately, "OK Doc, I sometimes wonder what it would have been like for me if I had finished high school at St. Christopher's too," she took a puff of her cigarette, "And maybe have gone on to college afterward like Rori did."

"And got married like Rori?" Jordan winked, "and then had two kids?"

Angel laughed. "No," she said poking him playfully in the chest, "I think somehow I would have skipped the domesticated life. I think I probably would have defied my father's wishes and expectations by becoming a lawyer or something," she grinned, "Because Martin doesn't think women can do things like that you know."

"I know," Jordan smiled. "But you would have shown him."

"I would have," she said playfully and then her expression turned dark. "I should never have come back here."

"Don't start that shit again," Jordan grumbled.

"It just makes me realize what I lost that's all," Angel said bitterly, "And what I've become."

"You can overcome your past," Jordan said sternly, "It's not too late. I've told you that."

"As if it were that simple," Angel rolled her eyes and finished smoking her cigarette, stubbing it out and grabbing another with the intention of lighting it. Jordan grabbed the cigarette from her, "No more cigarettes."

Angel crinkled up her forehead in irritation, "Don't tell me what to do."

"Someone needs to," Jordan said with raised eyebrows, "Those things will kill you and you have a lot to live for, so it's time to stop."

"Fuck you!" She quipped.

"I told you not to talk to me like that," He warned.

She frowned, "Jordan, this isn't going to work. I know you mean well, but it's useless. It's just a matter of time before Ethan finds me. I'm sure he already knows I'm here, I don't know how he knows, I just have a sense that he does."

"Don't talk like that," Jordan said in a warning tone, "It's going to be just fine, you're going to rejoin your life and Ethan won't be able to find you."

"What planet do you live on?" She asked shaking her head in disbelief and pushing him away as she took out another cigarette.

"Stop it," Jordan said grabbing the cigarette from her, "Stop smoking and stop talking like this. I told you I was going to help you get your life back on track and that I will protect you from Ethan and I will."

She looked at him doubtfully, "Whatever Jordan. Even if you could protect me from him, I'm a fucking train wreck; you have no idea all I've been through," she said in anguish, "And you know Ethan; he's coming to get me and when he does he'll never let me go again. He'll see me dead first."

Jordan grabbed her firmly by the wrist and looked down into her eyes, "I warned you to stop talking like this," he said and he pulled her out behind the building. She stumbled after him wondering if he intended to do what she thought he was going to do. "You wouldn't dare," she said as he sat down on a stump and pulled her up next to him.

"I told you not to talk about yourself like that," Jordan said, "not when you're around me."

"So you plan to spank me for it?"

Jordan looked up at her, "Yes. I'm worried too Angel, but I don't want you to give up or talk like your life is over, it isn't."

"This is a dumb reason to spank me," She said in irritation as he pulled her over his lap.

Jordan began to smack her bottom, "No it isn't. I love you Angel."

Angel struggled as he began to smack her bottom, "And this is how you show love, by beating me?"

Jordan laughed at her words, "No more talking bad about the woman I love," Jordan said and smacked her a dozen or more times on her jean clad posterior as hard as he could as she struggled against him. "Stop it!"

He let her up and watched her rub her bottom over her clothing as she glared angrily at him, "you're a brute."

Jordan stood up and brushed past her and went to load up the truck. When he was finished he opened her door and motioned for her to get inside, "Let's go home."

Angel climbed in the truck beside him and folded her arms in protest, "I don't see what good spanking me did."

Jordan shook his head and smiled, "Of course you don't." He started up the truck and headed out on the road for the long drive home. It was going to be a long trip.

Mia sat at the kitchen table after dinner doing her homework. Claudia was in the kitchen with Mia and she noticed that Mia spent most of her time staring out the kitchen window or off into space rather than studying. Claudia knew it couldn't be easy for her granddaughter. The entire town was talking about the scandal and Claudia could only imagine the looks and singling out Mia was experiencing at school.

"Can I help you finish your homework?" Claudia offered after awhile and sat down at the table next to Mia.

Mia had been crying off and on for several days and had gotten very little sleep. She was exhausted and she knew her grades were slipping because she couldn't seem to focus on school work no matter how hard she tried. She wondered if she was even going to pass a couple of her classes, her grades were a disaster. Her grades had begun to dip a little when her mother had first come to town, and now that she knew about Coach Bills they were taking a nose dive. She knew her grandpa wouldn't approve. "What Gram?" Mia asked absently, turning to look at her grandma.