Lita groaned and slowly opened her eyes, only to quickly shut them against the blinding light of the hospital room.
'What the-', she thought to herself as she slowly came to her senses and all the memories came flooding into her mind. She remembered being caught in a hellish place with fire all around her and suddenly an image of Nathan flashed before her.
'I wonder if he got out all right…' The thought that he might have perished in the fire made Lita start, 'If he's…then I wouldn't be able to live with myself…what about his family, his wife or kids?' At this she couldn't help but give a slight laugh inside her head 'Who'd want to marry that jerk, much less have his children?' But she gave herself a mental slap 'Hey! That jerk saved your life no matter how much you look at it, you owe him one.'
To separate herself from these bothersome thoughts, Lita attempted to open her eyes again. This time her gaze met a pair of hard gray eyes.
"So you're awake are you?" voiced the stern lips that was part of the face that the gray eyes belonged to. "Good, good, get up now, get up will you? We have a rush of patients this week, can't be bothered to waste valuable space on the healthy." It was a strict looking, elderly nurse that had come to welcome Lita out of her slumber.
Lita felt a strong grip on her arm as she was swiftly hauled into an upright position. Her head suddenly felt very light and she almost collapsed back onto the bunk if not for the hand latched onto her arm.
"Come now, I know the hospital bunk is quite comfy, but it's time for you to go home now", said the exasperated matron.
Dazed, Lita did as the nurse commanded and slowly lowered her feet onto the tile floor beside the bed. Again she was hauled up and the iron grip on her arm guided her out the door of the room.
As she was leaving, the voice that came with the iron grip commanded, "Ester, will you please see that the sheets are replaced and the bed prepared for a new patient? Be quick about it now, we can't make the patients clean their own beds you know." With this a nervous looking young nurse scurried in and began to do the iron grip's bidding.
Lita was led into a waiting room and pushed into a gray chair that resembled the multitude of gray chairs around it. Her head drooped and she looked stupidly at her legs and realized that she was clad in nothing but a hospital gown. She tried to utter a phrase of protest but she was beset with a bout of coughing.
"I see you still have some soot in you. Bad for the lungs that is. Fine fine, I'll see that you get some water." And the iron grip walked away to the place where one can obtain the oh so difficult water.
'Great service this hospital has…' Lita thought sarcastically as she coughed up something that she desperately hoped was not vital to her health.
Soon the iron grip came back with a glass of water, which Lita quickly downed, after which she managed to croak, "Where are my clothes?"
"Your clothes?" Replied the iron grip, "When you came in, they weren't even considered to be clothes anymore, covered with juice stains, fish scales, blackened with soot, and what not, of course we had to dispose of them, or else they may pose harm to other patients with allergies and so on."
"What? Cough, How am I suppose to cough walk out of the hospital looking cough like this cough?"
When Lita looked up after her second bout of coughing, the iron grip had already disappeared, leaving her in a stupor.
Nathan groaned and slowly opened his eyes, only to quickly shut them against the blinding light of the hospital room.
'What the-', he thought to himself as he slowly came to his senses and all the memories came flooding into his mind. He remembered being caught in a hellish place with fire all around him and suddenly an image of Lita flashed before him.
'I wonder if she got out all right…' The thought that she might have perished in the fire made Nathan start, 'If she's…then I wouldn't be able to live with myself…in a way it was my fault for ruining her business and letting her find herself in that sort of situation, but if she had better manners then she wouldn't have made me resort to what I did…'
To separate himself from these bothersome thoughts, Nathan attempted to open his eyes again. This time his gaze met a pair of soft brown eyes.
"Oh I see you're awake now?" voiced the sweet lips that were part of the face that the brown eyes belonged to. "Good to see you are well? Don't be in a rush to get up now, you should feel absolutely normal before you try to get up." It was a young, buxom nurse that had come to welcome Nathan out of his slumber.
"No no, I think I feel fine now, I have a very important meeting this evening and it is imperative that I attend. If you could please show me to checkout."
"Awww, leaving so soon? Alright, I understand, but it sure is a disappointment, we don't get many handsome patients like you in here often." Pouted the nurse.
Nathan raised his head and slowly lowered his feet onto the tile floor beside the bed. When he did so he discovered that he was dressed in a hospital gown and an pair of ill-fitting pajama pants that only reached mid-calf.
"Excuse me, but where are my clothes?"
"Your clothes?" Replied the nurse, "When you came in, they weren't even considered to be clothes anymore, covered with juice stains, fish scales, blackened with soot, and what not, but I knew you would need want them back, seeing it was an Armani suit after all, so I took it to the cleaning department. Look I even ironed it!" with this the nurse handed him a neatly folded bundle, "I'm afraid there's a bad burn mark on the sleeve of your outer jacket though."
"Thank you nonetheless, I must say, this hospital possesses great service."
"Oh you and your compliments!" Giggled the nurse.
"Do you mind…I need to change."
"Oh, alright as you wish." Agreed the nurse in a disappointed tone.
After he had changed into his now a bit shrunken suit, he asked the nurse where his vehicle was.
"Oh your car? They had it towed to the hospital parking lot, because it was dangerous at the restaurant, what with debris all over the lot and all. I must say it's a mighty fine ride, I had the opportunity to personally see it for myself, you know, just to make sure it was ok. Oh here are the keys, they were in your pocket."
Nathan was left puzzled as to how it was possible for a nurse to keep track of all the patients' information like that, he couldn't even believe the nurse was so friendly as to give him a goodbye hug, but he walked to the check out desk without further questioning.
As he was walking through the waiting room, he noticed a slumbering Lita slouched in that gray chair among the multitude of gray chairs.
'Well might as well be a nice guy all the way today, to repent for my actions I suppose.' Thought Nathan as he gently tapped her on the shoulder.
"Nrmmm…" muttered Lita as she rubbed her eyes and slowly awoke to face a pair of piercing green eyes that were so like hers.
"This is no place to fall asleep, a dangerous place for a woman you know." voiced the firm lips that were part of the face that the green eyes belonged to.
"This is a hospital, I'm not going to get raped looking like this. I'm diseased."
"What disease?"
"Cancer. You."
"Ouch, I'm hurt. At least you've given me the quality of perseverance though."
"What do you want?"
"Well I'm guessing you are sleeping here in a hospital gown because you like too right?"
"My clothes were thrown out."
"Perfect. You can cover yourself with this jacket. It has a burn mark on the sleeve, can't ruin my reputation as a snappy dresser carrying this around you know."
"Thanks, that solves one problem." Replied Lita wryly. "Now the question is, how do I get home."
"Why my lady, you don't even have to ask, as a renowned prince in shining armor, I have my white horse waiting outside, you dying to transport you back to your castle."
Lita hesitated, then ground her teeth, "Fine. I'm desperate. You can take me home."
"Well luckily both of us got off with only minor injuries, wouldn't you say?" said Nathan attempting to break the very, very thick, ice.
"Sure, I am soooo lucky that my restaurant burned to the ground and I ended up in a hospital where they don't know the definition of patient care and now I am in your oh so honorable presence."
"Haha well I wouldn't go as far as to say 'honorable presence, although I am the famed Nathan Philer."
In the car, tension abounded. Lita was seething from barely quelled rage, to have her restaurant burned to the ground, being kicked out of the hospital, and even having to accept a ride from this jerk was too much.
Nathan on the other hand, felt pretty good having an ego boost, he was now a courageous hero for rescuing a damsel in distress and the damsel in question was now indebted to him.
All these factors and the recent stress made Lita go into one of her vents of rage again. Once again she saw red and suddenly all hell broke loose.
"You mean to say that you and Philer are one and the same! Do you know how much crap you've caused me to endure! I CAN'T BELIEVE A PERSON CAN BE SO-SO #$ &$! OK I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE, LET ME OUT OF THIS DAMN CAR RIGHT NOW!"
"I can't stop the car right now! We're driving on the road and there's no place to stop, just settle down and let me drive you home ok!"
"NO I WILL NOT, STOP THIS CAR RIGHT NOW OR I WILL STOP IT FOR YOU!"
"HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING! STOP! DON'T TOUCH THE STEERING WHEEL!"
Nathan slammed on the brakes and with Lita trying to choke him, haphazardly steered them into a parking spot on the side of the road, almost plowing over the parking meter. Wherein a police officer immediately rushed over to examine the carnage.
In the process of the whole thing, Nathan had been knocked back against the driver's side window, with Lita on top of him, hands still around his neck.
"You damn kids these days! Always trying new tricks, looking for excitement! You could've have damaged public property, or injured a pedestrian!"
Lita jumped up trying to get away from Nathan, only to knock her head on the roof of the car. She sagged down in her seat, resigned and feeling guilty, while Nathan gave his information to the officer, who gave him a fine and walked away, all the while muttering "damn kids these days."
Back in the car, Nathan tried to control his exasperation. "My god, I try to do something nice to make up for what I did and this is what I get. You know what, you are a crazy woman. Sigh…might as well complete a knight's task, princess"
And with this, Nathan drove Lita home without further trouble.
Author's note:
Well, after almost a year of absence, I again resume this story. Maybe it's New Year's Eve, and I've decided not to be lazy anymore.
I haven't wrote anything for this in a year, so don't think it took a year to write this chapter, because it didn't, this one is actually a bit rushed, so please forgive me. Hope you guys enjoy it. Please don't kill me if I kept you waiting for a year. Hopefully, you won't have to wait another year for the next chapter…but I can't promise that…so here are my apologies ahead of time: SORRY.