Chapter Seventeen
Carter found Steve in the kitchen when he went to have breakfast. They each went about there way, Carter resented how well Steve seemed to know his way about the house. He must have spent most of the time here when Carter was away.
"Just what are you doing with my Sam," Steve asked suddenly. He was still angry from the night before. This Carter guy was obviously sleeping with Sam, and he wasn't happy about it.
"What do you mean?" Carter was slightly puzzled by the question.
"You sleeping with her?" Steve replied.
"No, we're just friends."
"Yeah, guys don't buy pretty jewellery for girls who are 'just friends'. You are the one who bought her the bracelet?"
"Yeah, I am, but that doesn't mean anything." Carter answered.
"You expect me to believe that?" Steve spit the words out, "No guy buys a girl diamonds unless he's expecting something in return. Hell most guys don't buy flowers for a girl without expecting sex."
"I don't want Sam to sleep with me just because I bought her jewellery." Carter was slightly taken aback by how open Steve was being about his feelings, they had only met the day before after all.
"But you do want her to sleep with you?" Steve made it a question.
"What? No!"
"You don't find her attractive? There's nothing wrong with Sam, she's one hell of a girl you know and she's gorgeous. She can be a bit moody at times, you'll have to forgive that; but it's worth it when you have her body writhing underneath yours. She's one hell of a ride!"
Carter stared at Steve, he couldn't believe this guy. This was the guy who Alex idolised? The guy was a jerk, it was hard to see what had even attracted Sam to him in the first place.
The anger was boiling up inside him, he had been with Sam last night, he had seen how frightened she had been and he had seen why. The bruise on her back had been put there by this jerk, it was too much for him. Without giving it a further thought he clenched his fist and felt great satisfaction when it came into contact with Steve's nose.
Steve stepped back, shocked at the strength of Carter's punch. He wiped the blood away from under his nose and burst out laughing. The laugh sounded so sadistic that Carter was frozen to his place. Just what was Steve thinking?
"You love her," Steve said and burst out laughing again. "She'll never love you back you know, she'd never love someone like you."
Carter resisted the urge to punch him again, he didn't want Steve to know just how much his words affected him.
"Even if she did, you had better back off because she's mine. You see me, Sam and Alex; we're a family. Nobody messes with my family, I don't let them." Steve wasn't laughing anymore. He looked deathly serious and with the blood running from his nose, he looked like someone you wouldn't want to mess with.
"Funny that, I wonder what her views are on the subject, considering she's pregnant with another man's child and all."
"That doesn't change anything, just because the idea of birth control seems to lost on her doesn't mean anything. We're a family, she's tried to struggle against it but she can't run forever."
"And you can't force her to be stay and play happy families with you."
"I did before, why should now be different."
Carter was appalled, this guy really had no morals at all. And to be so open about it . . . Looking around the kitchen he saw that the mirror from the hall was on the counter, small traces of white powder on it. He was high, he was high in Carter's own home. Steve really was too much.
"You'd think that, seems how you seem to care so much about Sam and Alex, you'd be around more often. Not to mention being sober around them."
"I'm around as much as I can be."
"As much as it suits you more like."
"Look here," Steve said coming up real close to Carter so their faces were almost touching. "You don't know anything about me, or my family. So why don't you just stay out of it."
"Sam is a very good friend of mine, and her and Alex are living under my roof, so I don't think I can stay out of it." Carter wasn't going to let Steve intimidate him.
"You can't keep them from me, I have every right to see Alex and where Alex goes Sam is sure to follow."
"You're right, I can't stop you from seeing Alex. I can stop you from coming here though, from now on you're not welcome here so don't come back."
"You're going to pay for that, and for what you did to my nose. I could beat you up, but with you that would be too easy. No, I have something better to hurt you with."
He stared Carter right in the eyes and Carter gulped, he couldn't help it and he knew that Steve meant what he said.
"The night before you came back, I had sex with Sam in your home. And believe me she was willing. So now every time you see me with Sam, I'm going to make sure you know that I've had her in ways that you can only dream of." He whispered the whole thing to Carter, and enjoyed the look on Carter's face afterwards.
Sam and Alex entered the kitchen to find Steve and Carter like that, one standing nearly on top of the other, neither speaking.
"What's going on?" Alex asked looking from the two men to his mother. Sam just shrugged at her son, she was as clueless as he was.
Steve stepped back and put his hand up to his nose. Carter stayed where he was frozen to the spot. He was worried about what Steve would say and considering the fact that Carter had punched Steve things weren't looking to good for him.
"I was terribly clumsy and I whacked myself in the face, Carter here was just being a good doctor and checking out the damage." Steve answered Alex's question.
"Can I see?" Alex asked going over to his dad.
Steve bent down to his son and Alex inspected the damage, "Cool!" he exclaimed. Steve laughed at Alex's reaction.
"Sam would you be able to help me clean up?" Steve asked.
Sam looked from Steve to Carter and then back at Steve again. She had her doubts about how Steve had gotten the bloody nose, something had happened between the two men and she wanted to know what. She sighed and went and got a cloth and a basin of water and went over to where Steve was now sitting. Forcing a smile she started to wet the cloth.
"Hey Alex, would you do me a favour and get me a shirt from my bag? I can't go around wearing this one, it's got blood all over it."
Alex nodded and headed upstairs to retrieve it. Sam stood closer to Steve and he opened his legs so she was standing in between them. She started cleaning the blood off. Carter was left standing there watching them, unable to turn away.
When Sam turned slightly to wash out the cloth, Steve looked right over at Carter, making sure he was watching. She turned back and started wiping his face again, Steve in turn put his arms around her waist and started caressing her back, sliding one hand under her top so he could touch her skin. He could see Carter out of the corner of his eye and he enjoyed the pain expression on his face.
Sam tried hard to just concentrate on what she was doing and ignore Steve's hands. Watching the blood from the cloth turn the water pink she wished it was that easy to wash away her problems. Turning back to face Steve, she inhaled sharply as his hand came into contact with her skin. She closed her eyes for a second and felt everything wash away inside her, just like the blood through the water, until she felt nothing. Then she continued on with what she was doing.
Carter watched the whole time, he found it hard to do anything else. Steve was pushing all of the right buttons and Carter could feel the jealously rising inside him. He wanted to go over and pull Sam out of Steve's grasp but he couldn't move. His mind was struggling with images of Steve and Sam together, and he felt as though someone had punched him in the chest. How could Sam willingly have slept with that guy? He hadn't believed Steve at first when he said she had been willing to have sex with him, but now, watching the two of them, he saw that she didn't move away. She didn't even try to stop him. Maybe Steve was right.
"There, all done," Sam said placing the cloth back into the basin.
She went to move away but Steve pulled her back, he pulled a little too hard and she stumbled and fell into his lap. He put his arm around her waist so that she wouldn't be able to get up. Rubbing his hand up and down her leg he looked over at Carter.
"She's one hell of a nurse, isn't she?" He asked, "Anyone would be lucky to have her looking after them."
"Yeah," Carter agreed, "she's a really good nurse, very talented."
"That she is," Steve laughed, "That she is."
No one in the room spoke, each lost in their own thoughts. Both Sam and Carter felt slightly trapped in Steve's sick little game and neither could figure a way out.
"Well," Steve said after a few moments, while standing up and pushing Sam off his knee, "as much fun as much fun as this is, I'm going to go and see what happened to Alex. He's been way too long for just getting a shirt."
He gave Sam a quick hug and kissed her on the cheek and told her to make sure she had a proper breakfast, she was eating for two after all, then he exited the room leaving Sam and Carter alone.
The two had nothing to say to each other though. Carter had about a thousand questions that he wanted to ask Sam, but he just couldn't. It was her life after all and he didn't have any right to question it. Besides, he was too angry to talk to her, to talk to anyone.
I'm going to make sure you know that I've had her in ways that you can only dream of.
Steve's words kept repeating over and over in his head, and he didn't want to have to deal with anyone right then.
"Who's Sam?"
Luka turned around sharply and looked at the hooker who was sitting on the bed behind him. She had been silent the last few times, just like he had asked, and he had been shocked to hear her speak. Especially since she spoke her name.
"Where did you hear that name?"
"From you," she answered. "Do you mind if I smoke?"
Luka shook his head and she lit up a cigarette. He stared at her, he never spoke to her, how could he have told her Sam's name.
"You call out her name when you come," she said sensing Luka's puzzlement, "and since it's not my name I'm just curious as to who she is."
He hadn't even realised that he did that. It made sense though, he usually thought about Sam when he was with this woman.
"How do you know it's a she?"
"Oh please," she answered taking a drag of her cigarette, "I've slept with you, I know you're not gay."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Honey, when you've been in this business as long as I have, you can tell. And don't ask how, trust me, you don't want to know."
She took another drag and stared at him, waiting for his response. Luka was doing his best to keep his mind off of what she had just told him. He didn't want to think about how she could tell the difference, but it was difficult to take his mind off it.
"You gonna answer my question?" She asked.
"Sam was someone . . . she's an ex-girlfriend that's all. I'd rather not talk about it." Luka hoped she'd leave it at that.
"You still love her?. . . You don't have to answer, I can tell from the way you're acting. Why don't you try to win her back?"
"If I did get back together with her, you'd be losing a customer. Do you really want that?" He tried to push her away from the question she had asked.
"It'd just be one less guy to sleep with," she answered truthfully, "I'm just saying, surely you'd rather be with her then with some prostitute who's name you don't even know."
"Why do you care?"
"I don't know, I really don't. There's just something about you, something about your pain that's almost too much to witness, let alone live with."
There was something in the way she said those words that got to Luka, he had been ready to yell at her or just walk out. He had thought that she was just being nosy. But she was right, being with Sam would be so much better, it just wasn't an option.
"She doesn't love me anymore," He said quietly, "I'm sure of it."
Sam was in the ER, working, glad to have a valid reason for getting away from the house. Carter had hardly spoken to her since breakfast, whatever had passed between him and Steve had kept them both quiet for the day. It was unsettling.
She was searching through the medicines trying to find the right one for her patient. Someone had been putting them in the wrong places again and it meant she couldn't find anything. She felt someone brush past her and turning around her heart stopped as she found herself face to face with Luka.
And so it is
The shorter story
No love, no glory
No hero in her sky
Luka knew that he was barely breathing, he hadn't expected to run into her like this, and having her so close was killing him. She was close enough to touch, all he had to do was reach out. He couldn't even remember what he had come in for.
I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off of you
The only thing he could think of was her, and it took all his strength to stop himself from pulling her to him. To reach out and touch her, to kiss her, to hold her in his arms; it was almost too much to bear.
I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off of you
Sam's heart was beating so fast, all she could see was him. Her heart ached for him, ached for him to reach out and touch her, to kiss her, to hold her in his arms, to show her that he still loved her. She didn't quite see how they had come to this. Was she the one who sent him away?
Did I say that I loath you?
Did I say that I want to
Leave it all behind?
Looking away slowly they each found what they needed and went to leave. If they just concentrated on finding the meds and then leaving they'd be able to push the other person out of their mind, right?
I can't take my mind off of you
I can't take my mind off of you
They both went to leave at the same time and got caught against each other, it wasn't big enough for two people to walk through. Luka turned and let Sam pass. Both of them ached for the other and it was torture when she had to push past him, their bodies touching, because they knew this was the closest they were going to get to the other person and it hurt to think that.
I can't take my mind off of you
I can't take my mind off of you
They went their separate ways then, went on and did their jobs. Throughout everything they did: talking to the patients, healing their wounds, bringing patients back from near death; they couldn't stop thinking of the other. They couldn't stop thinking of the love they had lost. Couldn't stop themselves from thinking how the other person clearly didn't feel the same way anymore.
I can't take my mind . . .
TBC