Billy paced around Matt Crower's Office, admiring the simplicity of the role he had here in the Hospital. There were times when Billy wished he had been content with his position here, no political decisions to be made or higher responsibilities to be haunted by, Matt's position was high ranking enough to garner respect; however, low ranking enough to be able to leave the work in the Office when he left for the day. Billy envied the man's position right now, as he considered his own damned life
'So you're telling me that you think Selena will be better off at home, away from the medical care that she requires? Matt asked sarcastically, confused at the suggestion Billy had made.
Billy rolled his eye's at the question and let out a small laugh. This was not his suggestion, this was Lucas' and his friend had been very convincing. 'She'll be more comfortable in her own surroundings amongst her own things, which means she'll be able to rest easier and in turn heal quicker' he explained, just like Lucas had to him.
Matt thought for a moment and shook his head. Selena was making good progress after her multiple injuries; however, she had not been sleeping and she appeared more anxious recently without reason, causing him to be concerned over her mental well-being.
'I'll be on hand if she needs anything, I'm more than capable of takin' care of my girlfriend so there's no need to worry' Billy advised, just wanting to get out of here and back to his Secretary who was waiting for him at Jimmy's Bar. He liked Selena and at one point he had truly loved her; however, it was not in her nature to be faithful to one person and she was not loyal like Christie was, so he saw no reason to allow himself to be tied down solely to her.
'Are you willing to be on call 24/7?' Matt asked seriously, not believing Billy's commitment to the task no matter how much he tried to sell it.
'I have a new employee who wants more experience playin' Doctor and I'll be reachable 24/7 should any complications arise' Billy advised, forcing a reassuring smile for Matt. 'I am her next of kin don't forget, she can't speak properly for herself right now but I know she wouldn't wanna be here for long and I'm sure you've noticed how restless she's gettin' in that room Matt'
Matt let out a long sigh and rolled his eye's in exasperation, M was always telling him that he took on things that should not concern him at work and he supposed his protectiveness of Selena was one of those things. 'Fine, if you she willingly signs the discharge forms then I can't stop her from going with you' he resigned, realising that this meeting had made him late in checking on a patient.
Billy nodded his understanding as Matt ushered him out of his Office, then rushed to Selena's room alone where Lucas was waiting outside expectantly with the discharge forms.
Gail drove down Millers Avenue casually, watching the parents rushing to pick up their children from School. Her youngest children were secured comfortably in the backseat of her Mustang, along with Izzy who she had taken from Merlyn's Nursery in Goat Town.
After her run in with Joshua earlier and her conversation with Merlyn, Gail had wanted to get some normality back into her life; therefore, she had decided to get Rita from work accompanied by the babies, to save Ben a job later. Rita had been very grateful for her intervention when Gail interrupted her meeting with Billy, she was thankful that Gail had managed to convince Billy to allow her to leave early and now Rita sat quietly in the front passenger seat, watching the other parents go on with their usual routines.
'So, are you going to spill now or make me drive around all afternoon to get it out of you?' Gail asked sweetly, as she turned onto Mather Avenue to head away from the School and the increasing amount of traffic.
'I don't know what you mean' Rita replied nervously and continued staring out of the window.
Gail let out a small laugh and shook her head, then chose to remain silent. She had sensed the discomfort coming from her friend as soon as she pulled into the Juniper House Parking Lot, which is why she had chosen to interrupt the meeting that was taking place. Usually Gail did not care about such menial things when her life was so complicated; however, the secrecy between Billy and Rita had made her curious.
Rita waited for Gail to question her more, maybe scold her for not talking to her; however, she just kept her focus on the road and continued driving. Rita felt herself becoming anxious at the silence in the car, even the children were watching her closely and she did not like the attention being on her. 'It's nothin' really, it ain't even worth burdenin' you with' she said nervously, feeling her anxiety rising.
Gail sensed the tension building in Rita and knew the woman could not stand the silence. Rita was a simple creature, in some ways Gail envied her naivety; however, it made her easy to control and the woman was always eager to please, craving some kind of recognition or appreciation. Rita had not had the best upbringing, much like herself and the neglect she suffered from her demeaning family was demoralising.
If Gail had known her sooner, she could have built up her confidence in more appropriate ways rather than throwing her to the wolves and allowing her to make a deal with her husband; however, she had already made her choice and Gail could not go back on that now. It was a shame that Rita had to be dragged in to the darkness which consumed this Town, Lucas owned her now and judging by how uncomfortable Rita was in the meeting, it appeared that her service had already started.
'Fine!' Rita snapped, unable to stand the silence in the car any longer. 'Billy wants me to take care of Selena' she sighed and ran her hand through her hair in exasperation.
Gail smiled at Rita's inability to hold her tongue and winked at Luke in the backseat, who had been staring at Rita fixedly sensing his Mother required some assistance. 'Selena's got enough people taking care of her at the Hospital' she advised casually and turned onto the main road which led to the centre of Town.
'Well that's just it, she ain't at the Hospital no more' Rita responded concerned, not understanding what she had been dragged into.
Gail glanced at Rita confused for a moment, then returned her attention to the road. 'Of course she is, M was with her this mornin-'
'She ain't at the Hospital!' Rita interrupted in frustration, then spotted the look of warning on Gail's face and chose to reign herself in. 'What I mean is Billy got her discharged, said she's better off at home and that I could do with the extra experience in playin' Doctor' she said quietly and let out a relieved sigh when Gail smiled at her warmly, indicating she had not offended her with her mood.
Gail felt her darkness begin to stir within her; however, she forced her demeanour to remain calm and smiled at Rita reassuringly. 'I'm sure Matt wouldn't allow her to go unless she was ready' she advised pleasantly, not fully convinced by the statement herself.
'I'm sure you're right' Rita nodded, then suddenly noticed where they were and turned to Gail confused when she pulled up at the curb. 'What are we doin' here?' she asked concerned, just wanting to go home and think properly about what she had been ordered to do.
'I just need a few minutes, can you keep an eye on the rabble?' Gail asked sweetly, then got out of the car before waiting for an answer.
Gail was not stupid, her instincts had led her here as soon as Rita advised that Billy wanted her to take care of Selena and she knew exactly who was behind the order. As she entered the quiet Sheriff's Station, she disregarded Floyd as he started towards her and headed straight to the inner office. Before Floyd had a chance to catch up to her she opened the door to her husbands office abruptly and started at him seriously, disregarding the meeting he was having with Ben.
Lucas stared at Gail curiously and a small smile came across his lips. It had been a long time since she had visited him unannounced at work and this appearance was a pleasant surprise.
'Lucas I tried to sto-' Floyd started, then stopped talking when he saw Ben's look of warning.
'We'll leave you to it' Ben advised, feeling the tension instantly. He knew better than to get in the middle of these two and left the office, closing the door behind him to give them some privacy.
Lucas pushed the file he had been reviewing to one side, then stood up and walked casually towards his wife. 'This is a pleasant surprise, everythin' alright?' he asked curiously, as he closed the distance between them and placed his hands gently on her hips.
'Is there a reason it shouldn't be?' Gail responded softly, pushing him gently towards his desk and slowly unzipping his pants, before kneeling down in front of him.
Lucas watched her suspiciously for a moment, then let out a low moan as she released his hard manhood and kissed it softly without warning. He tangled his hand in her hair as she ran her tongue from the bottom of his manhood to the top teasingly, then nipped at his tip playfully. 'You couldn't wait?' he asked excitedly.
'This can't wait' Gail said sweetly, then took him in her mouth and began sucking intently.
Lucas gripped the side of the desk hard and bit his bottom lip as a strong bolt of pleasure surged through him. He sensed something was not right; however, his vision was clouded by the intense pleasure she was giving him and he was unable to think of anything but her right now.
Gail smiled at her ability to distract him and attempted to search his thoughts for what he had put into play, she cursed herself as she could not get through his desire for her and tried to push down her own desire, turned on by how much he was enjoying her attention. 'What are you up to?' she finally asked, removing him from her mouth for a moment and taking in a much needed breath.
'You're the one doin' something unexpected Love, should I be suspicious?' Lucas asked curiously, then let out a loud moan as she took him back in her mouth and began sucking again.
Gail savoured the taste of him in her mouth, unable to push down her desire for him. She quickened her movements, releasing him only to lick and nip his tip momentarily, then smiled when he erupted in her mouth and swallowed instinctively.
Lucas bit down on his fist in an attempt to control his volume as he exploded in her mouth, then pulled her up and began kissing her passionately.
Gail tangled her hands in his thick caramel blonde hair as he forced his tongue into her mouth, then yanked his head back hard and stared deep into his eyes. 'I don't know what you're up to, but you're clearly trying to test my patience' she advised calmly, attempting to push down her natural urge to straddle him on the desk.
Lucas sensed Rita outside in Gail's car and realised that she had found out about Selena's release quicker than he had intended. 'I wouldn't push you Darlin', not until I was sure you were fully recovered anyway, but I won't stop my boy being who he want's be' he said sternly, not allowing her to cloud his judgement when it came to Caleb.
Gail saw his demeanour change instantly and let out a small laugh. 'Alright, you keep corrupting your boy Master Buck. I'm just a simple nobody who shouldn't have an opinion on the matter after all' she said sarcastically, releasing her grip on him and stepping back.
Lucas had not meant to offend her and grabbed her arm as she turned to leave. 'You know that's not what I'm sayin', but the boy is growin' and you can't stop that Love' he explained softly, sensing her darkness close to the surface.
Gail stared up at him with irritation, hating his calmness over her Son turning into a murderer. 'You know what Soulmate, you're right. I don't think I'm fully recovered, in fact I don't think I'm recovered at all' she smiled sweetly, forcing her anger to remain caged.
'Gail-' Lucas stared, sensing where this was going and stroking her arm affectionately in an attempt to calm her.
'No!' Gail snapped, pulled her arm free of his grasp and squaring up to him fully. 'You want him to have freedom while he grows into something terrible, that's fine but don't expect me to bow to your every whim while I'm still recovering from a difficult childbirth...In fact, I'm thinking what you've just gotten out of me has zapped all of my energy, I doubt I'll be in any fit state to see to your needs tonight, or for the foreseeable future for that matter'
'You're bein' unreasonable' Lucas advised frustrated, feeling his own rage beginning to rise.
'And your being an Ass' Gail replied bluntly, then turned around and headed out of the office abruptly.
Lucas inhaled deeply and shook his head in exasperation, wondering why it was so hard for his family to fall in line.
Caleb stood excitedly outside of the large yellow door, which opened into the Kitchen of Selena's bungalow. His new companion purred quietly at his feet as it rubbed itself affectionately against his leg and waited for orders, hoping it would be allowed to play with the pretty woman some more. Rose was waiting for him further down the Street, he had convinced her that he wanted to ensure Miss Coombs had settled back into her home properly after being discharged from the Hospital and had been happy when she obediently followed his order to wait for him away from the property.
Dark thoughts were plaguing his mind, there were so many things that he wanted to do and the fact that his Father had arranged for his Teacher to return home indicated that he was free to experiment with his darkness. With all of the thoughts going through his mind, he was finding it difficult to settle on one thing and decided to just find his victim, then see what act suits his mood. The door opened slowly by itself, as though authorising his choice and he took a step through the threshold with the small black cat following his lead.
Suddenly, a strong hand closed around his wrist and dragged him back outside, causing him to curse out loud. He was about to release his darkness on the person who had gotten in his way; however, when he saw his Father standing dominantly beside him he just let out a long sigh. 'What're you doin' here?' Caleb asked confused, feeling the darkness within him stirring.
'I could ask you the same thing, it's comin' up to your curfew' Lucas advised sternly, sensing his Son's desire to challenge him.
Caleb was about to argue, then saw the look of warning in his Father's eyes and thought better of it. 'You never care if I'm late' he said moodily.
'But your Mom does and you need to start thinkin' of her for both of our sake's' Lucas informed him, then dragged him towards his car where Rose was waiting nervously.
Caleb shot Rose a look of betrayal and got into the car without saying a word.
Lucas smiled charmingly at Rose and placed her bicycle in the trunk of his car with Caleb's, then signalled for her to get into the backseat. He shot Selena's bungalow a look of irritation, then got into his car and started driving the children home, knowing this was not the night to test his wife.
Selena sat in her large comfortable bed, reading the up to date reports on her class that had been provided by their Substitute Teacher. She had returned home with Billy a few hours earlier and he had left her to get situated properly. Things had been quiet so far, making it easy for her to rest and started to see the benefit of her returning home rather than being in the Hospital.
Selena had been told that Billy and Rita would be playing Doctor on split shifts, to ensure that she had enough care and support. M and Matt also vowed to visited her to ensure that she was doing alright, which had been surprising to her. It made her happy that she had people who actually appeared to care about her well-being, she was not used to this kind of treatment. She had thought that this may have been a ploy orchestrated by Lucas; however, there was no evidence of any foul play and she was starting to finally feel at ease now that she was in her own surroundings.
'Well that's good, although you know better than to let your guard down so quickly' Gail advised flatly, as she leaned against the bedroom door casually and waited to be acknowledged.
'How did you get in?' Selena asked confused, cursing herself for not being as aware as she should be.
'The same way anyone with enough intent to hurt you would...quietly' Gail advised and moved closed to Selena, surveying the room curiously. 'Have you had any incidents or visitation's that I should know about?'
Selena shook her head slowly, knowing to whom she was referring to. 'The little demon has kept his distance since earlier, along with his pet' she said venomously, still feeling the pain from her detached tongue and resenting the boy for what he had done, even if she could not explain how he had managed it.
Gail nodded happily, it looked like her choice to withdraw her husbands control earlier in the evening may be the right way to motivate him to keep Caleb on a short leash. 'Glad to hear it, and Billy?' she asked curiously, wondering why he had been so easily convinced to assist Lucas and suspecting the man was losing interest in Selena.
'He's been working late but tried to visit me when he could in the Hospital, why?' Selena asked suspiciously.
'Just wondering how all of this is affecting him is all' Gail lied, choosing not to tell Selena about his new found play thing.
Selena nodded, sensing there was more to what Gail was telling her; however, she chose to remain quiet, thankful for what Gail had done to protect her.
'You know this whole thing about you returning home was Lucas right?' Gail asked casually, wanting to make Selena aware in case she was unable to prevent whatever game he was playing.
Selena had suspected this was Lucas previously but had convinced herself that it was not the case. Now she felt herself tense and become suspicious of his actions, wondering how Billy could have kept Lucas' involvement from her.
'Atta girl, I knew you weren't as soft as you were starting to seem' Gail advised and started to walk out of the room.
'Where are you going? You can't just leave' Selena asked frightened, not wanting to be alone.
'It's very late and you're lucky I came at all with the things I have going on' Gail sighed, purposely leaving Lucas with the children to drill her point into him.
'Trouble in paradise?' Selena asked cattily unable to stop herself, then saw Gail roll her eyes and forced herself to push down her resentment. 'Will you come back?' Selena asked quietly, hating the dependency she felt for the woman before her right now.
'I'm not Nurse, I have my own family and issues to attend to' Gail said coldly, angry at Selena as well as Caleb for how this was playing out, then left Selena with her guard up and returned to her car.
-To be continued-