New Chapter Time! This one was begging to be updated, so I did.

Warnings: None

Disclaimer in chapter 1

Enjoy!

Nurse Me

Chapter 9

Thanksgiving

Heidi had to hold her head just to understand the situation she was looking at. Brittany had the most dysfunctional family she had ever seen, and she had seen some messed up families. To start with, Brittany's mother was both hot and cold; a loving mother at one point and then a woman with an attitude as cold as ice to Brittany. Her father seemed to either want to disown her or hug her, so instead he threw money at her, lots of it. He had asked the girl if she needed some new clothes and Brittany had causally said that she would be clothes shopping online. Her father had called his bank, because weekend or not, the bank was never closed for Brittany's parents, and put a five figure sum in her bank account.

"Oh my dear poor Brittany," Elena Dogwood said, hugging her daughter awkwardly, "To be sick as a dog, and to be sick with such an illness, it must be because you've slept with the help."

"Mommy!" Brittany yelped, pushing her mother off her and giving her a glare, "My Leukemia is all genetics, besides, Yvonne gave me something else, a night I won't remember. You know, she was very talented with her fingers, had me cumming in seconds…"

'Brittany!" Heidi hissed, watching Brittany's mother sputter and pale in the face, "You're not helping them with disowning you!"

Brittany laughed at Heidi's frazzled look and said, "Please," before turning to her parents, "Mommy, Daddy, I'm very hungry and the hospital food makes me constipated, can you go out and get me something good, like melt in your mouth Kobe beef, Heidi would love some too."

Heidi watched, amazed as Brittany's parents did what the girl asked them to do, closing the door with a soft click. Brittany sighed and said, "Bastards….oh yeah, wanna know why I can get away with murder around them?"

Heidi nodded her head and settled in the bed beside Brittany who got out the delicious cookies her parents gave her. Brittany gave Heidi one and said, "My grandpa, he loves me, I'm his favorite grandchild and so, when he found out that I came out, unwillingly, and was about to get to kick out, he gave my parents an ultimatum; treat me like a loving daughter, or Daddy loses his part of the company and all of the inheritance that would be given to him when Grandpa dies. That's why our relationship is so fucked up, they 'love' me cause they don't wanna lose the billions of dollars that they get when Grandpa dies."

"Man, that's messed up," Heidi said, eating her cookie, "But, I'm glad your grandpa loves you and protects you from your parents."

"Mhmm, plus, he buys me my pot, won't let me spend my own money on it, sends me 5 ounces of the good shit, every other week," Brittany said with a smile, "And he pays my hospital bills too, and does a lot of good things for the hospital, like he bought all the TVs in the chemo room and paid for the renovations in the serious illness ward, that's why it's called the Kevin Dogwood Serious Illness Ward, that's my Grandpa's name."

"That's really cool! My grandparents are cool too, but, not like your grandfather," Heidi said crossing her legs and finishing off her cookie, "Though, your parents are a bunch of jerks."

"Who are you kidding?" Brittany asked, earning a giggle, just as the door to Brittany's room opened and a frazzled Diesel came walking in, "Oh ho, Looks like Daddy Vashmen is in the Serious Illness Ward…"

"Who you kidding?" Diesel said, ruffling his hair, his face pinched with frustration, "Every other word out his mouth are balls or sacks! To think, I call you bad, Brittany!"

Brittany laughed out loud, falling back on her bed and making all the gifts her parents gave her fall to the ground. Diesel let out a long hiss and said, "don't laugh too loudly, he'll-"

"Diesel! Where are you, we don't want your balls falling off now do we?" A man's voice boomed, making Diesel groan and dive underneath Brittany's bed.

Heidi and Brittany giggled loudly as a man appeared in Brittany's doorway, looking around in the room. The man was an older version of Diesel, with a broader built, body, neatly trimmed blond hair with a matching goatee and it was all finished with a causal look of blue jeans and a white polo shirt with black loafers. He gave the two girls a smile and said, "Ladies, pardon me, but have you seen my son, he needs to be careful with his testes, since they could pop any minute."

Heidi and Brittany giggled again, as Diesel let out a low groan from under Brittany's bed. The man sighed and said, "Thaddeus, come on out, gotta watch out for your fragile balls."

"DEDA!" Diesel said, sitting up and glaring at the man with a glare, "Can you not talk about my balls like that in front of the women? It's embarrassing."

"Thaddeus?" Heidi asked, looking over to Diesel, who let out a groan and covered his eyes, "I never knew your name was Thaddeus!"

Brittany giggled again, making Diesel groan with horror, "DEDA! I told you not to say that name at the hospital, I'm Diesel here, damn it all! Not Thaddeus, oh man….in front of the girls too…"

Diesel's father wrapped an arm around his child and tsked, saying, "Thaddeus, you don't have anything to hide in front of your friends, I don't see why you don't like your name, it's unique and you're named after your great-great grandfather!"

Diesel blushed at the giggles Heidi and Brittany erupted in and said, "Whatever, now, can we go have Thanksgiving Dinner now?"

"Yes we can, come along ladies, Brittany, where are your parents?" Diesel's father asked, earning a shrug from the girl, "Led them off on another wild goose chase, eh? What was the desired item this time?"

"Kobe beef," Brittany said sliding off her bed and helping Heidi off the bed, "They'll be looking hard for that one."

"A fine treasure to look for," Diesel's dad said, leading the three children out the hospital room and into the communal area of the Blue Room, "But for now, you'll have to contend with turkey and dressing."

The Communal area had been decorated for the season, with fall colors, leaves, gourds, apples and other fall foliage. The couches and side tables had been pushed to the walls to make room for the long folded table that was set up in the middle of the area. The table was covered with a white cloth and held several dishes of food. Diesel's mother was helping Carlos with placing food on the table and all the while an older gentleman was talking to Jeanne, both of them drinking glasses of punch. Heidi didn't have to guess who the man was, he was Brittany's Grandfather, the man who loved her without strings and spoiled her rotten. When Kevin Dogwood saw his grandchild, he ended the conversation with Jeanne and made a beeline for Brittany, hugging her tightly and kissing her cheek, murmuring soothing words to the girl. It warmed Heidi's heart to know that at least Brittany had Jeanne and her Grandfather to look after her.

"Mom!" Diesel's voice cut Heidi from her thoughts, "Not you too, it's Diesel, not Thaddeus!"

"Ivan, why did you let our Thaddy waddy pick that silly name?" Diesel's mother asked Diesel's father, earning a howl of embarrassment from their child, "Such a silly name, now sit down, Thaddy, it's time for us to eat and enjoy the nice company tonight!"

Heidi walked over to her father and hugged him saying, "I like it here, it's like one big happy family."

Carlos chuckled, kissing his child's forehead and said, "Yep, Bella, one big happy family."

"Who in the hell eats pumpkin pie?" Lula asked, walking into the Blue Room with Tank and Lester, each of them holding a pink pastry box, "People not right in the head, that's what! We bought Apple Pie, Lemon meringue pie and sweet potato pie, like normal people eat."

"YES!" Brittany shouted, getting up and grabbing one of the pie boxes, "No offense, Mrs. Vashman, but I love sweet potato pie!"

"No offense taken," Pepper Vashman said, as everyone tucked into the spread in front of them, "Oh, I made some Thanksgiving meals for the nurses on duty tonight, Claudia and Stephanie are on duty too, right?"

"Eh…" Lula said, looking over to Tank and Lester, who looked away from her, "Claudia's checking up on the parents and children in the Kindergarten room and Stephanie, well, her husband came and they had a big fight, she's stewing in her office now."

There was a hush over the table before Carlos got up and said, "I'll go check on her."

Carlos snatched one of the pie boxes and made his way out the Blue Room and over to Stephanie's office. He knocked twice and entered when he heard Stephanie say, "Come in," softly. Carlos took in the sight of Stephanie, sitting in her chair, with her head in her hands and her shoulders shaking softly with silent sobs and then was across the small office, hugging the woman and rubbing her back. Stephanie leaned into the embrace and sobbed softly, her tears dropping onto Carlos's black shirt and her arms around his waist. They stayed like that for a while, before Carlos whispered, "Want to talk about it?"

"I told him, or tried to tell him that I was working on Thanksgiving," Stephanie said, pulling away from Carlos and grabbing a tissue to wipe her eyes, "One night, I got home to find him not there and so I called him and left a message telling him that Thanksgiving I would be working but I would have Christmas off, he never did respond to me, and now this, he comes here, shouting and yelling about how my job was taking him away from me and about how I should quit and go back to being a housewife, he gave me an ultimatum; quit my job or else he wouldn't be coming home until I do."

Carlos let out a breath of air and then asked, "What did you tell him?"

"I told him that he was being unreasonable, selfish even, and told him that he could leave, but I wouldn't be giving my job up because he wants a housewife."

"Good," Carlos said, making Stephanie look up at him, "Don't let him bully you, Stephanie, into getting the things he wants, if I had done that to Heidi's mother, she would have strung me to the wall by my ears."

Stephanie let out a laugh and said, "You? I can't imagine you just letting anyone, even your wife, string you up."

"True, but she would have fought me, and I would have lost," Carlos chuckled, grabbing Stephanie again and holding her tighter in his arms, "What's going to happen now?"

"I don't know," Stephanie said, looking at her phone, "Just after Joe left, I have ten calls from my mother and mother in law, god, I don't want to see their faces, and here their disappointment, shit, they'll guilt trip me out of my job and then find a way to get me knocked up."

"You've got this, Babe," Carlos said, with a chuckle, watching Stephanie's face heat up, :What's wrong?"

"You called me Babe," Stephanie said, looking at Carlos, "I'm used to Cupcake, but not Babe."

"It slipped," Carlos said, earning a headshake from Stephanie, "What?"

"I like it, Babe," Stephanie said, with a shrug, a smile on her face, "You can keep calling me Babe, and…um…thank you for talking to me, and I'm sorry for pulling you away from the dinner."

"It's alright, Babe," Carlos said, picking up the pastry box, "I bought dessert, Apple Pie, want to eat it with me?"

"I would love some pie," Stephanie said, with a smile, as Carlos opened the box, "Happy Thanksgiving Carlos."

"Happy Thanksgiving, Stephanie."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"It's a little too late in the night for Thanksgiving Dessert," A woman said, making Joe smile and climb out his car, "You should be at home with the wife, it is Thanksgiving Day, still."

"She's at work, Roxy," Joe said to the woman, who wrapped her sweater around her tighter and led Joe into her apartment, "We got into a fight about her job, again and I told her that she needed to quit it, or else I won't be coming home for a while."

"Oh, how did she take that?" Roxy asked, ushering Joe inside and then closing and locking the door.

"Told me she wasn't quitting her job and would be working at the hospital until further notice, which means, I don't have a home to go to at the moment," Joe said, sitting down on the couch, "I'm going to stay with my cousin, crash on his couch, until Stephanie changes her mind."

"Oh, you could stay here," Roxy said, with a smile, walking into the kitchen to make Joe a cup of coffee, "I have a spare bedroom and I'll be sure that you have breakfast before you leave for work."

Joe smiled at Roxy, who came walking back into the living room of her apartment with coffee and pie. Ever since they met at the bar, all those weeks ago, they became fast friends, spending time at the bar, or outside of Trenton. Joe couldn't help but be grateful for the friendship he made with the woman was wonderful.

"Well, I might have to take you up on that offer," Joe said, tucking into the pie Roxy served him, "Delicious, I wish my wife could bake something like this."

"Don't worry about her, right now, you have me," Roxy said, sitting on the couch beside Joe and patting his hand, "Maybe she'll come around, and maybe she won't, I'll be by your side for the entire trip."

"Thanks," Joe said, looking over to Roxy, "Happy Thanksgiving, Roxy."

"Happy Thanksgiving Joe…"

TBC…

Troubles are ahead for some people, the question is, how much trouble?