Chapter 4

Steele

I felt at peace as I let my new boo lead us back to my cousin. I avoided relationships with their complications and problems. But with Sheeba, things were simple. I liked simple; I always had. She was honest and refreshingly straightforward. I could get used to this.

"You get lost, cuz?" Simeon asked when we strolled into the room. She took the boxes from me.

"I'll warm this up for us and get some plates." She left the room before I could stop her. When I turned back, Simeon was smiling at me knowingly.

"So, I take it the talk with Sheeba went well?" he laughed. I laughed as well.

"Well enough that she took me to Papa John to get us some food."

"And…" he grinned toothily.

"And I think I'm falling for her," I finally admitted.

"Yes," Old Man Sim yelled. "I knew that old love bug would get you eventually. You been playing the field too long, cuz." He grimaced and pushed the call button.

"What's the matter?" I asked, worried suddenly.

"The numbing shot they gave me is wearing off. I need something for the pain."

"Want me to run out and get the nurse?"

"Nah, man. The nurse'll come. I got my call bell. What did y'all bring me to eat?" he asked, changing the subject. I played along since he didn't look too bad yet.

"Half a deluxe and half a meat lover's."

"How I'm supposed to get full on half a fucking pizza?" he asked. I grinned.

"The whole pizza's for you, cuz. I ate my halves in the car. That shit was that good. Shorti might have an inside line on a house to rent until we can get you back to the States too."

"Like I told you, it's been 6 years since we used them, but I'll ask my mom about it tomorrow." Sheeba got in on our conversation, handing over the large box to Simeon as she updated him. "My mom remembers everything, so she'll be able to give me the information. I'll pass it on after that." She opened her box of pizza and the tantalizing aroma of cheese woke my appetite again. My stomach gurgled as she took her first bite.

"You're unbelievable," she said with a smirk, halfing her pizza on a plate and handing me the box.

"She didn't even hesitate, fam! You better marry that girl," Simeon laughed, causing Sheeba to join in. I was too busy stuffing my face to appreciate the joke.

"You called?" Erica asked as she entered the room. "Sheeba, what are you doing here?" she asked in shock.

"Finishing my pizza before Steele can," she quipped, taking another bite and looking completely relaxed as Simeon and I looked on awkwardly. Erica was staring at her fellow nurse as if she'd just taken the last, best stick of gum in the pack, but Sheeba kept chewing like a champ.

"Can I… Can I talk to you for a minute, Sheeba? Outside?"

"No, you can't. You have a patient in need right now. You should find out what he wants since it's been a few minutes since his bell went off. I'm off duty right now, or I'd take care of it myself. I'll talk to you after my pizza's gone. I don't trust these two not to eat my stuff; I grew up with four brothers." The murderous look on the young nurse's face would have unnerved a lesser person. But my Sheeba returned the stare evenly, starting on her second slice of pizza. "Well? Mr. Mason called for a reason." Erica suddenly looked seconds from an explosion, but remarkably held it in. I was tempted to add fuel to the fire by caressing my girl's face, but she'd asked me to tone it down on hospital grounds.

"H-How can I help you?" Erica finally said to Simeon.

"I need pain meds. My pain is at a 7 out of 10 right now since the nerve shot wore off." She looked like she wanted to start something, but didn't dare. Instead, she marched herself straight to the med room to get the meds for my cousin.

"I have to admit it was funny seeing shorti about to explode like that. Girlfriend could have chewed metal and spit out nails," Simeon chuckled.

"Well, after this morning, I'm glad I'm not the only one looking for a fight, cuz. That girl need ta slow her roll." Sheeba looked between the two of us in confusion but continued eating.

"Ms. Thang is looking to bed a black man, and I'm elected," I explained to her, laughing with my cousin as she sputtered and struggled to keep her bite of pizza in her mouth.

"That's not funny," she wheezed at last. "Are you being serious right now?"

"Dead serious. Karine thanked me for warning her off of me this morning." I popped the top on a can of warm Dr. Pepper I'd bought from Banff and tossed her a can when she looked at it with longing. I wasn't sure if it was me or the can she wanted, but she'd made the rules and I was determined to stick to them.

"Have you reported the harassment to the unit manager yet? She may not be aware and this is a zero-tolerance unit."

"I told her this morning if she didn't stop with the unwanted advances that I'd get management involved. She hasn't tried anything else since, so I'm willing to let it go. I ain't looking to ruin her career or nothin. I just want her to stop hitting on me. She's too aggressive and I'm not interested."

"Oh, you don't like aggressive girls?" she asked suggestively as she finished her half a pizza. She leaned forward in her seat toward me. I simply raised an eyebrow and took a sip of my soda, grinning fully when she backed down, getting up and leaving the room. Erica hurried in once she was gone, looking highly offended.

"I thought you said you didn't like aggressive girls," she said forcefully, hands on her hips as if I was the one in the wrong here.

"My cousin is looking for-"

"Answer me," she commanded loudly, which got my back up.

"I did," I said casually. After a long pause in which she waited for me to elaborate and I ignored her, she finally got to her point.

"Sheeba's more aggressive than me. She-"

"Stop your lying. Sheeba isn't nearly as desperate as you. Besides, she's not a girl."

"I beg to differ," the irate female huffed. "That conniving bitch is a-"

"Don't talk about my woman like that," I growled at her, ignoring the way her eyes dilated. "Sheeba is no girl. Sheeba is all woman. She is the woman I desire. Take your high school hissy fit and shove it. And while you're here, how about you do your damn job and give your patient his pain meds. You're supposed to be a professional, Nurse Erica." The girl was turning an alarming shade of purple but finally scanned her patient and the meds she'd brought for him. She watched him swallow his medicine before storming past Sheeba and out of the room. My woman looked shocked but pleased.

"That… was not the outcome I expected when I went to get some ice for my soda," she said nervously. "Did you mean it?"

I'm not in the habit of saying things I don't mean, Babygirl. That girl gets on my nerves, and shutting her shit down was a privilege, but she doesn't annoy me enough to speak false." She jumped into my arms and I couldn't help my laugh when she kissed me. "I take it my lady approves?"

"Uh huh!" I settled her to her feet and she immediately climbed into my lap. She was a little heavy, but I was fine with holding her. She was tiny, but densely packed and shit. I could imagine her about fifty to a hundred pounds lighter; she'd float away on the wind. We just sat quietly for a while as Simeon finished his pizza. I was about to suggest she head on home when I noticed the soft, even breathing against my neck. Was she sleeping?

"Is this chick seriously sleeping right now?"

"You know she is," Simeon snickered. "Trust you to pick a narcoleptic as a mate."

"Wake up boo," I said softly as I shook her. I looked at my watch and blinked. No wonder she was out like a light. It was 3 in the morning!

"Hefsiba, it's time to get up," she made a sound of discontent and snuggled against me with a blissful sigh. Two things wrong with this scenario. One, I was starting to get hard from her warm thighs rubbing against me. And two, my lap was going numb from holding her up. "You've got to get home."

The drowsy, adorable confusion on her face, as she blinked herself awake, wasn't helping my first issue either. "It's time to go, baby." She looked at me and seemed to be coming a little more awake.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep on y'all." She slid off my lap, not seeming to notice my predicament, so I stood up with her to save myself the embarrassment.

"Are you going to be okay getting home? We could call you an Uber if-" The woman stretched and I'll be damned if it wasn't a turn-on.

"I'll be fine getting home. I'm more concerned about you guys. They will be in here at seven in the morning to start your day."

"Do you work tomorrow?"

"I work evenings until Sunday. But I'll likely end up getting more sleep than you two. God, I should have been home hours ago. Good night you two."

"Good night, Babygirl," I told her with a hug to her soft body.

"Good night, Sheeba," Simeon echoed me. "Good looking out with the pizza."

"Glad to be of service," she said with a warm smile. I walked her to the back entrance of the unit, and then kissed her hand.

"Sheeba? You weren't on my list to work tonight," Landi, the same Charge Nurse as last night, said fretfully.

"That's 'cause I wasn't working. I was hanging out in room ten after getting them pizza after my shift. I'm headed out now." Yolanda looked between the two of us and at our joined hands before smiling softly.

"Be careful. I know for a fact that Erica is likely to cause trouble over this. She's quite strongly attracted to you, Mr. Mason."

"That ain't nothing but lust," I said angrily. She nodded.

"Karine has noted her unprofessional behavior in your cousin's chart yesterday and today. But expect some sort of retribution from her. We will minimize it as much as we can, but I don't expect that nursing student to leave it be. I'll make sure she isn't assigned to your cousin anymore. You should be careful too, Sheeba. He's not a patient, and he's definitely not your patient, but you know that AHS is a strange place to work sometimes."

"I know. Thanks, Landi," she said with a heartfelt hug. The two were obviously close friends. "I'm going home now. Night night." A soft touch to my cheek and she was gone. I turned to go, already missing her, when Landi spoke up again.

"You'd better be serious about her, Steele. We will tolerate this as long as you're sincere. Play with my friend's heart at your own risk." I nodded gravely, impressed with my woman's ability to inspire loyalty.

"My mama taught me how to treat a lady. In my family we don't play games like that. My one girl cousin would stomp me into the ground, then turn me over to my mama and the aunties, who would slap fire out of me. Not to mention what would happen if my Grandma ever found out." I shuddered. "I'm very serious about Hefsiba. I wouldn't be messing around with her if I wasn't."

Landi looked at me long enough for it to become uncomfortable, then grinned at me as if I was family. "Then you two have some hard decisions to make. But that's for later. You should try and get some sleep. If you're going to sleep on the floor again, I'd clear the way to Simeon's bed and sleep on the far side of his bed so Erica can't step on you. I'd also report her behavior to the unit manager as soon as you can tomorrow morning. Don't worry, she won't end up fired or anything, but she'll be officially reprimanded, something you want a record of if she decides to come after you two."

"Which she will," I nodded.

"Which she will," Landi confirmed. "Like I said, get some sleep. You're going to need it." I decided to take her advice and sleep on the far side of Old Man Sim's bed. It was a good thing I did. She came stomping into his room and woke him an hour later to take his vital signs.

"I take it your cousin is off screwing that scheming slut?"

"Is it any of your business if he is?" Simeon asked harshly. "And don't talk about her like that. My ears are sensitive." Erica blushed but got to work. "What is your problem with her anyway?"

"Steele is mine! I saw him first. Sheeba should back off and-"

"You can't lay claim to a human being like a piece of furniture. Steele has made it clear he's not interested in you."

"But he would be if only that-" she cut herself off as Simeon cleared his throat. I just continued recording the foolish child. "If it weren't for Sheeba, he would be mine!"

"No, he wouldn't, Erica. He told you that he wasn't into aggressive females. He doesn't want you, shorti. Believe me, I've never seen him like this before. He's completely smitten. Leave him alone; leave them alone."

"You don't know that witch like I do. Steele will only be the latest notch on her belt. She lures guys in with that sweet and innocent act, then-"

"Again, what business is it of yours? Sheeba is a sweetheart and you lying on her isn't gonna get you what you want."

"Oh, I see. She's screwed you too," Erica said with a nasty smile on her face. "I'll have to report this to the unit manager. Can't have nurses screwing patients."

"That's enough," I said angrily, sitting up at last. All the color drained from her face as if I'd pulled the plug. "Come at me again, Erica. I'm sick of your games! You and I aren't a thing. Never have been, never will be. Keep pushing me. You about to fuck around and find out!" Her bottom lip started quivering, but I was unmoved. It must have shown on my face because she turned and ran from the room. Karine once again had to finish her work just to make sure it got done.

"I'm sorry that you're going through this. I've been recording her behavior in your chart all night. And her accusations against Sheeba are blatantly untrue. Alice will hear about it before I go home today. This has gone on long enough."

"What's your email address? I got a surprise for you." She gave me her work email and I sent her a copy of the recording I'd just made of that conniving child. The African nurse was confused at first, then a smile of pure evil spread across her face and I was suddenly very glad that she was on my side.

"I'll put this to good use. You just make sure that you're serious about my friend. Sheeba's a good person. She deserves better than to be taken advantage of by some American player boy."

"Trust me, I know it. I'm gonna try to get some more sleep before it's time to get up at seven o'clock."

"Goodnight, gentlemen," she said, turning off the light and closing the door as she left. We heard a short argument; something about the door needing to be open for breathing checks versus the patient's obvious need for sleep. Karine won; Erica commented that she was going to write that she was overruled in her notes. Karine didn't seem too concerned about it. The last thing I heard before dropping off to Dreamland was an old lady once again yelling for her husband and a bed alarm going off.