Chapter 2

Steele

I was awakened by someone stepping on my hand as they rolled my cousin back into the room at five in the morning.

"Ow!" I grunted, used to being overlooked on the floor. The woman who'd stepped on me yelled as if she'd stepped on a dead rat and jumped away.

"What the HELL are you doing down there?" she yelled, waking me the rest of the way up.

"Sleeping," I quipped, standing to my full height. She swallowed thickly as she looked at me, but I ignored her, going to check on my phone. Just as I suspected, it was blowin up with questions and plans. I'd have to act fast if I didn't want the whole Mason clan descending on this poor, unsuspecting hospital.

"Sorry I stepped on you," the porter said with a familiar, thirsty look on her pretty, Filipino face. I don't recall seeing it on Sheeba yesterday. Her smile had been open and friendly before I'd chased it away with my thoughtlessness. Seriously, what the hell had I been thinking, calling her that? If Taylor - my one girl cousin - or any of the aunties ever found out, they'd slap me into next week! Never mind if Renee Vern ever found out that her youngest grandbaby had been so disrespectful and made a kind woman cry… I shuddered at that outcome.

"No worries, shorti. You get used to it when you grow up in a family like mine."

"Word," Old Man Sim said groggily from the bed. "You start to feel weird if you don't get stepped on in the middle of the night." Everyone in the room chuckled at that, the porters plugging in Simeon's bed so he could press the call bell for the nurse. They left afterward.

"Glad to hear that you're waking up, cuz. You're gonna need all the energy you can muster. My cell is blowin up and I suspect yours would be too if you hadn't destroyed it in the snow yesterday."

"Man, shut up! How was I supposed to know that-"

"What the hell were we doing on a damn mountain anyway? You know good and well black people don't ski!"

"I was just tryna expand my horizons! 'Sides, if I hadn't wiped out so spectacularly, you never would have met shorti."

"I don't know what you-" I stopped my lying at the quirk of his eyebrow. It was one thing to skirt the truth, but tryna flat-out lie to the oldest of the Mason grandchildren wasn't possible. Especially first thing in the morning. Yes, I was interested. And yes, I was feeling a perverse pleasure that his misfortune had led to meeting Sheeba. I just hoped that I hadn't screwed things up with her too badly.

"Hey, cuz. Don't sweat it. I'm sure she's-"

"Welcome back to the unit, Simeon!" an overly cheerful voice interrupted our conversation. It was the student nurse who'd taken over my cousin's care after Chelsea left. Erica was a young nurse, finishing off her final preceptorship of nursing school with her blond ringlets that she'd been working all night and freckles all over her cheeks. She was also eager to bed a black man. And since her patient was out of the running, it seemed that I was elected for the job. Old Man Sim and I traded glances and groaned. This always happened when we stepped out of our territory. Hell, this shit happened back in New Haven, Connecticut! I'd ask the good Lord to dial it back, but I honestly wouldn't mind some attention from sweet little Sheeba.

"My name is Erica and I'll be taking care of you until 7 this morning." The college student looked at the two men shrewdly before turning her full attention on me. "So… You don't sound like you come from around here," she pouted, her artificially sultry voice grating on my nerves. "How about a tour of my fair city? We can start off with dinner at my place." She walked her fingers up my arm, and I suddenly felt uncomfortable. She was only a few years younger than me, but way too aggressive for my tastes.

"Look, Erica-"

"Could I have a glass of water?" Simeon came to my rescue. The woman glared at him, trying to think of a way to get the conversation back on her track.

"Erica, have you started post-op vital signs yet?" The girl immediately started to act professionally again.

"I'm just starting the post-op vitals now. Mr Simeon asked for a cup of water. Would you grab it for me? Just trying to figure out what to do to get… "

Karina came in and took a look at the settings for the vitals machine. "I got this. Why don't I get this and you take care of the water - grab a bag of ice for the Sensory check since he had a nerve block. We'll need to take a look at his pump settings and make sure they're correct, but the vitals and the dermatome check are the most important things right now." Her no-nonsense African accent cut straight through the graduate nurse's flirtatious attitude. Erica left for the patient nourishment center to get the water and ice for her patient.

"Sorry about that," Karine told us once she was gone. "I've told her before that the job is not the place to try and make a love connection. It's unethical and more than a little icky with the latest guidelines from CRNA. Maybe it's time to get her instructor involved. My warnings seem to roll off her back."

"This has happened before?" Simeon asked as he held his arm out for the nurse to put the blood pressure cuff on.

"Oh yes, unfortunately."

"Would an official complaint help speed things along?" I asked, annoyed with the woman after a whole night of being hit on. "She's making me uncomfortable and she has stalker vibes." The sound of a full cup of ice water hitting the floor interrupted the conversation. Erica was standing in the doorway, her blue eyes filled with tears.

"Even if I was interested - which I'm not - I don't go for sexually aggressive women," I told her. Usually, I'd be a little more subtle, but her advances were a real turn-off. Besides, what if shorti found out about this creeper tryna make a love connection with me? And I had no doubt she would if I didn't nip this trifling shit in the bud. "Come at me again, and I'm going straight to your boss." She lost her battle with her tears, turning around and running out of the room. Karine grabbed a towel out of the cupboard to clean up the spilled water and pick up the ice bag off the floor.

"I know that wasn't comfortable for you, but it was the right thing to do. Nurses do not date patients. And the patient's relatives are a little too close for comfort. Especially if they aren't interested." She shrugged as she recorded her findings on a piece of paper towel. Then she started listening to Simeon's insides with her stethoscope. "Can you wiggle your toes? How about your knees?" I noticed that he had trouble moving his knees. "That's okay. The spinal injection they gave you is still working. How is your pain?"

"I don't have any pain right now."

"Seriously, OS? None at all?" The last thing we needed was for him to miss out on pain meds because he was tryna be a hero.

"I don't have pain right now, Steele."

"It's not uncommon after a shot like this. Just remember to tell us when you start to feel the pain. It won't get better on its own."

"Will do." She left after making sure the cuff was still on. She'd already explained that she would be taking vitals a lot in the next few hours, so to feel free to sleep through it. But we had work to do explaining what happened and updating the family on his surgery and the outcome. The morning melted away in a series of texts and phone calls to calm everyone down. By the time Chelsea came in to start working with my cousin on the evening shift, it was decided that Choyce, Desmond, and Mirror were coming up to start. It made sense, our cousin Desmond was one of Simeon's closest friends, Choyce was his girl, and cousin Mirror could help me with getting the paperwork legalese together. He was a realtor, but very good at reading between the lines. That was the most important thing right now since I couldn't make heads or tails of the travel insurance policy. Plus, he could help me hold Desmond back if we ever came across the asshole who cut Simeon off on the slopes and caused this injury in the first place. But with him being in Banff and us in Calgary General Hospital, it was a moot point.

Chelsea was once again doing that ice thing to test the block they'd put on his leg and it was still in place after 15 hours. My stomach growled and I suddenly realized that I hadn't left my cousin's room for more than a bathroom break since long before he returned from surgery. What must I smell like by now? More importantly, what would shorti think if she ran across me right now? Suddenly embarrassed, I went into our bags that the Charge Nurse on nights had somehow gotten portered to Calgary from our hotel room in Banff.

I was too tired to ask how she achieved that particular miracle. The bags were here now. That was all that mattered.

"Imma jump in your shower real quick," I announced seemingly out of the blue. Simeon smirked at me, likely already guessing my motivations. Chelsea looked a little lost, thankfully.

"The showers and bathrooms in the rooms are usually only reserved for patient use."

"Ain't no way that fool is gonna be using his bathroom for a while," I shrugged while gathering fresh clothes. I hadn't even thought to shower and change out of my funky-ass clothes. Yesterday had been a hard, sweaty day on the slopes before the accident that landed my oldest cousin in the hospital. Combine that with a night spent on the floor and a day helping my cousin adjust to life in the hospital… I reeked. That's all I'm gonna say.

"This is true," Chelsea sighed, looking over something that she called an External Fixator but I called a Medieval Torture Device with all those pins and rods in his leg. At least the bone wasn't sticking out of his leg anymore. But that big metal contraption around his thigh gave me the creeps. According to the doctor, he'd have it on for at least six weeks 'to stabilize the bone and jump-start the healing process'. Whatever that meant. Oh, it was a good thing I'd gotten a picture of the jackass that did this to my boy. Facial recognition was working on identifying his punk ass and then we were gonna sue him for damages and hospital fees. Wouldn't he be shocked? Ought to think twice before cutting someone off on the slopes and then stopping to brag on it while your victim is writhing in pain on the ground.

"I didn't know that 'brothas' hit the slopes to 'hang ten'. Did you, Francis?"

Feeling my temper spike at that memory, I left for the shower.

Sheeba

My emotions had been in a twist since I'd left room ten last night. What the hell was wrong with me? When Maureen asked me if I wanted to file a report of verbal abuse and racial intimidation to our unit manager, I'd told her no. Why did I do that? I could have reported him and had a record of his abuse. This was meant to be a 'Zero Tolerance' facility - all of the healthcare facilities in Alberta Health Services were. And I was all about that. I really was… But he'd been so sweet, holding me so tenderly when I cried. The truth was, I didn't know who was the first person to call me an Oreo. I was called it so often in Philly that I'd forgotten. But that was all behind me. I was on the other side of another country now for Christ's sake! Why did that one slur send me back to the mean streets of Germantown, struggling for social acceptance?

The truth was, I didn't want to report him. 'Cause if I reported him, I couldn't see him, talk to him, possibly laugh with him, ever again. Once I named him a racist, that was it. He'd be expelled from the hospital and wouldn't be able to help his cousin recover. That just seemed too cruel a punishment for hurting my feelings. My instincts told me that he hadn't meant it; not in the way I took it.

"Sheeba. I heard you had a little trouble yesterday." I sighed and turned to face Rashida, one of the biggest gossips on the unit. I'd have to spin this correctly or half the unit would turn on those two.

"What do you want to know, Sheeta?"

"I heard that one of them called you a macaroon or something and you lost your shit. You never lose your shit. Whassup?" I sighed, truly envying her ability to speak slang, even with a Nigerian accent. It was one of the things that got me labeled an Oreo in the first place. I didn't use slang in my vocabulary. Not unless I was really angry or joking around. I used proper English 95% of the time.

"It was an 'Oreo', and it touched an old wound that shouldn't even exist. He apologized and I accepted. End of story."

"Bullshit," she said with a grin. I sighed heavily but held my tongue. "If that was the true end of the story, he'd have been kicked out of the hospital and you'd still be mad about it. So, let's try this again."

"You're so smart, why don't you tell me what happened," I said angrily. My hard-won calm was officially shattered for the time being.

"I think you have a thing for him," she said with a Cheshire cat smile. Seriously, how the hell did she keep her perfectly straight teeth so white? My teeth were as straight and even as hers, but not nearly as bright.

"How in the world do you figure that? I only met him yesterday and the first thing he did was insult me! I just… It doesn't seem right to cut him off from his cousin just because he hurt my feelings. That's why I accepted the apology. He seemed sincere and in any case, he'll think twice before using that word again. Win-win."

"Wow, Sheeba! That was quite a massive justification," Marshall said with a warm smile. I groaned. If there was one person who could read me, it was Marshall. And he just had to come in and blow up my argument in front of the town crier! If Marshall was calling bullshit, no way Rashida would believe me. And it had been such a peaceful day…

"Justification or not, I'm done talking about this played-out subject. If neither of you is interested in getting something to eat, I will take my break now."

"She's using slang! That means she's lying," Rashida exclaimed with another of those Cheshire cat smiles. Dammit! She was right! There was nothing for it but to push through with the lie.

"Which one of you is going to take my report so I can go eat?" I snapped, refusing to be baited. That seemed to finally deflate my fellow nurse and she took notes on my patients so I could eat my dinner. I'd trained myself to be a stickler for everyone getting their breaks and being the first out the door. You know; leading by example? Considering that these people used to compete for last place, with the winner being the one who didn't get a break at all, I think I've made progress.

After finishing my store-bought dinner (hey, at least it wasn't take-out), I was ambushed by the volunteer dogs. God, they're so cute! They only come once a month on Wednesday and they are so affectionate when they're around. I gave myself the last five minutes of my 30-minute break to pet the three of them. Then I washed my hands and got back to work. After sending Marshall off for his break, and checking on my patients to make sure they were alive and reasonably sane, I finally gave into the temptation that was room 10. It was ridiculous what a temptation that room was for me. All shift I'd had to restrain myself from going over there. Rashida was right. As little sense as it made, I was smitten with a man who'd called me an Oreo. God, what was wrong with me?

Still, I could only restrain myself from going to see him for so long. "Do you like dogs?" I asked Simeon as I walked into his room. A quick glance around confirmed that Steele wasn't in the room. I must have missed him on his way to the cafeteria or something. Oh well. No reason not to be neighborly since I was already here.

"I love dogs," Simeon said with a dazzling smile. "I'm a veterinarian back home."

"Really? I wouldn't have guessed that," I grinned back. "The volunteer dogs are here for their weekly visit and they're being extra, extra cute today. I'll let the ladies know to steer the pups this way if you'd like."

"That would be great, Sheeba. I think I've earned a few cuddles and scritches. But why wouldn't you have guessed I was a veterinarian?"

"Oh, well, I heard that your cousin called you OS - Operating System. So, I figured you were one of those hacker-style internet gurus or something." He was already laughing and shaking his head. "No?"

"I can barely handle my cell, girl! Nah, OS stands for Old Man Sim, since I'm the oldest of the 30 Mason cousins."

"Wouldn't that be OMS?" I giggled. He chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, you right. But 'OS' is what stuck all those years ago. If we tried to change it on them, all them niggas be done died of 29 separate heart attacks." I couldn't help my laughter. I wasn't flirting; Simeon happened to be a very sweet, engaging man. But he wasn't Steele.

"You're right. It's probably in your best interest to keep things the way they are," I finally managed to gasp out. "Let me just turn off the water in your bathroom and I'll put the dog ladies onto you." I crossed the room and yanked the door open just as Chelsea came in the room.

"Sheeba, what-"

"Nah, shorti, don't-"

Too late, I realized my mistake as I did the nurse's 'charge into the room with barely a knock' thing. Steele was not down in the cafeteria. Steele was in the bathroom in all his naked glory. I've never turned around and slammed out of a room so fast; I think I might have caused a small tear in the space-time continuum and pulled a muscle in my back from moving so fast. Everything in me wanted to apologize for walking in on him like that. It never even occurred to me that he might be in there bathing. Don't get me wrong, it made perfect sense. Simeon couldn't use his shower with an External Fixator on his thigh. My mind was all jumbled from that one-second accidental ogle. I shook my head, but the image of all he was and all he had to offer a woman stayed stubbornly in place. My cheeks were hot as Louisiana gumbo as I gave up on my failed attempts at forming coherent speech and marched myself right out of the room.

"Are you okay, Sheeba? You look like you've got more color in your cheeks than usual." Maureen told me a little bit later. I'd made a beeline for the last place I'd seen the dogs, the front desk, only to find that they weren't there anymore.

"I'm… I'm fine, Maureen," I coughed to cover my extreme embarrassment. "Um… do you know where the dogs are?"

"Sure. They're in the other hall. They decided to start from the other end this week," the Charge Nurse answered me with a strange look on her face. Luckily for me, the phone rang before she could question me further. I returned to my nursing duties after tracking down the ladies to tell them to be sure and drop by room 10. But boy, oh boy, was I a distracted mess for the rest of the shift.

Heheheee... Oops! Time to see where this is going. See y'all next week :D