Nurse Isabel
Isabel twists her damp hair in a high bun at the top of her head and secures it with a thick silver ornate barrette clip. She pins her name badge to the front of her shirt pocket of her light blue scrubs. Watching Isabel get ready for work, the reality is sinking in that she’ll have a life outside of just being with me. Though this fills me with trepidation, I’m not going to fuck this up for her. She wants this and I’m not going to mess this up for the life of me.
I want her to be happy.
I want to cure her sadness.
She takes a long glance at the full-length mirror and then turns to face me, her face bright and refreshing. She’s beaming. “How do I look?”
“Beautiful.”
“My first official day,” she says through a shaky murmur. “I’m nervous. What if I do something wrong?”
“You won’t. You’ve been accident-free so far, baby. Don’t stress or sike yourself out.” Taking a step forward, I wrap my arms around her and embrace her tightly to me. “You’re going to do just fine, Isabel. Everyone will love you.”
She buries her face in the material of my shirt. “You’re still coming to sit with me for lunch?”
“Yes.”
Her arms tighten around me. “Good.”
My eyes shut and I soak in the sweetness of her presence. This is going to be a challenge for me, but I have to get over this for us.
“I’m going to be late,” she whispers softly.
I give her a firm squeeze before releasing her. “I love you, Isabel.”
She smiles, showing how deep her fondness runs for me and then she scoops up her car keys from the breakfast bar. “Love you more, Hunter.”
The rest of my day is wasted on clicking through stuff my agent sent me in my email and thinking about Isabel’s first day at work.
***
Isabel sits beside a male nurse at a wooden bench table in the courtyard of Cherry Creek Hospital. They both seem to be in deep conversation. He absently picks apart a sandwich and then leans in way too close for comfort and says something in her ear, which causes her to choke on the water she’s sipping. He laughs and pats her back a few times, his hand lingering and taking full advantage of touching her. I don’t like him. He’s too physical with her. He’s touching Isabel with every open opportunity he has. Isabel doesn’t seem bothered by it, but that shit is not going to fly with me.
Red is all I see when my feet carry me to them with long strides and I have no control when I set her lunch on the table and brace by hands on the edge of the wood, inclining towards him until I’m all he can see. “Touch her again and I’ll break both of your damn hands along with all of your curious fingers.”
The smirk on his face instantly falls and his expression is one of a panicked, distraught animal caught in my snare. “Whoa, bubby. Take it easy,” he mumbles in caution, holding his hands palm up in defeat as if he stole something and got caught.
Clenching my teeth, I work my jaw.
He touched her.
His breathing quickens and I can smell the stench of his fishy breath from where I am. This fucker was eating tuna and had his fucking breath in her ear, breathing down her neck.
“Hunter, I’m okay. He’s Jimmy. He works with me,” Isabel murmurs, hooking an arm around my waist and looking up at me with understanding eyes.
My gaze drops down to her gentle face and, honestly, that’s the only thing keeping me from punching the fuck out of him. My jaw tenses and I feel a muscle jerk in my cheek. “He touched you.”
Her eyes shift to Jimmy and then back at me. “I’m fine, Hunter. He was just telling me a really good joke.”
I cradle her face in my hands, gliding the pads of my thumbs across her naturally dusky red lips. “No one gets to touch you, Isabel.”
Her remarkable green–hazel eyes roam over my face and her expressions turns tender. “No one touches me, baby.” A huge relief is off my shoulders as soon as she repeats me.
“No one ever touches you,” I say, pressing my forehead to hers. “Not ever, Isabel.”
“No one but you, Hunter,” she says, running her hands down my back in a soothing motion. Her sweet breath fans across my face and I wish I could hold it all inside of me because even that is too precious to be wasted. “Now are you going to feed me, or scare the hell out of all my coworkers?”
My cheeks lift in a smile for only her. “My baby’s hungry, then I need to feed her.”
Taking the seat Jimmy vacated, I sit on the bench, watching Isabel eat the lunch I prepared for her and I grin while her overly friendly coworker, Jimmy, scoots to the very end of the bench to finish his tuna sandwich with an ashen face to match the soggy white bread he holds between his trembling hands.
***
I stare at the yellowing envelopes Taylor gave me three years ago with Isabel’s name slashed across one and printed neatly on the other. There are two envelopes for Isabel. One is from her father. The other is from her mother. I’ve never read them, but Taylor asked me to give these to Isabel when she’s ready. I’m not going to give them to her now. Isabel’s still recovering. She’s doing an exceptional job thus far, and I don’t plan to interfere with her progress.
With a heavy heart, I carefully place the fragile envelopes back in my safe and lock it for a day when she’s ready.
***
It takes a month for us to get settled into our new life with each other. I get up every morning and take her to work and pick her up every evening. I join her for lunch only a few times. Isabel seems to enjoy her independence and I don’t want to tarnish that by getting in her face every chance I can. I’ve found some good qualities in having her working. The very best part of having a partner that works all day is that every night I get to witness Isabel climb in bed with me, telling me about the good and not-so good parts of her day. I get lie in bed with Isabel cuddled in my arms and my nose buried in her berry-scented hair and listen to everything she has to say, never getting tired of hearing her voice.