A door shut on the other side of the house, and I heard footsteps approaching. In my sideways vision, I saw Erin carrying a redbackpack.
"Are we going to get the real story about this injury?" she asked. "Or is this going down with the rest of Batman'ssecrets?"
I kept my cheek on the countertop while Nick unzipped the bag and laid out his supplies. "I was working on the masonry at my Pinckney Streetproject—"
"You wereworking?" she interrupted. "It's Saturday night. Why aren't you out with Magnolia? Better yet, why are you even in the city this weekend? You should be at the beach witheveryoneelse."
"Okay, so you don't want to hear the story,"Isaid.
"Darlin', could you handle the meat?" Nick asked as he snapped on a pair ofgloves.
"You know I can," she replied. I snickered at that but I wasn't going any further. I couldn't step up for a round of dick jokes with my sister and the resident penis in her life. Too squicky. "Get back to the story, and then explain why you're not at thebeach."
"I'm going to start by cleaning the wound," Nick said, his tone calm and doctorly. Like that was supposed to make me feel better. He was a good friend, one of the best, but I hated the doctor stuff. I didn't like hearing about it, seeing it, or even thinking about it. The worst experiences of my life had occurred in hospitals, and I couldn't think of those events without an icy finger of foreboding dragging along myspine.
"Anyway," I started, "I was at my Pinckney Street project. I was shoring up the masonry in the basement, but then one thing led to another and this nail stabbed the shit outofme."
"Three inches higher and a little to the left, and it would've stabbed the shit out of your kidney," Nick said under hisbreath.
"Good thing you've got two," Erin said. "And thebeach?"
"I couldn't. I just couldn't." I blew out a pathetic breath and knocked my head against the countertop, and shenodded.
"Okay. I get it,"shesaid.
And she did. She got it, all of it. Erin and Nick were the only two people on this planet who knew about my affections for Lauren. They'd kept me from objecting during the wedding, and for the past few years steadied me whenever it seemed that I was about to do something unforgiveable. They allowed me to vent and rage and whine, and they understood as best theycould.
"You should stay for dinner," Erin said. "As you might've heard, we have carneasada."
"And that rice you like," Nick added. "My grandmother'srecipe."
I waved my hand in the direction of their table. "You're obviously having people over," I said. I didn't want a pityinvite.
"Yeah, but it's just friends from the hospital," Nick said. "Gastro Girl and theHeartbreaker."
"I really admire your efforts in superhero-inspired nicknaming," I said. "That's some solid work right there. I could write a comic book based on that.The Adventures of Gastro Girl and the Heartbreaker. A superhero duo that goes around saving the world from stomach ulcers and falling in love with your sister-in-law and shit like that. People would go crazyforit."
I could see it already. The Heartbreaker would be a big, burly guy who ripped off his shirt to activate his powers. A shield was mandatory. Something almost anatomically correct, blood red, and covered in welded patch marks. He'd possess the strength to crack skulls like they were walnuts, but underneath the raw force would be a tender soul in search of someone tomendhim.
Gastro Girl would wear a skintight bodysuit in emerald green—had to be green—and a long cape. Something that was always rippling in the breeze and showing off a whole lot of ass. She'd need thigh-high boots, a gunmetal tiara, and some kind of bright, shiny amulet right between her breasts. Nothing delicate for thischick.
Fuck, I wanted to draw thisright now. Some people did yoga, others gardened, some read books. I drew. There wasn't much order to it, and I hadn't shared my work with anyone since my days at RISD. But every so often, ideas flooded my mind and demanded presence on the page. Usually it was a quick burst and nothing more, but certain ideas lingered long enough for me to revisit them for days and weeks on end. I liked that. I liked having something stewing on my mind's backburners.
"How much longerthere,Doc?"
He released an impatient sigh. "I'm gonna need some time," he said. "Unless you'd rather we drive over to the hospital and find someone who sews up wounds like this all day,everyday."
"Thank you, no," Ireplied.
Erin was busy on the opposite end of the kitchen but I heard her ask, "Do they know about these nicknames? Do you call them that around thehospital?"
"I fucking hope not. The art of the nickname comes from using it sparingly,Rogue," I said to her. "One doesn't simply toss out a nickname in every exchange. It needs to serve a purpose. Make a point. Highlight atrait."
"No, not really," Nick replied. "I think you've met Cal once or twice, Riley. They live in my old apartment building off CambridgeStreet."
Erin shut the refrigerator door and came up beside me. "You make it sound like she and Cal livetogether," she said. "They don't, by the way. I don't think they'd hook up if they were the last two humans on theplanet."
"That might be a little extreme," Nick said. "But you're right. She isn't Cal's speedatall."
