Curvy Ever After: Forbidden Curvy Girl Fairy Tales (14 page)

~~~

Ro could hear the entire conversation between the doctor and her best friend. She sat cross-legged on the lounge with her face in her hands as she rocked back and forth. She had no idea how the doctor was going to try to pull her out of whatever state she was in.

She had known or at least had a feeling that her family was cursed. But she had no idea why. She wondered how the doctor knew enough about her supposed curse, to ask Mary questions about it. He apparently knew more than she did.

“God, help me.” Ro said desperately.

She had no idea how much longer she could take being trapped in her current state of mental solitary confinement.

~~~

Flip ran home to his high rise condo to plan and prepare for that evening. He knew that he couldn’t do what the fortune teller had told him to do, in the hospital. With the nurses doing their rounds, they would definitely notice him sleeping next to the comatose woman. Which wasn’t normal behavior for a doctor.

On his way home from the hospital, he’d snatched a release form. He filled out the form, intending to leave it at the nurses’ desk when he went back to the hospital. So that after he took Ro, and the nurse on the nightshift did her rounds and saw the empty room, she’d go and find the release form signed by him. No one would be the wiser.

Flip quickly ate, showered, and then got dressed. He threw on a pair of relaxed fit jeans, a gray hooded sweatshirt for the cool summer night, and a pair of white gym shoes. He left his building and drove the few blocks to the hospital in his black jeep. Once he arrived at the hospital, he was able to get by the main front desk on the first floor with just a nod. Though his floor wasn’t going to be so easy.

“Hey, Dr. Harris! What are you doing here this evening? I didn’t think you’d be back till morning.” One of the nurses said as he tried to pass by.

“Hi, Claudia.” Flip greeted, letting a brilliant smile spread across his face. The nurse instantly melted like butter under the force of his sunny smile.
Checkmate.
“I’m a little bothered about this patient that won’t wake up. So I just thought I’d come check on her one more time before I go home for the night.” He explained.

“Oh, yes. I’m so sorry to hear about your patient. I’m sure she’ll come around though. You’re a phenomenal surgeon, after all,” she said as she batted her eyelashes at him.

“Thanks, Claudia. Well, I’ll talk to ya later.” Flip said as he made his way to Ro’s hospital room.

He walked into the room and she looked the same as every time he’d come in to check on her. She hadn’t moved an inch and her eyes were still firmly closed. Flip walked to her bed and reached for her soft hand.

“I will bring you out of this, I promise.” Flip whispered.

Flip walked back to the door and snuck a peek out, looking in either direction. No nurses were lurking about, so he quickly strode to the end of the hall where a wheelchair was parked. He took the breaks off of the wheels and rolled it down the hall.

Once he was back in the hospital room, Flip slid his hands under Ro’s back and knees and lifted her out of the bed. He gently placed her in the wheelchair. He unhooked the bag of intravenous food that hung on the metal stand and placed it in her lap, along with her personal items collected from the accident. He grabbed the white hospital blanket and threw it over her lap and up around her shoulders. Flip wheeled her to the doorway and peeked out again. There wasn’t a nurse in sight, so Flip took off. As he passed the nurses desk, he slipped the release form in the bin designated for the forms. He then rolled her to the elevators and brought her down to the lower level without a hitch.

Flip wheeled her outside and quickly got her in the passenger seat of his jeep. He strapped her in and her head lolled limply on her chest. Flip walked to the other side of the car and hopped into the driver’s seat. He looked over at Ro’s unconscious body as he started the car.

“I don’t know if this’ll work, but I have to try.” Flip said and took off down the street.

~~~

“Thank you.” Ro said to the doctor, though she knew he couldn’t hear her.

She paced the near empty room, from one side to the other. She was anxious to see if whatever plan he had cooked up would work. She prayed that it did because she was going stir crazy and she knew it hadn’t even been that long since she’d been under the spell. Or whatever it was that was wrong with her.

Ro’s life had been textbook. At a young age she knew that something wasn’t right. She’d realized that all of her family didn’t make it past thirty. So in her mind she thought that being perfect; getting good grades, dating the nice boy that she never got too close to, and having a respectable teaching career would change her stars.

Each year that brought her closer to thirty, scared her half to death. Most women were freaking out about turning thirty because they all of a sudden felt old. Like their life was over. She
knew
that there was a very good chance that her life
would
be over at thirty.

When she woke up on her birthday still alive, she thought that maybe she had beat the odds. Maybe the curse had dwindled over the years, lost its steam. Maybe she was different. She was not.

~~~

Flip laid her gently in his king size bed. He looked down at Ro and took a deep breath. He was a man of science. He didn’t believe in this hokey, mumbo jumbo. Though every time he tried to explain how the fortune teller knew what she did, he couldn’t. He was desperate to help Ro. He even felt a strange obsession coming over him. Like he knew her, or at least wanted to.

He whipped off his sweatshirt and kicked off his shoes. Leaving on his white tank and jeans, Flip crawled into bed with her. He clasped Ro’s cool, dry hand with his warm and sweaty one. The crystal pendant was already around his neck and he adjusted it to lie in the middle of his solid chest.

Flip took another deep breath and then closed his eyes. He easily pulled up the phrase the gypsy had given him and started to repeat if over and over again.

“I am of this world. World fall away and take me to her. I am of this…”

As Flip drifted off to sleep the blue crystal changed to pink and began to glow brightly on his chest.

~~~

Flip opened his eyes and saw the night sky above him. The stars that twinkled in the inky blackness seemed brighter than normal. He looked to either side of him and Ro was no longer there and he wasn’t in his bed either. He was lying on the grass someplace unknown. He quickly sat up and before him was a giant wall of green shrubs with only one opening. He assessed the situation and realized immediately that it was the opening to a maze. How big the maze was, he couldn’t tell. Not with the wall of greenery being at least ten feet tall.

He looked all around him to see if there was any other way, besides forward. But the sky appeared to wrap around the perimeter of where he was standing. Like if he started to run, he’d run in a big circle and end up right back where he had began. Like there was no way out. No place to go but forward.

Flip hopped up, onto his feet and dusted off the back of his jeans. He stepped up to the entrance of the maze and clenched his hands at his sides. They shook slightly with fear and anxiety of the unknown.

Before he stepped into the maze, Flip took a chance and called out. “Ms. Montgomery? Ro?!” He shouted out. “Are you there? Anybody?” He paused for a few beats and there was nothing. “Yep, it’s official. I’ve lost my mind
.”
Flip shook his head.

“Hello?!” A scared female voice shouted as if from an intercom system. The sound boomed from every direction.

“Ro?!” Flip called back.

A few moments later, “I hear you! Oh God, please help me!”

Flip’s heart started to pound in his chest. “Where are you? Do you know where you are? Can you describe it to me?”

“I don’t know! I’m in a room with no doors or windows. It’s all wood with one couch and a chandelier above. That’s it.” Ro called back, panic choking her voice.

“It’s okay, Ro. I’ll find you, I swear.” Flip reassured her.

“Are you the doctor that I’ve heard talking to Mary?” Ro asked.

“You heard us?” Flip asked in shock.

“I could hear everything. Who told you that there is a curse on my family? Did they tell you anything else? I don’t know anything because everyone died before I could ask. I just know that everyone dies by the time they hit thirty.” Ro asked in desperation.

“It was a gypsy. She told me that a woman put an ill wish on your family when your grandfather broke her heart.” Flip told her as he pulled off his tank top and began ripping it into tiny shreds.

“Oh my God! Then it is true! How am I going to get out of this?” Ro asked. Flip could tell that she was on the verge of panic.

“It’s alright, Ro. We’ll figure this out together.” Flip stepped gingerly into the maze and decided to go right. “I’m in a maze right now. I have no idea where it’s going, but I will find you.” Flip let her in on what was happening.

“Alright.” Ro paused for a moment. “What’s your name?”

Flip quickly walked down the first corridor, tied a strip of his shirt to the tall bush, and then turned left. “Dr. Flip Harris!” He shouted back to her.

“Did you say Flip, as in backflip?” Ro asked skeptically.

Flip chuckled and then made another right. “Yes Flip, as in backflip.” He clarified.

“I-It’s nice to m-meet you, Flip.” Ro said in a wobbly voice.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Ro. Don’t freak out on me. Just breathe.” Flip tried to soothe her.

“O-Okay.” Ro replied.

“Alright. I might be kind of quiet while I try to figure out this maze. But don’t worry, I’ll still be here.” Flip warned her.

“Thank you for doing this, Flip.” Ro said sincerely.

“You’re welcome.”

Flip continued through the elaborate maze. He tied strips of cloth from his tank top at every turn to mark where he’d come from like bread crumbs. He was moving swiftly down one corridor and the wall of shrubs on either side of him started to close in on him. Flip started running as the walls got closer. His heart thumped in his chest and just as the walls slammed together, Flip dove forward, curling into a somersault as he rolled out of the way.

He looked back at where he’d come from and the entire maze had changed. “So much for my bread crumbs.” Flip grumbled as he tossed away the rest of his torn tank.

“What was that?” Ro’s voice called out.

“Oh, no worries. The maze just changed on me.” Flip informed her.

Flip started to jog down the next corridor. This time he wasn’t worried about where he’d come from. Now he was just worried about speed. He wanted to get through the maze as quickly as possible.

As he ran down a passageway, something tripped him and he fell hard. Flip tried to get up, but something was holding onto his leg. He looked back and a vine had wrapped itself around his ankle. Just then the vine started growing and more vines came out of the ground. They all started to wrap themselves around his body as he struggled.

Just when Flip thought it couldn’t get any worse, he heard a hissing noise and looked down at his body to see that the vines had turned into snakes. They were everywhere. They were one of his biggest fears.

“Jesus!” Flip shouted out.

He started to dance around like a maniac, as he swiped and grabbed at the slithery creatures. Flip eventually freed himself and took off running down the passage to get as far from the snakes as quickly as possible.

“Flip, what happened?” Ro shouted.

“I’m okay. I just stumbled across my first test.” He replied vaguely.

“Oh… Well, it didn’t sound good.” Ro said.

“It wasn’t. Unless you like snakes.” Flip tried to joke, though he was still shaken up.

“Oh God, no!” Ro gasped.

“Exactly. But don’t worry, I’m alright.” Flip assured her.

Flip continued running through the endless maze. He had been going for a while without a hitch and he started to think that maybe the snakes were his only test. He didn’t think he really had anymore fears or phobias. He quickly found out how wrong he was.

He jogged around a turn in the maze and skidded to a halt. Standing before him was a small group of people. People that looked vaguely familiar. Then it hit him at the same time that one of them spoke.

“Why didn’t you save me?” One of the men asked.

“Why did you let me die?” That was asked by a little girl.

The people who stood before him were past patients. Patients that died way before their time. Patients that he could not save.

Flip’s knees buckled and he fell to the ground. His former patients crowded around him and he cowered in shame. All of them chanting the same things.