Doctored (30 page)

“Holy shit!” Deanna yelled, having gotten clipped by a wing in the head.  “Look out!” she called to Madison.

The beaks of the two swans were just as deadly and just intent on them.

“Take off!  Get out of here!” Deanna called to Madison when she saw that the birds were swans.  She knew they could be lethal.  Their wing spans alone were like seven feet.  She’d heard of them attacking and killing full-grown men in the past.  They both sped off, the birds hitting them twice more on the Waverunners themselves before they got far enough away.

“What the hell was that about?” Madison asked, wiping away a bit of blood trickling down the side of her face.

“Are you hurt?”

“A little.  He clipped me good.  Damn, what the hell?” she asked as she felt the pain of the small wound.

“Let me see that,” Deanna ordered and pulled up alongside Madison.  They both cut the motors and floated there, looking furtively back to where they had been attacked for any signs of the deadly birds.  The cut was superficial.

“Why would they attack us like that?” Madison wondered as she gulped at the nearness of Deanna.  She looked so muscular in the form-fitting swimsuit.  Her eyes had looked so intently at the wound.  It was all she could do not to reach out and touch.

“We probably got too close to their nest or something,” Deanna told her.  She wasn’t unaffected by their nearness.  It was tempting to kiss the spot to make it better.  She’d gotten a good view down Madison’s swimsuit too.  Her breasts were definitely bigger for having had two children.

“Wow, they certainly knew how to organize that attack.”

“We never saw it coming,” Deanna grinned.  “Are you okay?  Do you want to call it a day?”

“Hell, no!  I’m not going to let some swan ruin my day of fun in the sun!”

“Atta girl!”

They spent another hour doing the course, racing each other.  Deanna got thrown once more when she didn’t pay attention, but to be fair, Madison had distracted her, in more ways than one, by standing up and revving her engine.  Deanna had done a somersault over the water before falling into the lake and coming up sputtering.  She had needed the swim back to her machine to cool off anyway.

They were finally so tired out from all the fresh air and sun that they drove the machines back and Deanna backed the trailer onto the ramp and into the water.  This time, Madison drove one onto the trailer while Deanna used the lift to pull it tightly on board and clamp it down.  By then Madison had driven the other one over and it was ready to be tied down.  Madison fetched the covers and they both covered up the machines for the ride back to town. 

“Wow, that was a fun day!” Deanna commented as she carefully pulled up the ramp and away from the lake.

“The kids are going to be so jealous.”

“We can come back.”

“Soon I hope!  That was so much fun.”

“Did you want to stop and eat somewhere?”

“Like this?” Madison looked down at her t-shirt covered swimsuit, which had clung to her immediately.

Deanna had noticed the cling and didn’t mind at all.  It clung in all the right places.  “Well, we’ll probably be dry by the time we get back into L.A.”

“I’m not hungry yet.  How about you?”

“Not yet, and I know once I eat, I’ll get sleepy.”  She yawned for effect.  After all that sun and exercise, she was already a bit tired and she still had to drive.

“Do you want something to drink?  I can reach,” she offered as she wiggled up on the seat and reached in the back.

Deanna didn’t answer right away.  She had been treated to the sight of Madison’s curvy derriere in the swimsuit bottom, practically in her face.  It was a good thing she had to concentrate on her driving across the parking lot.  She could imagine if that had happened on the road, they would have crashed.  “Yeah, I’ll take an apple juice and a water,” she was finally able to squeak out.

Madison was aware her backside was exposed, she only wished she had really planned it.  She was wondering what Deanna might be thinking about it.  She almost wished she could ask her as she came back to the front seat with two waters and two apple juices.  She quickly shimmied into her seat belt before they got on the road.

“All set?” Deanna asked to cover up for her momentary lapse.

“All set,” Madison agreed.

Deanna set out after checking everything one more time.  She even stopped the SUV to check the trailer, the covers, and the ties.  She slipped off her booties and slipped on sandals to drive in.

“Do you want these back?” Madison asked, rolling off the booties she had been wearing.  She wiggled her pruney toes appreciatively.

“Eventually,” Deanna answered and threw her own in the backseat next to the vests they had stowed there.

They slowly made their way back to Los Angeles and away from Puddingstone Lake.  They vowed to return sometime soon, the kids would demand it.  “Hey, they have hot tubs up here.  Doesn’t that sound wonderful under the stars?” Madison pointed at the sign.

“I have a hot tub at my house,” Deanna mentioned before she could think.

“You’ll have to show me some time,” Madison answered before she could think.

The drive was a little quieter after that, each lost in the meaning of what they had said and what it could mean, neither asking the other.  Finally, an uneasy conversation started over a billboard they saw, distracting them both from their thoughts.

“Do you want to come in and eat something?” Madison offered when they got to her place.

“No, thank you.  I think the sun kept me from really being hungry.  I just want to go home and sleep,” Deanna grouched in a teasing way.

“I think I got more sun than you did!” she answered back, showing off her reddish skin.  They had both gotten sunburned, but not too badly thanks to the sunblock.

“You put some lotion on that, young lady,” the doctor teased as she put the last of Madison’s things on her porch for her.

“Do you have someone to help you with all that?” she indicated the trailer and the Waverunners as well as the cooler and other things in the back of the Rover.

“Yeah, but I like to do things myself,” Deanna said with a self-deprecating grin. 

“Thank you for a really wonderful day out,” the redhead told her appreciatively.  She really wanted to kiss the blonde, but didn’t know if that would be appropriate.  They were, after all, just friends.  Was she reading too much into this?

“I had a good time too.  Now we know what to do for when we take the kids,” she smiled.  She was glad that Madison couldn’t see her eyes boring into her, hungering for the body under that t-shirt and swimsuit.  “I’ll call you tomorrow to see how you’re faring,” she promised as she began to back away.

“Drive safe,” she called as she watched her walk towards the Rover and Waverunners.  Deanna went around to the driver’s side and quickly got in.  Waving madly, she slowly drove away from the curb.

Madison waved until Deanna was out of sight.  Almost like a kid who didn’t want their best friend to leave.  It was more than that…she knew it was more.  She wasn’t sure how to
make
it more though.  Sighing, she began to take her things inside.

Deanna was wondering if she should say something.  She didn’t want to ruin what they had.  She’d had so much fun, but she wanted more…she needed more.  She had so much more to share with Madison when she was ready.  It was going to be hard to share with her; she hadn’t told her everything.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

“Are you going to the party for the opening of the new children’s wing?” Deanna asked Madison as she looked over the chart on an operation they had just finished.

“Uh, I’m sure I’m not invited,” Madison laughed as she waited for any further directions from the doctor.

Deanna looked up.  “Why wouldn’t you be invited?  You’re a member of this hospital.”

“You don’t see the class distinctions around here, do you?  Nurses are good for scutt work, for dating, or for boinking, but they aren’t on an equal level with the doctors, much less the surgeons.”

Deanna looked at her as though she had sprouted antennae.  “What are you talking about?”

“Remember when you were an intern and the doctors treated you like a servant?”  Madison waited until Deanna nodded.  It took a moment, after all Deanna was a teen when she was an intern.  “That’s how they treat nurses around here…all the time.”

“I don’t do…” she began defensively.

“No, you don’t, but many do,” she was quick to reassure.

“So, are you going to go?” she dismissed the unpleasant part of the conversation they had just had.

“I don’t think so.  There is no point and it’s too expensive to get an invitation…” she began and then was interrupted by Deanna.

“Look, I have to go.  Let’s just say it was a mandatory suggestion,” she sighed.  “I’d kinda like someone there I can laugh with and make fun of the other doctors with,” she lowered her voice and they shared a girlish giggle.

“What?  As your date?” she asked, flippantly, her heart beating hard from the implication and her audacity.

Deanna frowned, imagining what it might do to Madison’s stellar reputation as a trauma nurse.  “No, as my friend,” she clarified.

Madison felt a bit disappointed, but didn’t let it show.  “I don’t know if I have anything to wear and then I have to get a babysitter…” she began.  The kids had been disappointed to find out about the excursion on the Waverunners and had been acting up, asking when Deanna was coming over again and when they got to go.

“C’mon, those are just excuses.  I’ll pay for the damn tickets and I’ll pick you up.  All you have to do is put on somethin’ purty,” she changed her voice to sound like a redneck and the two of them shared a laugh.

“Okay, okay, I’ll go,” she promised, and then immediately regretted it.  She’d have to find a nice dress and she didn’t own one.  She wanted to look nice
for the party
, at least that was what she told herself.  She almost convinced herself she would be dressing up for the party.

* * * * *

The night of the gala for the new children’s wing at the hospital, as they were calling it, Deanna dressed carefully.  She’d hired a small limo to drive them; she didn’t want to worry about drinking and driving.  The kids were kind of put out that they couldn’t go, Madison confessed, but they were looking forward to seeing the two friends dressed up.

Conor opened the door and did his best to try and whistle at the vision of loveliness on their doorstep.  “Wow, Doctor D, is that really you?” he asked in an awed voice.  Even he could tell that she had made quite an effort to clean up.  Normally dressed in nice blouses and designer jeans, the rainbow high-tops were long gone and the high heels she was wearing replaced them.  A bit of leg showed through the slit in her gown and the color of the satin nearly matched her blue eyes.  Her hair was spiked up, but it looked hip and stylish.  The jewelry she was wearing showed off the expanse of neck, emphasizing her blonde beauty.  She was expertly made up, emphasizing her blue eyes, eye liner hiding the missing eye lashes.  The lipstick she wore made her lips look full and very kissable.

“Yep, Conor, it’s me.  Is your mom ready?” Deanna smiled.  The bright red of her lips was a startling contrast to her white teeth.

“Um, yeah, she’s still in her room,” he told her and Deanna walked into the house as Madison was coming out.  They both stopped to stare.  Neither had seen the other
this
dressed up.

“Wow,” Deanna breathed as Madison said the same.

Madison was dressed in a stunning green dress that came down to her knees.  It sparkled with silver material in the pattern.  With Madison’s red hair worn down instead of the usual ponytail, it really showed off her Irish heritage beautifully.  Her skin, still holding a tan from their weekend out, made her look stunning.

“Are you ready for this thing?” Deanna finally found her voice as she smiled her appreciation.

“Just got to get my purse,” Madison answered as she stared at the stunning blonde in her hallway.

“I think you should take us,” Chloe insisted as she saw how nice her mother and Doctor D looked.

Deanna looked down at the little girl looking on wistfully and understood.  She smiled at the young girl and said, “This is an adults-only party.  Someday we should have a dress up party, shouldn’t we?”

“Oh, can we?”

“Well, maybe, someday.  When is your next birthday?”

“Last month,” she stated.  Deanna looked up in hurtful alarm at Madison, who shook her head. 

“You mean six months ago?” Madison corrected the little girl.

“Um, yeah.”

Just then a teenaged girl arrived.  “Here’s Stacy to watch you two tonight,” Madison announced as she smiled at the girl hesitating on the doorstep.

The two children and the teen were soon watching TV, talking about the popcorn Madison had announced they could make, and the pizza that was due to be delivered.  The two adults slipped outside.

“You look wonderful,” Deanna mentioned as they walked to the limousine.

“You look pretty good yourself,” Madison admired and meant every word of it.

They arrived at the hotel that was holding the reception.  There hadn’t been enough room at the hospital with all the invitations.  The steps up to and into the ballroom were carpeted in red for the guests.  There were round tables everywhere and a large dance floor.  In back of it all was a long table where the directors of the hospital sat with their spouses.  In one corner was a covered twenty-foot picture displayed so that everyone in the room would be able to see it when it was time.  They’d hung it within five feet of the ceiling and had lights trained on it.  Below it and also covered, was a table containing brochures and pamphlets.