Wild (9 page)

I got back to my car unseen. I looked at the clock on my dashboard and knew I had to hurry back. Half an hour later I was on my way back to my place, Chinese takeout on the passenger seat and a bag of groceries in the back.

The car couldn’t drive fast enough for me. I felt an overwhelming urgency to get back. I had been gone for over two hours and I wanted to get back to Annette. She had been acting a little strange before I had left, and I was anxious to see if she felt better.

As soon as I came up the stairs to enter my place I could smell it: the scent of cooked meat. Hadn’t she said she was a Vegetarian?

She sat on the couch when I entered, still in my bathrobe, still looking terribly cute. She smiled at me.

“Hi,” she said simply and her voice was soft.

I was relieved and smiled back at her. “Hi.” I almost choked up. I pointed at the Chinese takeout in my hand.

“I brought you some food, unless you’re not hungry anymore?” I pretended to only just now take in the smell of cooked meat.

She gave me a sheepish look. “I hope you don’t mind, but I ate one of your steaks.”

“Vegetarian, huh?” I grinned.

“I was really hungry, and I figured the cow was already dead, so …”

Her logic was charming. I laughed. For the first time I saw her laugh too. It was infectious and made her look even more beautiful.

I carried the grocery bag to the kitchen counter and sat it down. I would have much rather gone to the couch and taken her into my arms, but it was out of the question. I was still a stranger to her. She was in a good mood and I didn’t want to spoil it. I would try to find a legitimate reason to touch her later. I was suffering from intense withdrawal symptoms.

“I got you a few things from the supermarket. I don’t really know what you eat for breakfast, so I got you some cereals and yoghurts, milk and juice.” I unpacked the items and put most of them into the fridge.

“Thanks. You didn’t need to do that.”

I did. If she had taken a steak out of the fridge, she would have noticed there was barely anything else in there. Was she not planning to stay for breakfast? I hid my panicked look by turning to the pantry and placing the cereal boxes into it.

“You need your strength. No use in skipping breakfast.” I sounded like a school teacher.

“Thanks for taking such good care of me. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

Don’t say anything stupid now!
I cautioned myself.

“Don’t worry, it’s on the house.” I felt it was safe enough, a little aloof maybe, but safe.

“You must be bored sitting around here all day. If you want to watch TV, go ahead,” I suggested.

“I’m not sure how to switch it on. There are too many remotes.”

She was right. It could be a little confusing. I walked over to the couch and picked the right remote for the TV and switched it on for her.

The TV monitor came on immediately. It took me only a split second to realize the picture on the monitor was my lab and I had forgotten to change the setting back to TV input, rather than security camera input. I flicked the switch immediately and was sure she hadn’t noticed since I was partially blocking her view of the TV.

“There.” I handed the remote to her. “You can change the channels with these up and down buttons.” I was sure she knew how to work a remote, but I wanted an excuse to stay close to her and in order to show her the buttons I had to bend down to her. My head was only inches away from hers, too close for a stranger and not close enough for a lover. The beast inside me screamed to touch her like a lover would. Holding back was painful.

How long would it take her to figure out that everything I did was designed so I could be close to her? I had to be careful.

“How is your leg?”

She instantly opened the bathrobe to show me her leg. She caught me off guard. I had expected her to tell me whether it hurt or not. I hadn’t expected her to show me her leg so readily. She obviously had no idea what effect her body had on me. She just saw me as a doctor and found it completely natural to show me her naked skin whenever I asked her to. I pretended to examine the bandage for any evidence of bleeding, when I really stared at her skin recalling its softness under my touch while I fantasized about running my hands up her thighs.

“I think it’s alright.” Her voice broke through the fog in my head. “I took the painkillers.”

“That’s good. Let me know when it’s throbbing again, and I’ll give you some more.” I tried to sound as professional as I could under the circumstances when in reality I could barely breathe.

I needed something to distract me.

I remembered suddenly that she had asked me earlier if she could take a shower and I had an idea of how it would work which didn’t involve me being in the shower with her, as much as I liked the idea. I excused myself, snatched a stool from the kitchen area and carried it into the bathroom, preparing the shower for her.

Then I hurried back into the kitchen and took a roll of cling film and some tape and sat down next to her on the couch. She stared at the cling film skeptically without any idea of what I was planning.

“Would you still like to take a shower?” I asked her.

Her eyes lit up. “Absolutely.”

“Okay then. Let me wrap your bandages so you won’t get them wet.”

She willingly opened her bathrobe for me again and I took my time wrapping her thigh. Finally I could touch her again. Her skin felt softer than I remembered and I moved slower than I could have. I didn’t want to rush it. She was patient and didn’t seem to mind either. When I took the tape to seal the cling film on each side so no water could come in above or below, I took special care making sure the tape was tight. My hands pressed against her skin many times during the procedure and I felt elated. Would she notice how my fingers lingered on her skin? She seemed oblivious to it. How long could I keep on doing this without her noticing?

I covered a smaller area on her other thigh where she had been injected.

“Ready?”

She put her arms around my neck in anticipation, and I lifted her up. Her head was so close to mine it wouldn’t have taken me much to kiss her right there and then. Resisting was almost painful.

If she looked so appealing to me when she was ill and wearing an oversized bathrobe, I wondered what she would look like when she was well again and wearing a pretty dress.

“Thanks.”

No, thank you!

I pulled her a little closer as I carried her into the bathroom, and if she noticed she didn’t say anything.

I stepped into the shower with her and sat her onto the stool I had placed in the middle of it. On the outside of the shower I had put another stool with two towels, one to sit on and the other to dry off with.

“Let me see if you can reach to turn on the shower.”

She stretched out her hand. I had to adjust the stool forward a little, so she could reach the handle to turn on the shower.

“Better.”

“Can you still reach the stool with the towels?”

She tested. “No problem.”

“Just throw the bathrobe on the floor outside the shower. I’ll pick things up later.” I was about to walk out of the bathroom when she stopped me.

“Vince.” Hearing my name spoken by her still made my heart jump. It felt like a caress in my ears. “Did you bring the suitcases?”

“Oh, sure. I’ll bring them up. They’re in the car.”

I rushed downstairs and grabbed her suitcases from the trunk. They didn’t seem very heavy to me. I got to the bathroom door and looked in.

“Which one do you want in here?”

“Could you please let me have the black one and open it for me too?” She smiled at me.

I made space on the marble counter, lifted the suitcase onto it and opened it.

“Don’t wear anything too tight around your bandages please, and if you need me to take off the cling film for you afterwards, call me.” She wouldn’t need help with that, of course, but one could always hope.

I almost regretted having volunteered to fetch her suitcases. Now I wouldn’t be able to see quite as
much
of her anymore. I closed the door behind me. A short while later I heard the shower. I imagined her sitting on the stool completely naked, the water running down her perfect body. I pictured the drops of water falling onto her perfectly formed breasts and bouncing off her skin, and wondered what it would be like to touch them.

Stop!

Fantasizing like this made it even harder for me to resist just grabbing her and throwing her onto my bed to make her mine.

It was still light outside, but the day was drawing to a close. Less than twenty four hours earlier I had been alone. What a difference a day had made. Suddenly there was somebody in my life, somebody I didn’t want to leave.

I knew I only had a limited time to make her trust me, and, I hoped, love me. I couldn’t come out telling her who or what I was yet. She would just be too freaked. I needed to make her understand first that there was still good in me. Once she had discovered my horrible secret she would be either too scared or too disgusted to stay with me.

I was aware that she had nobody here, but my human side disliked the idea of taking advantage of that. I wanted her to be with me because she wanted to, not because she had no other options. I wanted her to have options and still choose me.

I was dreaming again, daydreaming. I lay on the couch staring up at the skylight. The fog had suddenly started to disappear and it seemed like it would turn into a starry night. I had always loved the City and knew it even better by night than by day.

She had told me she had been in San Francisco for almost a year, and things obviously hadn’t gone as she had expected. I wondered whether she was so disappointed that she wanted to just start fresh somewhere else. If I could convince her San Francisco was worth another try, maybe she would want to stay.

I had an idea.

The shower had stopped. I knocked at the bathroom door. “Annette.”

“I’m not ready yet,” I heard her panicked voice.

“Don’t worry, I’m not coming in.” I paused. “Wear something warm, I’m taking you out.”

My heart was pounding while I waited for a response. It felt like an eternity until I heard her voice again.

“You mean I’m not too sick to go out?”

I had almost forgotten about her leg. “Don’t worry, you won’t have to walk anywhere. And besides, you’ll be under medical supervision at all times.” I laughed. I was suddenly in a great mood.

It was Saturday night and I had a date for the first time in over thirty years. Of course, she didn’t know it was a date, but it didn’t matter. For me, it would still be a date, one where I could show her my best side, make her feel comfortable and hope she would enjoy my company.

She took my breath away when I opened the bathroom door after she had called for me. Her long hair was shiny and her cheeks rosy from the hot shower. She wore a thick, but figure hugging blue sweater and black straight-cut corduroys. I was pleased to see her pants were not too tight and would not constrict her bandages underneath.

She beamed at me as I lifted her up and carried her to the couch.

“Here.” I handed her a couple of pain killers. “You should take these before the pain comes back.” She swallowed them without protest.

“Do you have a warm jacket?” It was May, but I knew it would be cold. San Francisco’s summer didn’t normally arrive until September.

“There’s one in my suitcase.” She pointed to the bathroom and I jumped up to get it for her.

I found the jacket and turned when I suddenly saw the towel she had been using. I stared at it in shock, grabbed it and ran to the sofa.

“Annette, why didn’t you tell me that you were bleeding?” I showed her the towel with the blood stains.

She blushed and looked embarrassed. I was ready to examine her leg, when she stopped me.

“It’s not my leg.” She paused uncomfortably.

“Did you fall in the shower?” I asked, not understanding. I was worried now.

“No, I didn’t fall. I, I …” She didn’t finish her sentence.

It finally clicked.

“Oh.” I paused uncomfortably. “Do you have some …?”

She shook her head.

“Don’t worry. There’s a corner store at the end of the street. I’ll get you some. Do you have a preferred brand?” I tried to be as professional as possible.

She looked at me like I had just offered to drive to the North Pole for her.

“Just regular size, thanks,” she said shyly.

“Back in a sec.”

I rushed to the store and bought her a box of tampons. The Chinese woman at the checkout didn’t look at me twice. A man buying tampons for his girlfriend was probably nothing unusual.

Girlfriend?

I was back at home in no time.

I could barely wait until she was done in the bathroom and ready to go. I carried her down the stairs into the garage and gently placed her into the passenger seat of my car. I made sure she was comfortable before I got in on the other side.

The garage door opened up and we drove out onto the street. I saw in the rear view mirror that the garage door shut behind us.

“We’re downtown.” She sounded surprised.

I realized she hadn’t had any idea of where she had been.

“Where are we going?”

I smiled at her. “It’s a surprise.”

I drove along Market Street and turned off onto 17
^th
Street when I reached the Castro. As I sped up the hill she looked relaxed. My fast driving didn’t seem to frighten her. The road up to Twin Peaks was winding, but I knew it well. I could see several cars up at the viewing area.

I turned into the parking area and stopped the car. She wanted to open the door.

“Wait. I promised you wouldn’t have to walk.”

I got out of the car and ran over to her side, opening the door for her. I bent down to her and lifted her out, then closed the car door with my hip. The viewing area was a half circle bordered by a three feet high wall. I lifted Annette onto the wall and sat her down letting her feet dangle over the other side.

“I’m going to have to hold you so you won’t slip,” I explained as I stood behind her and wrapped my right arm around her waist. It was the perfect excuse to have her firmly in my grip. She didn’t seem to notice that it was just a ruse for me to hold her in my arms.