This Means War

Meeting the Girl

Started this story a while back. Have a few parts completed and some in edit. Will probably be slow in updating but I am posting just for fun!

Marley Helton sat dozing in her chair in the break room as her best friend, Lisa sat pushing her late dinner around with her fork in her plastic container. A sixteen hour shift had them both exhausted and a little loopy.

"I cannot believe we have eight years left to go," Lisa said sleepily.

Marley chuckled as she opened her eyes "Hours," she corrected.

"Same difference," Lisa shrugged.

"At least it's slow. Less chance of killing anyone since I can barely keep my eyes open," Marley asked.

Lisa pretended horror "Marlena Helton, that's a horrible thing to say."

"But true,"Marley laughed as she stood to refill her coffee cup.

The door to the lounge and one of the senior nurses walked in "We have live one," she declared.

"Not it!" both Dr.'s declared at the same time.

"Ha-ha," the nurse cried "Come on gals..simple wrist break and eye lac. Nothing complicated. Let's go."

"I took the last one," Lisa said as she continued to chew her food. "Your turn."

Marley took one last sip of her coffee before placing it back on. "You suck."

"You love me and you know it," Lisa replied as Marley left the lounge.

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Brian Elwin Haner Jr. sat in the bright lights of Cedars Sinai hospital blood dripping slowly into his left eye. The triage nurse had cleaned it but in all this waiting for the Dr. it had started to bleed again. He tried to spread the fingers on his left hand but the pain was terrible despite the Vicodin Dave had given him before bringing him to the hospital. So much for ever climbing on the amps again for an epic solo. Or maybe he shouldn't drink so much before a show, so his balance would be better.

He considered having a Vicodin induced nap when a pretty brunette walked through the door. At first he thought he was hallucinating. She was strikingly beautiful, but not in the conventional way most of the girls he found attractive were. This little one was short with curves. She wore blue colored scrubs under her simple lab coat with tennis shoes. The stark white of her jacket complemented her olive skin and grape colored irises. Her inky dark hair was sheared short with the ends pointed in all directions. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, early thirties and was younger than any of the doctor's he'd seen. Prettier too. He estimated that the top of her head would reach his shoulder if he stood next to her.

"Good morning," she said in a sweet melodic voice moving to wash her hands. "I'm Dr. Helton."

Brian finally found his voice and smiled "I'm Brian."

"It's nice to meet you, Brian," she said as she pulled on gloves and moved grab some gauze and a clear bottle of saline solution. "What happened to you?" She managed to clean the blood that had been dripping into his eye.

"Stage stunt gone terribly wrong," he replied as he looked at her through a drunken haze, not quite understanding the strong reaction he was having to the woman in front of him.

She nodded as she cleaned his wound softly "Ahh, I didn't know Avenged Sevenfold was in town."

He looked at her with surprise. She didn't look like the run of the mill A7X fan. "Yeah, we were at the Palladium."

"Sweet," she said as she focused on her work and then looked down at the crude splint EMS had rigged on his left hand. "EMS do that?" she asked

He lifted it "Yup, it's heavy."

She laughed as she rolled her chair closer to his bed "Yeah they like to make 'em hideous." She stood and she patted the side of the bed "Do you mind?"

"Not at all," he replied pleased at her being so close.

"Can you sit up please? "she asked as she took the stethoscope from around her neck.

He did so but with his splint and liquor still in his system, it required effort.

She placed the ear tips in her ears but instead of placing the bell on his chest, she rubbed it between her hands. "Trying to warm it up so it's not so cold." She explained.

He gave her a sexy smirk "I appreciate that."

Carefully, she pulled up his white t-shirt. His tattoos were colorful and so beautiful it made Marley want to run her fingers across them. The black Forever across his chest was startlingly dark in comparison the rest of his pale, smooth, and as cool as alabaster skin. His heart beat out a strong, hypnotic rhythm. "Sounds good." She said moving to lift the back of his shirt up to expose his back which was just as lovely as his chest. "Can you take a deep breath for me?" He did with no comment, just followed her every move with his eyes. She moved her stethoscope to his second lung and requested another.

"Lungs are clear." She said smiling briefly as he sat back.

Just then the nurse barged in "Sorry, I was charting. What did I miss?"

Marley looked at Brian's cut and "Two inch lac above the right eyebrow. Can you hand me some more gloves?"

The nurse handed them over and Marley pulled them on and examined Brian's cut. "It's a clean line so it should heal nicely. Maybe four or five stitches. Shouldn't be noticeable at all after a few months."

"Maybe it will finally give me the rough and rugged look I'm going for," he said sheepishly and she chuckled as she tossed the gloves in the nearby trashcan.

"This splint looks heavy." She said as she sat on the bed to easier remove the makeshift Velcro straps.

"It is." He agreed, taking in the feeling of her close proximity. She was busy with her work and he used the time to examine her face without her knowing. Her skin had a natural olive tone but it was obvious she spent more time indoors. She had a sprinkle of light freckles across her nose. Her hair was dark like the color of rich chocolate and swirling every direction. Her lips were full and satiny. And although they were lovely, her best feature, by far, were her violet eyes framed by long dark lashes.

"Tell me if this hurts." She asked as her small warm fingers probed his arm. He did feel pain but after the hour of burning numbness the splint brought, it was welcome. Her touch was familiar and foreign at the same time. He closed his eyes. As she made her way towards his wrist, he winced more than a bit.

"I'm sorry." She apologized quickly, frowning concernedly . "Do we have X-rays?"

The nurse shook her head. "Not yet,"

Marley smiled at him trying to put him at ease "We're going to get you X-Rayed and then I'll come in and sew you up. Sound like a plan?"

"Sounds great," Brian leaned his head back and closed.