F*** Cancer, This One Did Us All In.

24

   "Please let go of me." I whimpered from under the armpits of Pierre.

  "Oh, come on Theo," he said with the slightest hint of a French accent in his voice. "Be a man, toughen up."

  "I can't feel my neck." I said and Pierre laughed once more.

  "Pierre!" Came a strict voice that could have only come from one person.

  "Sierra." He said in a joking manner as he let go of my neck. "We were just talking about how this isn't what it looks like."

  "Really?" She asked. "Because it looks like a grown man harassing one of my patients."

  "Um, aren't I an ex-patient?" I asked.

  She gave me one look and I decided it to be in my best interests to just shut up. Pierre laughed like the good-natured guy he was and reached into the back of his pants, pulling out a pack of cigarettes.

  "What did I say about smoking in front of the children?" Sierra said.

  He scratched his beard thoughtfully and looked up. He then brought his blue eyes back down to her and said, "I don't know, but I'm sure you're going to tell me."

  Sierra pinched the bridge of her nose and her green eyes zeroed in on him like missiles. I had no idea how he could stand her sharp look, but he just chuckled and turned to me. "She's only been a nurse for ten years and she thinks she knows everything about health."

  I smiled awkwardly, not wanting to be put on her radar any more than I already was, and just watched as Sierra walked up to Pierre, grabbed his ear, and began to pull him away despite the numerous curses he flung out. I just stood there, slightly flabbershocked, before walking out of the Men's bathroom. Don't ask me what Sierra was doing in the bathroom, she was just like a bloodhound for trouble and could sniff it out anywhere.

  Mfundo and Amelia were waiting for me as I walked out and Amelia said, "Did Sierra just walk into the Men's bathroom?"

  "Yeah," I scratched the back of my head, "Pierre was in there."

  "Oh." They both said, immediately understanding.

  For the past two days we had noticed a sort of love-hate relationship between Pierre and Sierra where he loved her and she hated him.

  "Hey, what's the time?" I asked Amelia.

  She looked at the analogue watch we had gotten from the broken car and said, "Like, almost six. Why?"

  I shrugged. "Wanted to know how long I'd have to wait till it was dinner time."

  "Still have an hour to go." Mfundo said.

  "So, what are we going to do until then?" I asked. "I mean, we've already done all the chores assigned to us, so . . ."

  "I don't know." Amelia said. "But I'm sure we could –"

  "What's wrong?" I asked, frowning at her sudden pause.

  Her jaw was clenched and she seemed to be staring as hard as she could in front of her. I turned around to see what was causing this and – oh. Daniel. He was busy walking with Lucius and, after the two of them noticed the three of us, Lucius gave him a small push in our direction. Daniel didn't bite though, and continued walking with his boyfriend. If tensions weren't already high enough between Amelia and Daniel, they just had to go and make them worse. Okay, I'll be honest, it was also sort of, maybe my fault as well.