Big Bangs, Prohibition, and a Sugar Daddy

The Silver Ghost

 I refused to let Luke carry down the stairs like I was some invalid. I wouldn't had to go down the stairs at all. I could have sat comfortably in the apartment and read my romance. If Luke hadn't of offered to foot the bill for a doctor visit I would have been better off.

I started to cough halfway down the stairs. I took a lozenge to help my throat. I still wouldn't let Luke carry me down. I'd gone up and down these stairs for years without having to be carried. I wasn't going to start letting Luke carry me now. I am not a invalid after all.

 Carol and I had expected to see Phillip's Model T, or some other old jalopy. What was parked close to our apartment was a Silver Ghost Rolls Royce. It was covered in silver chrome. The black convertible top was down, revealing the lovely red leather seats within.

Standing beside the luxurious car was a man dressed in a brown suit. The man was middle-aged, stocky, and had a layer of black stubble on his face. He wore a fedora, his black hair was a little long.

We had no idea it was actually Luke's car, until the man came up to him. "Henry, this is Ellen and Carol Cross. Carol Cross is Phillip's fiance. We will be going to the hospital to see Phillip."

"This car is yours!?" I don't know why Carol had to ask, it was obvious that the Silver Ghost was Luke's. "It is so beautiful. Can I ride in the front seat?"

Carol seemed to forget her fiance was laying in the hospital suffering from a serious wound in his shoulder. Carol stepped up into the front seat as Henry held the door for her. Posing like she belonged there. I let Henry open the door for me and slid into the back seat.

"Thank you." I said to Henry.

Luke slid into the other side of the car. I tried not to be impressed. I had no intention of encouraging Luke in any way. That Luke has so much sugar or money to buy such a expensive car. Henry didn't dress the way I imagined a chauffeur would, he didn't wear a cap either. His poorly shaven face gave Henry a rough look which didn't fit with the expensive car that he was chauffeuring.

Luke was dressed in a dark blue pinstripe suit. He too wore a black fedora with blue hat band. His shoes were black patent leather. His dark blue tie and white shirt completed the suit. All of it appeared to be expensive silk. What the police detective had said in the hospital came to my mind. How could Luke afford silk suits  and a Rolls Royce?

"I know I didn't seem very appreciative, but thank you for taking Carol to see Phillip. I really don't need to see a doctor." I sat on one end of the seat. Luke sat casually at the other end.

My hands were clasped together in my lap. I was dressed in a wasit shirt and pencil dress. Both a decade out of date. My boots were old as well, but polished to a shine. My wide brimmed hat I had to tie with a ribbon under my chin to hold it in place as the car drove down to the hospital.

"You look quaint. Like one of the girls who saw off the troops from New York before we went to Europe. But, that was ten years ago." Luke looked at me. Not the hungry look he had before. It was a look of sadness. "So many of us didn't come back."

"You were in the Great War?" American participation in the war was short, but decisive. Only a year ago the final treaties that ended the Great War were signed.

"Yes." Luke turned away. I think he was thinking about the  war. "I met two of my business associates in the Great War."

Luke made his fortune in the war, or after it, possibly in speculation. Which would make sense. No doubt he spent time in the Stock Exchange. Either Luke or speculators that he hired to represent him there. There was nothing nefarious about Luke's fortune nor was it so much a mystery.

As Carol floated into the hospital. Luke had gotten out of the car first and offered his hand to assist me in stepping down from the back of the car. Luke then opened the door for Carol. Offering his hand to her as well. Carol was feeling special. Arriving in the keen looking car, having Luke offer her hand to step down from it. Uplifting her mood.

Poor Phillip had a large bandage on his shoulder. He lay in the hospital bed, covered with white sheets and a green wool blanket. Phillip was one of many victims of the bombings in the large, corridor-like room. Carol saw Phillip and began to fuss on him. Not realizing that her ministrations, which included fluffing pillows and trying to set him up was causing him pain. I prevented her from trying to 'take care of Phillip'. Reminding her that any movement could cause the wound to bleed, jarring the wound would cause more pain and possibly make the wound worse.

I performed the social requirements.  I tried empathize with Phillip. I asked how he was doing and wished him well. I think Phillip was too hopped up on opium to be really aware of my social niceties.

"We will leave Carol and you to talk by yourselves." Luke had already exchanged his social niceties with Phillip. "Carol, I'll let Henry get a cab for you and escort you home. It's not as luxurious as a Rolls Royce, but you will be safe with Henry."

"I talked to your doctor at the Theodore Clinic, she happens to be working here tending the victims in the Ward. I arranged for her to see her. I thought you would feel more comfortable being examined by a doctor who was already familiar with your specific health conditions." Luke took my arm and escorted me down the hospital ward.  

 Doctor Katherine Harris is familiar with my specific condition. I have stuck with her, because she doesn't seem disgusted with my peculiar problem. I also feel that the less people who know that I have male genitalia despite my breasts and wide hips the better.

Taken into a private examination room. Doctor Harris checked my heart, had me take several deep breaths. I had my throat checked. Doctor Harris said nothing specific. I saw her open the medicine chest. She took out a menthol rub.

"Your heart seems fine, although you still have that irregularity that has always concerned me. Your breathing is slightly labored." Doctor Harris told me. "Apply this rub on your chest. Use a honeyed tea for your throat. You will be fine in a few days. Don't over exert yourself."

I was dismissed. I found Luke waiting for me in the lounge at the front of the hospital where Carol and I had spent most of yesterday while I cleaned Carol's cuts. He offered his arm.

 I had mixed feelings about taking his arm and allowing Luke to escort me to his beautiful Rolls Royce. When I took his hand, held his arm, I had this feeling inside me. I felt flushed when I did so. Warm, nervous, and somewhat special. But, I knew I wasn't really a woman, so did Luke. That all of these gestures were just that. They had no real meaning, perhaps some affection was there, but it could never be anything more.

I rode in the front seat of the Rolls Royce while Luke drove. It seemed a complicated use of peddles and levers. I suppose driving such a machine takes a great deal of concentration. Luke seemed to operate the Rolls Royce with out giving it a thought. As though the operation was instinctual.