A Tangled Web We Weave (Completed)

6. Collateral Damage

Tony

I punched out for the day, rolling my shoulders back and stretching. I had been on my feet for the past 24 hours and all I wanted to do was pass out. Making my way towards the doors, I heard the beeping that meant a patient needed help. No one else was in the break room and to my great dismay, I checked the monitor. It was the sassy ginger. I hadn't seen her awake since "fight me" but I was still deciding whether or not that was a good thing. I sighed, walking down the hallway into her room. She looked over from the T.V. on the wall and her smile faded a little. For some bizarre reason, she was the one person in all of my rounds who didn't seem to like me. The girl in the room next to hers seemed to like me too much.

"Hey there. How can I help, red?" I asked, fixing her with my best beam.

She glared at me. "It's Regan, actually." As she looked away, I noticed a rash on her hands. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I remembered some mention of a rare disease.

"Regan, sorry, how can I help?" I questioned again, checking her vitals for signs of emergency.

She shrugged. "I wondered if I could have more painkiller."

I checked her charts. "You were due for some two hours ago. Sorry about that, love, hasn't anyone been here in awhile?"

"No." She glared as though I should've already known that. And truth be told, I probably should've.

"And I wondered why that is." I muttered.

She shrugged again, looking back at the T.V. "Bite me."

I smirked and couldn't resist. "Where?"

She gasped, whipping her head towards me. As I chuckled, she rolled eyes back to the T.V. screen, ignoring me. It really was too bad she was too young and that she didn't like me. I consider myself a pretty likable guy, but she just refused to give me even a smile. Her red hair kept drawing my attention and I found myself studying her features. Everything about her was slim and refined. Something on her neck caught my eyes and I squinted, trying to figure out if it was a rash or-

Finally, feeling my stare, she turned her piercing blue eyes back on me. "Fight m-" she tried to say, but started coughing, still glaring the whole time. She stopped hacking, went to open her mouth, and shut it again, looking down at her hands for a second.

I smiled. "I won't fight you."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Why? Is it because I'm a girl or because I'm injured?"

I chuckled. "Because you'd win and my fragile ego couldn't take it."

Her eyes went wide a little bit and a loud "ha" slipped out before she schooled her features again.

I put her painkillers in her IV feed and left. The pain in my feet was distracting at best but all I could think about was those eyes. Intensely blue and piercing to the core, they were almost burned into my memory. She was, in no way shape or form, available or my type. She was probably still in high school, sassy but basically innocent, and a distinctly wild look. I shook my head, trying to shake off the thoughts of her as well. What was I doing? Was I looking for a lawsuit? The last thing I needed at the moment was more drama.

When I got to my apartment, Elena was lying down against of my door, completely asleep. I smiled a little and unlocked my door, pushing it open out from underneath her. She slid down and hit her head on the floor with a gentle thump. She groaned and blinked herself awake. She grinned when she saw me. "Hiya, Tony." She mumbled, trying to stand up without falling over. I helped her get her balance and then stepped past her into my apartment.

"Hi, Elena. How can I help you?" I asked, walking directly to the fridge to grab leftovers from the night before's take out.

She sat down at the bar with a heaving sigh, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "You never told me you were my best friend's nurse. One would think that you'd tell your friend. Is she the worst patient?" She laughed with me and sobered quickly. "And I'm really confused. About just about everything. And I might need to crash here tonight. Mom hit the bottle again."

Ignoring the comment about Regan, I slammed my beer onto the counter. "Why hasn't Marc divorced her yet?"

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "You know Dad. I think he's waiting until the kids are out of the house, so I don't have to deal with messy court battles. But he's so miserable and I'm basically the reason he's stuck in a failing marriage."

I rolled my eyes, lifting the bottle to my mouth. "It's not your fault. Jezebel doesn't deserve Marc. Did she hurt you again?"

She shook her head, her hand going to play with the ring in her nose. "She focused on Marc this time. She just screamed at him," she sighed, walking to fridge and taking out a can of cherry Dr. Pepper.

I nodded and set down my food on the table, taking the can out of her hand. "It's time for you to hit the hay."

"You're probably right," she conceded, standing up.

"You get the couch," I started, walking over to her and setting my hand on her lower back so I could sneak by her to the fridge, but recoiled when she yelped in pain.

"Elena," I warned. "Did you lie to me?"

She shuffled her feet. "I might have left several facts out."

I folded my arms, raising my eyebrows. "Lemme see the damage."