Losing Innocence

2

      It's been four days and Chase, the guy that has been consuming her every thought, still has not called. She wondered why he hadn't called yet. Was he not interested in her anymore? Had she done something that threw him off? Maybe she had come on to him too strongly when she'd offered to clean him up. He said he would call, so why hadn't he? Whatever it was, Madi could not figure it out. She had even contacted her cellphone provider, twice, to make sure nothing was wrong with her service. When she finally accepted the fact that she would not be hearing from him again, she picked up more shifts at the hospital. She reckoned she could keep her mind off of him by staying busy. And so on Thursday afternoon, Madi found herself in front of the hospital vending machine, contemplating which bag of chips to get. Her mind wandered to thoughts of him and it drove her mad. She recalled his hair and how soft it had seemed and wondered how he was doing, and if his bruises had healed nicely. Madi realized that she liked taking care of him. She didn't know how to explain it, but she felt secure around him. He ignited a passion inside of her that she didn't even know existed. Though they had only met once, she knew she enjoyed being around him. With him, she felt like she belonged, and that felt right. She remembered the way his skin felt under her hand as she was dabbing at the cut on his face. His lips looked so soft. Closing her eyes, she could almost feel the ghost of his lips over her own. It was quite laughable, she thought, as she had never kissed anyone before.

      Slowly, she found herself hugging her body, envisioning his strong arms wrapped around her body, holding her tight. His head by her neck taking in her scent, his breath tickling her collarbone. She imagined his deep voice moaning her name.

          "Madi..." She whispered her own name softly. She knew it wasn't the same coming from her own lips. She felt that tingling sensation between her legs and knew only Chase could make it go away.

          "Madison?" Madi's eyes snapped open and she tried to figure when she had even closed them. Turning around, her advisor, Marie, stood with a clipboard in hand.

          "Sorry, I got a little distracted."

          "No worries," Marie gave her a quick smile and flipped through her papers, "can you check on Ms. Devereaux in room B26? She was just served supper, and a little socializing should be good for her."

      Madi nodded her head and walked over to the elevator to the fourth floor where the suites are. When she reached the door, she knocked twice to alert the patient and proceeded to walk in.

          "Good afternoon, Ms. Devereaux? My name is Madi, I'm here to check up on you."

      After closing the door behind her, Madi walked around to her bedside and checked her charts. To be completely honest, she was not that good at reading charts, but doing so made her come across as a professional. So she would always pretend to know whatever the fuck was written on those charts.

          "Oh please, call me Lana. Apple slice?" She asked sweetly.

      As Madi engaged in casual conversation with her patient, she felt her phone vibrate in her front pocket. She subtly checked to see who the caller was. Her heart did this stupid little dance her chest as she recognized the name. It was Chase. He was finally calling her back and she couldn't help the excitement rushing through her body. She cracked a soft smile but soon realized that she couldn't pick up the call. She was at work for God's sake! And with a patient in the room nonetheless. She couldn't pick up. Would he think she's blowing him off by not answering? That was certainly not the case. She's been dying for his call, as desperate as that sounds. And so, as much as it pained her, she let the call go to voicemail and focused her attention back on Lana, who was already looking at her.

          "Is everything all right?" Lana was now munching on a blueberry muffin, questioning the silent breakdown she'd just witnessed.

          "Yeah, I'm so sorry," she began her apology, something she'd been doing a lot recently. "I've been expecting a call and-" Madi shook her head, thinking Lana didn't sign up for a pity party. "-and it doesn't matter. I'll just call him back later."

          "Him?" Lana repeated in a playful voice.

          "Yeah, he said he would call," she waved her phone at her, "and he did."

          "Honey, never keep a man waiting, call him back."

          "I'm not really supposed to take personal calls during my shift."

          "Sweetheart, go ahead," Lana insisted. "I promise I won't die on your watch," she added while laughing wholeheartedly.

      Madi laughed along with her, shaking her head lightly. Lana may have been old, but her laugh made her 20 years younger. Madi was grateful to have landed on someone like her today. As she pulled her phone out again, she walked to the corner of the room. Subconsciously, she fixed her hair and then stopped herself as she realized he won't see her. Taking a deep breath she pressed his name to dial back.

      It rang once before his deep voice hummed in her ear.

          "Madi."

          "Hey!" She cleared her throat, mentally face palming herself over how desperate she sounded. "How have you been?"

          "I'm good," he groaned. "What about you?"

          "I'm just working."

          "Oh... shit... this is a bad time then?"

          Madi started fiddling with the hem of her uniform. "No, I'm actually on break." She looked over at Lana who smiled contently, now sipping on apple juice. Feeling a little brave, she spoke again. "You didn't call, I was beginning to worry." She surprised herself with how straightforward she was being. She let out a soft laugh at the end so that she didn't sound as desperate. In reality, she'd been glued to her phone for the past ninety-six hours waiting for his call.

          "Yeah, sorry about that I actually- fucking hell..."

          She furrowed his eyebrows as he cursed. He sounded like he was in pain."Chase, are you okay?" There were a brief pause and a lot of muffling on his end. "Mhm, can I call you back?" and without giving her a chance to respond, he hung up. Madi stood shocked for a moment, her phone still pressed against her ear like she would hear his voice from the phone again.

          "Everything okay, dear?" Lana's voice rang in the background. "You look worried."

          Pocketing her phone she walked back over to Lana, forcing her best bedside smile. "All okay," she nodded.

          "Your boyfriend?"

          "No, just a friend."

          "But you like him?"

          Madi was not used to people taking an interest in her, yet this old lady was really invested in her. Madi realized that she liked her. She went over and sat in the chair next to Lana. "I do like him," she sighed. "I like him a lot actually. I only met him once, but I feel like I connected with him, and I think he felt the same too. Am I crazy, Lana?"

          "Not at all." She smiled at her warmly. "It sounds like you need to explore this newfound crush of yours." Madi let out a heavy sigh when suddenly her phone chimed. Opening it, she sees it's a text from Chase, containing two words and an attachment:

Come Over.
Current Location Sent.