Sugar And Spice // Ratched

Realization

I'm excited and nervous about this chapter. A big reveal is mentioned at the end so I hope you enjoy it!

Amora left the facility with shaking hands and wobbly knees. This was a new kind of frustration she never felt before. She had seven minutes of her eleven-hour shift. That was it; seven minutes. That's all it took, seven minutes, for her to ache for Edmund Tolleson.

She climbed into bed that night on her side, trying to find a night of peaceful sleep. But when all she could see on the backs of her eyelids were his baby blues following her own gaze. Then the feeling of his hands on her waist made her fingers clutch onto her pillow more roughly now. She refused to do this. She refused to have a one-tracked mind.

She didn't want to admit it, but she craved his distraction. She craved something more enticing, more to lose. She was afraid her feelings were overwhelming her true intentions. She didn't feel like this was her. She was changing; from the sudden language barrier to losing her best friend and touching one of the most dangerous patients the hospital has ever had transferred to Lucia. She wasn't being herself, but the feeling was addictive. Edmund was addictive.

By the time she needed to shower and get ready for work, the insistent buzz under her skin only grew like a wildfire. There was an intense aching sensation between her legs which made her legs quite shakey.

She managed to drive to work and clock in on time, but no matter the patient, or what nurse's station she was watching over, the need grew stronger and it took everything in her not to relieve herself. She couldn't bear the thought of doing so at work. Hell, she could hardly imagine sharing those ten minutes with Edmund at work or in his cell, and yet she managed to get away with that.

She decided to try and find Nurse Ratched amongst the commotion in the building. She went from person to person until she finally found her in Dr. Hanover's office.

"Oh, I'm sorry to interrupt. Nurse Ratched," she called towards the beautifully pristine woman. "can you come to find me when you're done here?" she pondered, trying to sound less urgent as she didn't want Hanover wondering what it was she needed Nurse Ratched for.

"Oh, we were just finishing up here Nurse Amora." it was Hanover himself who stood from his chair seated timidly behind his desk. "But I wish to speak with you after your use of Nurse Ratched."

"Oh, alright then, can you follow me ma'am?" she asked politely, trying to seem as innocent and curious as possible to steer any suspicion in the opposite direction. She feared she was about to be fired but Nurse Ratched seemed pleased to have been needed and almost looked proud of herself. She was a very good nurse, and even though her arrival was strange and abrupt, she was extremely good at her job.

Once they were clear of any extra ears, she brought up Edmund Tolleson again. "I was wondering if you could schedule me a session with Mr. Tolleson today-" she was cut off by a very sharp and devilish stare.

"Shhh." Ratched hushed her immediately. Amora was taken back by her dagger eyes but refused to let her see her visible shock. From there, Nurse Ratched led Amora through the hospital until they found themselves in an empty locker room.

"I will not excuse you to use his name or relation in an environment where people can hear you!" she disciplined the younger nurse in a forceful hushed tone. "That guard down on the bottom floor already knows too much and the fact Huck Finnegan was the one to tell me about you and him is just unacc-"

"Huck? What do you mean Huck was the one who told you... he couldn't possibly have known... he couldn't have- there's no way he was the one who told you," she exclaimed urgently, her fingers beginning to fiddle and tear at her scabby cuticles. He knew about her and Edmund, he knew and yet when she ran into his arms, he didn't hesitate to calm her down. He didn't hesitate to find her after work or still look at her like she wasn't some slut. He knew and he still loved her.