One Night Stand

Chapter 21

Nicole felt exhausted a couple hours after Mathis left, when visiting hours were over. After having no visitors for most of the day she suddenly had a seemingly endless parade of well wishers. She was thrilled to see everybody but she was actually looking forward to the quiet.
She turned on the TV and started flipping through the channels. Not surprisingly she found a cop show on so she put the remote down and tried to get comfortable.
A few minutes later her nurse came into her room. "How are you feeling Nicole?"
"I'm tired but can't seem to get comfortable." She answered honestly.
"I can imagine." The nurse said sympathetically then joked, "Next time you get burned you might want to rethink the placement."
Nicole couldn't help but laugh, "I'll keep that in mind next time Cindy."
"Well hopefully there's not a next time for you in here." She winked then held up a vial and syringe. "I know you're not big on pain meds but this will help your comfort level."
"Will it knock me out?" Nicole asked.
"Most likely, especially since you said you were already tired." Cindy answered.
"Then can I ask you a favor?" Nicole asked tentatively.
"Depends on what the favor is?" Cindy replied. "I'll throw out there that Mathis warned me about what type of patient you are."
"I'm sure she did." Nicole said rolling her eyes but quickly continued. "Can we wait about a half an hour or so before you give me the medication?"
"Why?" Cindy asked. "I thought you said you were tired."
"I am but I was hoping to make a phone call before I'm down for the count." Nicole explained vaguely.
Cindy knew why Nicole was making this request because Mathis had explained a bit of the situation while they were having coffee. "Well how about this. I have to check on you every two hours tonight so how about we save the pain meds for my next round?"
"Thank you Cindy." Nicole said with a grateful smile.
"You're welcome." She then proceeded to make note of Nicole's vitals. "For now everything looks good. I'll be back in a couple hours to check the dressing on your shoulder and give you your pain meds."
Nicole smiled, "See you then, can't wait."
Cindy headed for the door but turned back to Nicole just before she reached the door, "Oh and keep in mind that I am being nice if you feel any desire to be difficult later on."
Nicole nodded, "Understood. I will do my best to be a model patient."
"At least when I'm your nurse." Cindy said with a smirk before she left the room.

By the time Mathis made it back into Gray's room there was about ten minutes left of visiting hours.
She knocked on the door and Rafferty opened it, "Hey Mathis. We were wondering if you'd make it back."
She smiled as she walked into the room, "Sorry it took me so long to get back."
"No worries." Gray said obviously trying to hide a yawn. "How's Nicole doing? How did she take the news about the accident?"
"She's doing alright physically but I can tell she's already getting antsy." Mathis said I with a laugh then continued, "I think she was a little hurt she didn't know what was going on but she was glad to know you were on the awake side of surgery."
"Thank you Mathis." Gray replied but she wasn't sure what to say next.
    Rafferty sensed some awkwardness between the women so he said, "Hey I'm gonna go see who's still hanging around."
    "Kyle, you should just head home." Gray suggested. "You've been here all day. Get some sleep, I'm in good hands here."
    Rafferty nodded, "If you need me, just give me a call. Don't worry about what time it is. I'll be here if you need me." He said as he walked up and hugged her.
    "I know you're always there for me Kyle, it's in our roommate contract so no worries." She replied with a smile. "Oh and when you come back tomorrow can you bring me some books, pajama pants and toiletry stuff?"
    "No problem. I'll see you in the morning." Rafferty said then left the room.
    After a few moments of silence Gray spoke up, "Can we just forget about how shitty you were to me yesterday and just start over?"
    "Really?" Mathis asked.
    "I think we can both admit that first impressions tainted by rumors don't tell the whole story about a person." Gray stated diplomatically.
    "I know I judged you unfairly Gray and I'm sorry." Mathis said. "I tend to judge quick and deal later I guess."
    "Happens to the best of us." Gray said with a smile. "I think the fact that we both know Nicole may help both of us get past our rocky start."
    "How so?" Mathis questioned.
    "Well you said earlier that if I was close with Nicole then maybe you misjudged me." Gray recalled then continued, "Well I can't imagine Nicole would be friends with some homophobic bitch so I may have misjudged you too."
    Mathis smiled, "Thank you for giving me a second chance."
    "It beats the alternative. I really hate conflict honestly. I'm a lover not a fighter." Gray said I with a smirk. Mathis rolled her eyes but Gray continued before her partner could say anything. "Now bull shitting back and forth as well as giving each other a hard time is a totally different story."
    "You know if you wanna bust balls with me you better bring it." Mathis replied with a smirk. "Because I wrote the book."
    "Correction, you self published a pamphlet. I on the other hand have a published book over 1,000 pages." Gray said with a satisfied smile.
    Mathis smiled, "It's on."
    "Oh it's so on." Gray quickly replied.
    Before either woman could say anything more a nurse entered Gray's room, "Visiting hours are over." She said looking at Mathis.
    Mathis nodded and turned back to Gray, "I'll stop by tomorrow and see how you're doing partner."
    "I look forward to it," Gray said. "As long as you get some sleep between now and then. I'm gonna be honest, you look like hell Mathis."
    Mathis smiled, "So I've been told a few times in the last couple hours. Goodnight Gray."
    "Night Mathis." Gray replied.
    As Mathis opened the door she turned back and said, "Oh and Gray, I make no promises but I think you should be getting a call pretty soon."
    Gray smiled, "Thank you Mathis."
    Once Mathis left the nurse asked, "How is your pain level?"
    Gray thought for a moment then replied, "Pain is about a five, tiredness is about a seven."
    The nurse smiled at the comment as she entered the details into her computer. "Well we still have a couple hours before you're due for an pain medications."
    "Then I guess I'll relax in front of the TV for a bit." Gray replied.
    The nurse nodded, "If anything changes you know where the call button is right?"
    Gray nodded, "Yep, I'm good." Once the nurse left she started flipping through the channels. She came upon an episode of a popular cop show she'd only seen once so she decided to tuck in and watched the show.