Fairest (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale 2)

“Oh, just this afternoon. The hospital has been really good at keeping the crazies away and giving you a bit of peace.”

“They didn’t keep you away,” Mina remarked dryly.

“That’s because they don’t have a meter able to measure my amount of craziness. Plus, I just told hospital security that I was supposed to bring my future stepdad his lunch. They all know me by name now, so the security and front desk didn’t blink an eye. But the head floor nurse, Dierdre, a.k.a. Dragon lady, she was another story.” Nan shuddered.

The news story changed on the TV and a picture of a middle-aged gentleman wearing a brown U.P.S. uniform flashed on the screen. Mina read the words carefully that scrolled across the bottom. Dan Williams, a local U.P.S. worker, disappeared during his morning route. His truck had been left running on Main Street, but no one had seen him. A tip line number appeared if anyone had any information about his disappearance.

“Oh, my goodness, that’s horrible! I can’t watch this anymore.” Nan clicked off the television with the remote. “By the way, are you hungry?” She reached over to pull out a brown paper sack and the sandwich that was inside.

“But I thought that was for Dr. Martin?”

“No way, are you kidding me? Do you know how much he makes? He can afford to buy his own lunch.” Nan took a large bite out of one half of the turkey sandwich and handed the other to Mina, who quickly took a small bite.

Loud footsteps interrupted their picnic, and Nan scrambled to hide the evidence of their lunch. She shoved the food back into the bag and thrust it under Mina’s pillow. Mina had just enough time to wipe her face with the sleeve of her gown when her mother, and a chagrined looking Charlie, entered.

“You! Sit over there and don’t move,” Sara pointed to a chair and Charlie walked slowly dragging his feet dramatically, as if walking to his own execution. Sara’s brown hair was pulled into a pony tail, and she looked frazzled. Charlie sat down on the chair and gave Nan a knowing grin. When Sara looked up, she was surprised to see Nan.

“Oh, hello, Nan.”

“Hello, Mrs. Grime,” Nan chirped merrily.

Nurse Diedre walked in, gave Nan an angry glare, and went to the bed and unhooked Mina’s IV. Nan scooted quickly out of the grey haired nurse’s way and went to lounge on the chair next to Charlie. Nan sat texting on her phone, while Charlie played with the items in his box; the whole while Mina tried to make small talk with the nurse.

The nurse refused to smile, talk, or comment, and her bedside manner was terrible. Nan was right. The nurse really was mean.

But the cream of chicken soup, with the help of the forbidden sandwich, really gave Mina her strength back. She felt so good that she let her best friend brush her hair and paint her fingernails an obnoxious purple that only Nan could pull off.

Sara’s phone beeped, and she went into the hall to answer it. A few minutes later she stepped back in, her face scrunched up with anger.

“I’m sorry, honey. That was my boss, there seems to be a problem with one of the houses I clean, and she demanded I come right away. I told her that my daughter is in the hospital, but she was quite insistent. Do you think you will be alright with Nan, alone? I can pick up some more clothes for you, too. Is there anything in particular you want?”

Mina made a shooing motion. “I’m not going anywhere until the Doctor says I can. I’ll be fine, and grab any old pair of jeans and shirt that is clean.” Sara hugged Mina before her and Charlie left.

A few minutes later, Nan, bored out of her mind, went looking for some magazines and left Mina alone. Grateful for the solitude and the silence that came with it; she leaned back in her bed and stared out the window across the hospital campus. She couldn’t help but admire the architecture of the brand new hospital.

The Memorial Hospital had only been opened for six months and was the result of copious very rich backers. Where most hospitals were square and made of boring brick, this one was configured like the number eight and made of beautiful reflective glass. It had a soothing flow to the layout because there were no hard edges or corner to any of the rooms. There were two botanical gardens in the center of each eight, giving every room a relaxing luxurious view. It was a hospital designed for the rich and famous and purposely designed to not resemble a hospital.

When Nan didn’t come back right away, she had time to reflect on the recent events, Mina couldn’t help but feel her cheeks burn with embarrassment at the thought of calling out Jared’s name while she was unconscious. She’d probably said it because he was the last thing on her mind. Hopefully, Brody wouldn’t see that. Her heart began to break again at the thought of what they’d shared and lost. It was like a horrible Greek tragedy.

A tear slowly escaped Mina’s eyes, and she quickly wiped it away. She ached for him, ached for him to hold her hand, to kiss her. She even missed the sound of his voice. Even now, in a hospital surrounded by machines, she could still imagine the soft baritone of Brody Carmichael’s voice whispering her name.

Closing her eyes in pain, she bit her lip and whispered, “Stop it. Go away.” Mina spoke out loud to her overactive imagination. She literally thought she was going crazy. She was hearing his voice and it sounded so real. It was like he was right next to her.

“But I thought you would like company,” the voice answered her back.

Mina’s eyes flew open, and she gasped in surprise. Brody Carmichael stood next to her bed with a bouquet of flowers.

Chapter 13

The flowers were Birds of Paradise. He walked over and placed them next to the get well carnations that her mother had brought. Brody’s Birds of Paradise made her mother’s flowers look cheap and drab, another reminder of the difference in their stations in life.

He turned to her, his hands hanging limply at his sides. He tried to clear his throat a few times before he spoke. It was apparent he was more nervous than she was.

Subconsciously, Mina’s hand flew to her heart as if she could slow it’s wild beating, she was sure that he could hear it beating, it was so fast.

Gathering his nerves, he spoke first. “How are you?” He didn’t move closer; it was as if he were scared. His blonde hair looked as if he had wrung his hands through it multiple times, and his eyes were filled with worry.