Page 8 of Watcher

I always look for a sign when trying to make a decision. Doesn’t matter what it is or if it’s from God or the universe or fucking Mother Nature.

The Prospect drops us at the ER door, and I help Kentucky inside, where the place is packed.

“Going to have to share a room,” the receptionist says to Kentucky. “Bus accident has us swamped.”

I get Kentucky checked in and hear a familiar voice behind the receptionist giving it to someone. The receptionist closes the door behind her and has a nurse take Kentucky’s vitals.

“Where you going?” the nurse asks when she leads Kentucky back into the ER.

“He’s my support dog,” Kentucky says and chuckles.

“We don’t want any trouble,” she says as if the sight of us is the worst thing that has happened to her all week.

“No trouble, ma’am.” I follow the nurse and Kentucky through Do Not Enter doors and down the hall. We take a right and enter a room where a monster of a woman lies on a bed. The nurse takes Kentucky to the other bed and pulls the curtain between the two beds.

“Doctor will be in as soon as he’s done with his other ten patients.” She glances my way, and this time, she smiles. They all eventually come around. She leaves, and I take a seat next to Kentucky.

“I’m fine,” he says.

I hold a finger up to my lips when someone else enters the room and stops to chat with the monster in the other bed. The voice is the same as I heard harassing someone moments earlier. The voice is the same one who gave me shit in the cell.

“My father made some calls,” Jessica says. “He’s going to have you moved out of General and taken across town to Mercy. Better doctors.”

“The little whore was trying to end my career.” That’s when I realize the monster on the other table is the player the fans called Diablo. “I don’t think anything is torn.”

“You have my word. We’ll fuck her up the next time we play the Cannibals.” I hear her move around the room, and it sounds like she sits.

“Those two bikers saved you from a stomping,” Diablo says.

“Yeah, I know. One of the assholes tried to hit on me.”

“You ever date a biker?” I hear Diablo shift on the bed and then moan in pain. “They’re some crazy motherfuckers. My dad was a biker. Giant son-of-a-bitch. My mom was a waitress at a bar and grill when they met.”

“They aren’t my type,” Jessica interrupts. She gets up from the chair and paces the room. She stops, and I can see the outline of her ass against the curtain separating the two beds.

Big Kentucky shakes his head when I get up. “Don’t,” he mouths silently.

But I do. I walk to the curtain and lower my hands as if I were squeezing her ass. I look at Kentucky and stick out my tongue as I start air-fucking Jessica’s ass, having a good old time until the curtain jerks back. Both Jessica and the doctor stare at me.

“Fucking shit!” Jessica steps away. The doctor moves around me to check on Kentucky.

“Can’t a man have a little fun?” I straighten up and put on my serious face. “Sorry about your knees,” I say to Diablo.

“Thank you.” She looks at Kentucky, and they smile at each other.

A nurse enters and gives Diablo a couple of pills. Within minutes, she's asleep like a newborn.

The doctor tells Big Kentucky that nothing is broken, but he'll be sore for a week, and the bruising will take at least two weeks to go away. The ride back to Pine Bluff will be painful. The doctor prescribes pain medication, and in a few minutes, the same nurse comes back and has Kentucky pop pills. Like Diablo, Kentucky is out in minutes.

Diablo’s doctor returns and speaks to Jessica as Diablo sleeps. “She’s being transferred,” he says. “We don’t believe there’s any structural damage. She’ll need to be off those knees for a good six weeks. Nothing strenuous.”

“Great! Down one more player.”

They stop talking when the intercom overhead buzzes. “Code Silver. Code Silver. ER, Code Silver.”

“Damnit,” the doctor says and goes to the door.

“What’s a code silver?” I join him at the door.

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