Page 23 of Absinthe Dreams
It was an unfortunate reality that it was less about actual patient care and more about shareholders and bureaucracy, jumping through hoops and advocating that,hey, I’m the doctor, you’re the bean counter – leave the diagnosis and what is and isn’t medically necessary treatment to me.
We moved up, talking and bantering lightly, and it was fun. It felt good, and I felt… safe. I hadn’t realized how bad things had gotten and how much of a prisoner I’d begun to feel like in my own life.
We reached the counter and placed our order. Chainsaw paid, and we stepped aside to collect things when they came up for us. After that, I had to follow his lead and drop behind him as we threaded through people and tables to the outdoor patio.
There, we found a table with three women and one of Chainsaw’s brothers. They’d pulled a four-top and a two-seater table together so that the six of us could sit.
“Dr. Genesis Bordelon, I’d like you to meet my brother Bennie. That’s his ol’ lady, Sandy, and this is our president’s ol’ lady, Alina, and our VP’s ol’ lady, Corliss.”
“You can call me Cor,” the pretty brunette said with a warm smile. She had her long, straight brown hair swept up into a messy bun, held in place with a pair of pencils.
“Nice to meet you all,” I said, taking the seat beside Bennie and across from Chainsaw.
“The girls are opening up a witchy gift shop down that way.” Chainsaw jerked his head in some vague direction that lay deeper into the French Quarter somewhere.
“Oh, yeah?” I asked.
“Itwasa shop I used to work at,The Mystic’s Dream,but my boss wanted to retire, and I met up with these ladies just in time.” Sandy said. “They’re going to take over the lease and we’ll be up and running in no time.”
“We’re just finishing up a shop re-design and redecorating to our aesthetic, I guess you could say,” Cor said.
Alina didn’t speak, but she was smiling softly and pleasantly, and just seemed to be soaking up the sun, which, given her fair skin and red hair, I hoped she had on some SPF or something. The doctor in me never quit.
“So, you’re the doctor the night Chainsaw got brought in, huh?” Bennie asked, eyeing me from behind a pair of deep brown aviators. I couldn’t see his eyes or read the rest of his expression, so I wasn’t sure what to think, yet…
“Uh, yeah. I was one of the residents on duty at the time, but now I’m an attending.”
“What happened?” Alina finally asked, and her attention was fully on Chainsaw from behind her Ray-Bans.
“It was before all of you girls’ time. I got shot to shit and rolled into NOLA Mass General. Doc Bordelon made sure I was taken care of right.”
“And you guys stayed in touch? That’s so sweet!” Sandy said, her brown curls in a high ponytail that swept down her back.
“Not exactly…” I said on a slightly uneasy laugh, not really sure what to say. I connected my gaze to Chainsaw and hoped he could read my silent plea for a little help from behind my own dark lenses.
“Naw, I gave the doc my number and said if she ever needed anything to call me up.”
“Oh?” Alina perked up slightly and asked, “What came up?”
“For right now, that’s our business,” Chainsaw said. The girls all paused, looking back and forth between me and Chainsaw, but didn’t say another word.
Bennie pitched in and said, “Let’s change the subject for now, shall we?”
“Tell me about your shop,” I said, eagerly grasping onto the only other subject we had in common thus far. “What’s that about?”
“Oh, you know, airy fairy witchy shit,” Alina said with a slightly self-deprecating smile and tone.
“It’s more than that.” Sandy rolled her eyes.
“I’m intrigued,” I said slowly.
We sipped our coffees and munched on our beignets, attempting to keep the powdered sugar carnage off our outfits. I listened to Sandy, which I guess was short for “Sandrine” which was abeautifulname. She gushed aboutSwamp Witch Designs,which was part witch shop, part gift shop, and part décor – with something like a splash of art supplies thrown in? It seemed Alina had taken to making her own watercolors from things she found in the swamp, which was amazing all on its own.
“We’re carrying some of the watercolors that Alina’s done that haven’t already found their way into some of the local coffee and gift shops,” Corliss was saying.
“We put in some work at the shop this morning. We’re just waiting for LaCroix and Hex to get done with the first round of inspections at the distillery. They’re supposed to pick us up,” Alina said, trying like hell, it would seem, to get the subject off her and her art.
The two other girls weren’t willing to let her off the hook so easily, it would seem, so in a last-ditch effort and a tinge of annoyance to her tone, Alina stoutly turned the subject back onto Chainsaw and me.
