Jack In The Box novel Chapter 2

Riley

I looked at myself in the mirror the next morning and realized that I looked haggard and exhausted. I didn’t remember the last time I had any proper sleep. Jackson Wolfe had been on my mind. I’d played out my first meeting with him and there were a few scenarios that I imagined it would play like and all that came to my mind was Agent Starling and Hannibal Lector and it didn’t help because then I kept rolling from side to side all night until my alarm went off at five-thirty a.m.

I stared at the bags under my eyes and decided to dab some concealer, apply some compact powder, and a nude shade of lipstick. Nurse Maddy who was also my good friend in the faculty said that darker shades always suited me but wearing heavy makeup wasn’t even allowed in the hospital.

I heard the shower turn on in Ken’s room which was my cue to prepare breakfast for him. I cooked fried eggs on toast since that topped his list of most favorite breakfast of all time. My brother was a low maintenance guy, if you told him you were too busy and made frozen pizzas for dinner every single day, he wouldn’t complain.

Leaving early today. See you at dinner.

I left a small note for him beside the breakfast plate, pulled on my canvas shoes, grabbed my bag and made my way outside in the chilly weather.

Once I reached the hospital, it was quite easy to find Dr. Bennett’s office. I knocked once and stepped inside the office to find a young doctor leaning against the desk with his back to me, ruffling through a file. I cleared my throat. “Dr. Paul Bennett?”

“Yes?” He turned his full attention to me. “You must be...”

“I’m Nurse Riley Frazer. Just transferred to the C wing. I’m guessing Dr. Aaron told you about me?”

He smiled knowingly. “Yes, of course, Nurse Riley. Please have a seat.”

“You can call me Riley.”

He passed me a lady-killer smile. Dr. Bennett was tall, probably six foot three, lean with wavy raven black hair, caramel brown eyes that reminded me of honey. His face was sculpted and had a sharp jawline that could cut through glass. He had the kind of face that would have the people passing on the street to stop and look back twice. If Aaron had warned that the new ‘trainee’ looked like he was fresh out of fashion tv, I would have at least tried a little harder at my makeup skills.

Screw you, Aaron Shaw.

I bet the nurses on the floor wished this doctor took advantage of them. I knew some who would.

“Earth to Riley?”

I’d totally spaced out. “I’m...I’m sorry...Doctor. You were saying?”

Dr. Bennett chuckled and pushed a few papers towards me. “Read it carefully. You don’t want to sign something you’re not ready for.”

I laughed. Was that supposed to be a joke?

I scanned through the papers. It had the patient’s name on it with all the other information and my name printed down below for a signature. It read that the patient was going to be under my care from here on and he was going to be my responsibility. I signed it without hesitation. I’d done this a lot of times. A mentally insane wasn’t going to make me run for the hills. Plus if Paul Bennett, trainee slash-Aaron’s errand boy was going to work in the same wing, then why the hell not? It wasn’t every day that I saw good looking doctors around here. Aaron did qualify as good looking, but Paul was on another level altogether.

Paul checked his silver Rolex, tapping a fountain pen on the mahogany desk between us. “I should warn you. Jackson is nothing like the other patients around here who may be mentally ill but are still easy to handle. I’m suggesting you think wisely before signing anything concerning him.”

I smiled. He was concerned for me. “Dr. Paul, I really appreciate your warning but I gave Aaron my word, and I have previous experience of working in a mental institution so I know it will be fine.”

“If you say so.”

“Weren’t you going to help me with the fast introductions?”

“Well, I would love to...” His sentence was cut off by the phone ringing on his desk. He sighed, “This thing never stops ringing.” Putting the receiver to his ear, he said, “Dr. Bennett speaking, may I know who this is? Oh no, is that right?” He passed me a worried look. “It’s an emergency? Okay then. Yes, okay...well, guess I don’t have a choice, I’ll be right there.”

He hung up the call, and turned to me, “I’m sorry, Riley. I guess introductions with the patient would have to wait. They need me in the E.R department since they are running short on staff.” He reached for his desk and retrieved a pair of keys. “Tell you what. It’s not exactly safe to be going to his room alone so either you wait a few hours until I’m free or we can do this tomorrow.”

“You don’t need to worry. I’ll be fine Paul...Oh, I’m sorry...” I laughed. “I mean Dr. Bennett.”

“Paul is fine.” He grinned and handed me the keys. He continued to stare at my hair. “Is that a bit of violet color I see in your hair?”

“Yes, actually. Dark lavender highlights but when I come for work I just have to tie it up in a bun so it’s hardly noticeable.” I was even surprised he’d noticed my hair color, not most people look that closely.

“It’s a nice color, suits you. Almost like purple cotton candy that I used to have at the fair when I was little.” He said, smiling at the distant memory.

“Cotton candy is a good comparison. Someone compared me to prune the other day.”

He laughed. “Seriously?”

“Stupid, right?” I laughed with him, totally working those charms and like I’d been possessed by a daring spirit I asked. “Are you free for coffee tomorrow?”

And then I quickly looked at his ring finger and found no band there, but what if he had a girlfriend?

He arched a brow and passed me a grin. “Your treat?”