CHAPTER 4

The Drunk

March 29, 2009

LUCILLE

"Whoa! I feel good, tanan na-nan-nana-nan. I knew that I would, now" James Brown's voice echoed throughout the hallway. Shocked, I hurried to cancel the call. 

"Hey, Cool song. Sorry. Just wanted to make sure you gave me your real number." Jasper said. He put his phone back in his pocket. 

"Of course I did. Like I said, we're friends now." I smiled and wondered what this handsome man did for a living. I assumed he was some kind of model base from his get up. He was wearing black pants and a navy blue body fit shirt covered by a black leather jacket.  At 6’3, he towered over me. His blue eyes and jet black hair were strikingly stunning. 

"So Uhm. Wanna get dinner later?" He said, bringing me back from my ogling thoughts.

"Yeah. Sure. I get off at 6." I said sarcastically.

"Okay. I'll wait out here. I mean later  I’ll wait here. Not now, obviously. I'll be here waiting at 6," Jasper scratched his head and started to back away. His smile reached his ears.

He’s such a goofball. I thought and chuckled.

"Wait. I'm sorry. I was being sarcastic. Boy, you have a lot to learn from me. You really think I'd go out with you when I just met you? We should just chat first, my friend. I'm not wasting energy and precious free time to go somewhere with you when I don't even know if you're any fun to be with or not. And most importantly, I don't even know if you’re not some psycho serial killer.”

"Ouch! Okay. Bye. Nice knowing you." He said, looking hurt, and walked away fast. A few steps later, he ran back to where I was standing and said. "I'm good at jokes too, you know. 

I laughed. For the second time in a long time, I laughed. Then I remembered Boo and my stomach fluttered. I thought about how he punched Nate and my heart ached again. Looking at Jasper smiling at me and realizing how he's clearly infatuated, the butterflies suddenly fluttered again. I'm Happy, I'm sad, I'm happy, I'm sad. Aaaahhh I'm going crazy. I said to myself.      

"Are you okay?" Jasper asked and I wondered how long I must've been standing there and just looking at him. He must think I'm a weirdo.           

"Yeah. Sorry. I was just thinking about something. Well, I have to get back to work now, so go to your doctor already." 

"Did you see my results? I'd rather you tell me if I'm dying or not. That way I don't have to pay the doctor and I'd save a couple of bucks. We can eat breakfast with that money or drink some coffee."

"Nice try, but we're not allowed to interpret results to patients. Sorry."

"Fine. I'll call you and let you know what doom awaits me." He said as he walked away. 

I went back inside the laboratory with a big grin on my face and for the rest of the afternoon, whenever thoughts of Nate would hurt me, I imagined the two handsome men punching him trying to defend me and it made me feel better.

When I was done crossmatching four blood bags for transfusion, I was greeted by a familiar face from this morning. I noticed him in the hallways. Always smiling at me. 

"Hi. Ah.. Uhm I ah." A man, I assumed to be a 3rd year medical intern, tried to tell me something. "Yes, doctor?" I asked emphasising the word doctor, hoping to ease his somewhat nervous state. Janice and Steph, my lab mates, were snickering in their corners.

 "Sorry. Uhm I, I need to see the cbc result of patient Fernandez, Joseph Adams?" the nervous doctor said. I looked at the nameplate on his white coat. Raymond M. Mcbride, MD. I guess he's not an intern after all. He was a resident doctor already. 

"Sure. Come this way doc." I smiled  and gestured for him to follow me. I walked towards the hematology department, the part of the lab that tests for counting and examining the blood cells. I typed the name of the patient he was looking for.

 "Here you go doc, " I started to walk away. "I'll be over there if you need anything else." 

"Thanks. Thank you. I mean." He stuttered. "Actually Uhm ah, wait!" Raymond's voice raised a little.

"Yes, doc?"  Somehow, I had a feeling why he was so nervous. "Can you show me his Chem results too?" he said nervously. The poor guy was sweating in the fully air-conditioned lab. He must be under a lot of pressure from his senior doctors. 

"Sure. Wait a sec." I typed the password for the Chem folders. "Here they are, Doctor Raymond Mcbride." 

"You know me?" His eyes were wide with astonishment. 

"Yeah. I mean I've noticed you in the halls today. Plus I read your name there." I pointed to his lab coat. Janice and Steph were clearly eavesdropping because they were looking at me and smiling. From what I've learned since this morning, they have been working here for almost 2 years already. They were very friendly. 

"Right. Stupid of me. Heh." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked down on the floor. 

"Are you okay?" I asked, noticing how sad he looked. 

"Wannagoout weme?" Dr. Raymond said so fast that the words were all jumbled up. 

"I'm sorry?" He caught me off guard. 

"Nothing. Thank you. Bye." He said and he ran away from me towards the lab's exit. I looked at my colleagues and they were all laughing. 

"Poor guy. Didn't even wait for an answer." Steph said. 

"I'd date him." Jade said. We both looked at her inquisitively. "What!?! He's cute. Like in a lost little puppy kind of way." The three of us laughed. I looked at the time. It was still two in the afternoon and already I had three guys hitting on me. The first one you assumed, babe. My subconscious pointed out. 

The rest of the afternoon went by fast. I learned a lot from my co-vampires, that's what they call themselves. Dr. Mcbride came into the lab again, but this time he talked to Steph and didn't even look at me. Poor guy.

I was off duty tomorrow and apparently so were Jade and Steph. We were in the quarters of the lab changing out of our scrubs.

"It'll be fun. We promise."Jade said. She nudged my elbow and pleaded like a puppy. "We swear we are fun to hang out with, Lu. You'll have fun and you'll be safe." Step said. 

"Okay. Okay. Yeah sure. I could use a drink or ten. You girls like tequila?" 

"Yey!," Steph said while she hugged me. "We love tequila!You're our new best friend now, okay?" I hugged her back and Jade joined in. 

The line outside the club was longer than the Nile River, but luckily for us Steph's friend owns it. The club was packed inside too. By the time we got to our VIP table, I lost count of how many boobs my arms unintentionally  touched and how many men tried to grope my butt. Ugh. The mixture of smells of cigarette smoke, strong perfumes, puke and urine filled the air, reminding me of the only time Nate and I tried clubbing. We both didn't like it. Ugh. Stop thinking about Nate.

Lady Gaga's bad romance made my hips start swayin' and my heart pumped fast. After two shots of tequila, it was starting to be fun already. Steph ordered our third round of tequila shots. "Drink up bitches!" 

I laughed. She and Jade picked me up in my apartment an hour ago and insisted I change my outfit. Apparently, I looked like some 40 year old hippie with my navy blue maxi skirt and green  shirt. So after they ransacked my closet, they found and commanded me to wear a dress I had long forgotten. It was a mini mini dress that hugged all the right curves of my body. It was a present from my cousin and I never had anywhere to wear it before. So now with my current outfit, my boobs, ass and hips were all saying hello. 

After I don't know how many rounds of tequilas, we started dancing with the strangers in the club. One guy looked like Nate and when he tried to grab my hips I told him I wasn't interested. Steph and Jade pulling me away on a different part of the dance floor. Everyone one was having so much fun with the DJ's mixes.  But I decided to go back to our the table alone wanting to rest as I was already feeling dizzy. My phone beeped indicating a text from him. My heart tightened, I did what any half drunk brokenhearted girl would do. I drunk dialled him. 

"Nathan? I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have let that jerk beat you up this morning. I should have given you the chance to explain. I'm really sorry Nate. I still love you so much. Can you come get me here please? I'm at this fancy club called The Beat. Please? The room is spinning. I'm just gonna lie down here and wait for you, okay? Hurry. Please." 

"Don't move. I'm coming." the line went dead. 

I laid my head on the table, wondering where the girls were. A few seconds later, they asked me if I was okay and I assured them I just needed to rest a while. They went back to dancing and said to holler if i needed them. 

I decided to lie on our couch. It helped that our VIP table was in the corner and a bit away from the dance floor. I curled up and closed my eyes, the upbeat music with Neo’s voice started to drift away from me. I fell asleep.

I felt so light. Like I was a baby being swayed to sleep and carried away. Then I felt strong arms holding me. Carrying me. My eyes widened and my heart reacted just as fast, thumping so wildly as I remembered who I had drunk dialled.

"Put me down, Nate!" I looked at the blurry mix of people and lights dancing in the club around us. He was walking so fast as if my weight didn't bother him at all.

"Who's Nate? That must be your ex, huh?" 

I looked at the owner of the strong arms who carried me and realized what I had done. I closed my eyes and welcomed darkness once again.