she pulled up, the orderly pushed me over to the passenger side, set the brakes on the chair then helped me up and into the vehicle. The traffic was moderate in the city and heavy out on the loop, but forty-five minutes later we were back at my place.
Sandy turned on the lights and generally woke the place up while I settled onto the couch and tried to get comfortable. “What can I get you?” she asked.
The time had gotten away from me and the ride from the hospital had taken its toll. “I’m getting behind on the pain. I could use a couple of pills.”
She brought the medicine to me and I swallowed the pills with a glass of water, then Sandy slipped her hand into mine and said, “So, what’s next?”
“Is that a big question, or a little one?” I said.
“What do you think?” she said.
“I think it’s a big one.”
“You’d probably be right,” Sandy said. “If it were a little one, I say something like, ‘how about a pizza.’ And then you’d say, ‘sure, what do you like?’ And I’d say-”
“Okay, I get it. The truth of it is, I don’t know what’s next. But you know what?”
“What?”
“I don’t want to know. I know where we’ve been, I know where we are, and I know what I want. You’re here…we’re here, together. That’s what matters to me right now.”
Sandy pulled her feet up under her and laid her head on my shoulder. After a few minutes, she lifted her head and said, “You know, for a while, you’re going to need someone here to help you.”
“Yeah, I was kind of thinking the same thing.”
We sat there with that for a little while, then Sandy said, “you could ask Donatti.”
“That won’t work. He’s married, remember? His wife won’t let him come over anymore.”
“Well, what about Rosie?”
“Naw, he’d just drink all my beer. Plus, he’s kind of a slob. I’ve got a certain standard I like to maintain around here.”
“Hmm. Guess you’re out of luck, then,” Sandy said.
“Yeah. I guess so. Too bad there isn’t someone, you know, that could sort of move in for a while and keep an eye on me. Help me around. Like that.”
“Yeah, that is too bad,” Sandy said.
“Just about anyone would do, really.”
“You know, I’m pretty busy and everything,” Sandy said. “But if I moved some stuff around on my schedule, I bet I could do it. And look, I don’t want to seem too forward or anything like that, because I’m not really that kind of girl, but I went ahead and put a bag together thinking you might want me to stay for a few days or something.”
“Put a bag together, huh?”
“Yep.”
“Is it a big bag?”
“Well, it’s big enough that I’ve got options.”
“Gotta have options.”
“Yeah, options are good.”
I tried to look serious, but failed in the attempt. “Closet is pretty full. I guess I could give you a drawer, though.”
“Really? A drawer? You mean I’d get my very own drawer?”
“Well sure. That’s just the kind of guy I am.”
Sandy grabbed my pants at the top by my waist and bunched them up in her fist a little. “I’ve got your drawers, mister.”
And with that, I forgot all about my past, both the distant and the recent and for a while, even the pain in my leg. It all melted away against the warmth of a place where no one is judged, where the mind, body, spirit, and soul are all one and the same.
When I woke the next morning I was alone in bed, the throbbing of my leg in time with the beat of my heart. Sandy came in a few minutes later carrying a tray with coffee and juice, my robe open in front of her body, its edges barely covering the swell of her breasts.
“How you feeling, cowboy?” she said. She set the tray down on the night table next to the bed and leaned over and kissed me good morning.
I looked at her in my robe, the curve of her hips, the little space between the tops of her thighs when she stood with her legs together, the dangled jewel of her belly ring. I took her hand and guided it to my stomach, then gently pushed her further down. “This is how I’m feeling,” I said. “Since you asked, and all.”
“You know,” Sandy said as she ran her finger tips up and down the length of my erection, “the doctor said you are supposed to take it easy for a while.”
“Fuck the doctor,” I said.
And then the morning was mostly gone too.
Later, after we had both gotten cleaned up and dressed for the day, we sat across from each other at the kitchen table, my leg propped up under a pillow on the chair next to me. It felt good to have it elevated for a while, but then it’d start to bark at me and I’d have to set it down on the floor. Then that would become uncomfortable too, so I’d prop it back up again. The back and forth was driving me nuts.
“Wait till it starts itching,” Sandy said. “That’ll drive you mad.”
“Your bedside manner is atrocious, you know that?”
“Yeah, but my bed manners are perfect, aren’t they?”
Couldn’t argue that, I thought.
“I need to talk to you about something,” Sandy said.
Uh-oh. I brought my leg back up on the chair and looked at her, waiting for her to go on.
“Yesterday, when I went to your office to get the case notes you wanted I ran into Cora. We had an interesting conversation.”
“Is this about us?”
“Yeah, it is,” Sandy said. “I know we didn’t have a chance to talk about it-what she said to you a few days ago on the phone, but she laid it out pretty clear for me. We have to choose.”
“Aw, geez, Sandy. I’m sorry. I’ll talk to her.”
She reached across the table and took my hand. “Let me finish, okay. It’s not all bad. You probably don’t know this, but about six years ago, and every year since, I’ve been trying to get on with the Indiana law Enforcement Academy over in Plainville.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah. And guess who greased the wheels for me.”
“Who?”
“The Governor.”
“What? You asked the Governor to help you?”
“Well, I sort of mentioned it in passing.”
“Sandy, this is a pretty powerful guy. Are you sure you want to get in bed with him?”
“You’re the only one I’m getting into bed with, Virgil.”
“You know what I mean.”
“It’s not that deep.”
Hmm. “So I take it there’s an opening at the Academy?”
“Yep. Director of Training, Psychological Division. He says it’s mine if I want it.”
“Just like that?”
“Well, he said they’d have to keep the posting up, let others apply, all that business, but other than maintaining appearances, yeah, it’s mine. I just have to say the word.”
“What kind of timeline are we talking about?”
