The Last JoyRide

Part 26

Friday 3:47PM

"Joy, we have to talk about this. I can't believe how out of control this job has gotten. I'm actually ashamed of myself."

I was sitting at her kitchen table. She had the overhead light on and dragged a floor lamp from her bedroom for even better light. She was unbandaging my neck slowly. It still stung like hell. The sting had become more of a throbbing pain, with the hurt coming in waves like a chaser. She was waiting for me at the door when I arrived and made me come in straight away. I couldn't help but notice she had not even put on a shirt yet; well, not really. She had put one on but hadn't had time to button it, and it didn't seem to bother her. That sure as hell didn't bother me either.

"Okay, Nick, I need you to shut the hell up for a second while I look at this."

What could I say? I wasn't going to argue. I hadn't really looked at myself. I chanced a look or two in the rear-view on the way back to the shop but was really more worried about getting snapped up by the cops. Bleeding to death was secondary.

"Besides, you didn't do anything wrong, Nick."

"Joy! I held a group of idiots at gunpoint to get keys to steal a car!"

She let out a frustrated breath, then tilted her head so we could see eye to eye.

"Nick, they shot you. They shot you in the face, and you weren't stealing anything. It wasn't their car in the first place."

Through her slightly parted lips, I could see her teeth gritting together. I didn't want any part of that. I had seen her frustrated before. Still, I couldn't let it go.

"Well, they didn't know that."

She looked at me one more time, this time with a very purposeful eye-roll, cocked her jaw to one side, then, with a slight shake of her dark brown locks, went back to tending to my patched-up neck. Joy put her right hand behind my neck and held the back of my sweaty head steady as she removed the bandage and looked closely. She tilted the floor lamp closer and tugged slightly at my hair so I would lean my head back.

"Well, the clotting worked. The bleeding stopped," Joy mumbled softly, throwing the patch onto the tabletop.

She then removed a skinny flashlight clipped to her pocket and clicked it on, hovering over my right cheek. Joy was focused, unlike I had ever seen her. She was close. The smell of her shampoo lingered ever so slightly and the peach lotion she used on her arms and hands. I had seen her rubbing it in on several occasions. It was conveniently distracting. She let go of my head and put the flashlight in her mouth, holding it between her lips, then gently put both her hands on my sore cheek and squeezed a little.

Instantly I was on fire again. I winced with the sudden stinging pain. She pulled the flashlight out of her mouth, clipped it back to her pants, and held my head again. My eyes were closed, but I could feel the tug of the bandage on my forehead and the cool touch of her fingers.

"That's not so bad; nothing in that one, just gave you a nice cut. You must have been turning your head. Lucky the little shit didn't put your eye out."

"What do you mean not so bad?"

I tried to move, but she held me still.

"Your forehead needs a couple of stitches, but there's nothing in there. I think I can clean you up and use some butterfly bandages to cinch it up. Have to clean it out first," Joy said, holding me still and talking eye to eye.

"What about the others?" I asked.

"A little more complicated," she said, standing straight and arching her back to stretch.