Birdie

29. Concealer

HAPPY BELATED TO THE BEAUTIFUL @GoddessWarlord ! ♥

~*~

Monday.

God, how she hated Mondays.

Chancellor had to leave for work an hour early because his current site was in the next city over an hour away, and he had been cranky this morning. Of course, when her man was cranky, it put Carmen in a pissy mood as well.

She had woken up at five, like she usually did, but when Carmen had rolled over to shake Chance awake, she had learned that he was already up, and had been up long enough to shave, cook breakfast, and already have his shoes on. She got a rushed kiss, and he was out the door, barking that he had to go to a new site when she asked with a voice full of confusion why he was leaving already.

They were all on her like white on rice the second that she walked into St. Andrews.

"Carmen!"

"Oh my God, what happened to your eye? Are those stitches?"

"Did Chance-"

"NO!" Carmen snapped, cutting off Elaine and Harley, along with about three other nurses who had crowded around her, "Chancellor did not put his hands on me. Yes, they are stitches. You all know how clumsy I am, I was brushing my teeth Friday night, and I dropped my toothbrush. The cabinet was open under me, but I wasn't paying attention, and I bent over way too fast, and-"

"You're telling me that you gave yourself a black eye with busted vessels, and a cut so deep that you needed stitches?"

That was Harley. She was about three years older than Carmen, and had already been divorced twice. She was beautiful with natural coils that she kept tucked into a crown braid, and her skin was a shade or two darker than Carmen's, with eyes that were hazel. The two divorces had been from cheaters and it was easy to say that Harley did not trust men at all, and it was laced all in her voice. Carmen didn't like that.

Just because the men she had chosen had done her wrong didn't mean that all men were like that. Especially not Chance, "Look," She snapped without a thought, "I really don't owe your as- your butt an explanation at all, but the fact that I did should tell you that he didn't do anything. Chance would never put his hands on me. He wasn't even in the same room as me. It was an accident."

"I don't believe that," Harley muttered, and Carmen could tell that she was serious.

Laina believed her... And she was the only one that had for the rest of the day.

Mrs. Anthony asked her if her man had hit her, and then proceeded to give her tips on how to cover the black eye with various brands of concealer that Carmen wasn't even sure was still around. The woman was ninety five.

Ms. Beckett told Carmen she need to, "Take your ass home and stay there until it heals. I don't wanna have to look at such a beautiful woman all beat up like that. Especially not the one that wipes my ass."

By the end of the day, the head nurse on duty- Carmen's boss- had pulled her aside seconds after she had clocked out. Melissa's hand was on Carmen's shoulder, and her face was pulled into a look of worry. The woman was in her fifties, and was like the mother to all of the younger nurses. Carmen had figured word would get back to Ma Lissa as everyone lovingly called her, she'd just figured it'd be in a day or two.