Nobody

Dinner and...

Doc Rutherford leaned back in the chair, annotating his chart that he had on a clipboard. I sat silently, dressed only in boxers and sitting on the couch. I shook up the inhaler and took a hit off of it, coughing slightly afterwards. He looked at me and raised one busy white eyebrow.

"Cold?" He asked.

I took another hit off the inhaler then shook my head, holding my breath to the count of ten. Miss Lily-Rylee held my hand while they both waited for me to answer.

"First hit off the inhaler always makes me cough," I said, coughing slightly. "Don't know why."

Doc Rutherford just nodded. "It can take a while to get used to them. Any breathing problems?"

"He still smokes," Miss Lily-Rylee said, dropping the dime on me.

"You should stop," Doc Rutherford said, narrowing his eyes. "You've got severely damaged lungs. While you are healing at a good pace, I'd rather you stopped smoking."

I nodded, flushing slightly. "I picked it up again after my wife died," I admitted. "Hadn't touched cigarettes in years."

"No alcohol either. Stay easy on the salt and saturated fats. Eat plenty of vegetables and lean meats, make sure you eat fruit," he told me, standing up. "You're a little on the heavy side still, Sam. I'd like it if you dropped about fifteen pounds, but you're getting on up there and it gets hard for a man to keep trim at your age."

I just nodded along, thinking about the Nautilus weight lifting machine in one of the rooms, sitting next to the martial arts practice dummies.

"We'll worry about the weight later. Right now, the focus is on your intestines, lungs, and your knee," Doc Rutherford told me. "I'll bill TRICARE and have my secretary send you a bill for the co-pay."

"Thanks, Doc," I smiled. The tightness in my chest eased up.

"I'll see you out," Miss Lily-Rylee said, letting go of my hand and standing up.

I leaned back on the sofa as Miss Lily-Rylee walked Doc Rutherford all of twenty feet across the front room to the front door. To my surprise she went with him outside and it was several minutes before Doc Rutherford moved down the steps and Miss Lily-Rylee came back inside with a smile as she shut the door behind her.

"Glad to see your doing better, Sammy," She said. She moved to the kitchen, still talking. "I'll boil some skinless chicken breast then fry it up. You can have noodles, spinach, and fruit cocktail with it."

"Yay," I said, masking the fact that my stomach clenched. She routinely made a mess of the instant noodle packets, cooking them till they were mushy, and dumping the vegetables straight out of the can after draining them.

She gave me a bright smile that made the prospect of eating her cooking something pleasant and opened the fridge. I watched with interest as it made the back of her denim shorts rise up and give me a nice view of her plump butt.

That was still surprising to me. Pru had been wealthy Texas matron thin, my other lovers had all been military women in excellent physical shape, no extra body fat on them. Miss Mary-Beth and Miss Lily-Rylee were about as far on the other side of the spectrum as you could get.

The memory of Pru's slenderness rose up and for a minute I could almost see her standing in the front room, staring at me, biting her lip in worry as I laid on the couch recovering from injuries I'd suffered following Tony into another frantic and desperate fight.

I could almost hear her voice chiding me for following him again, for risking my life instead of accepting a desk or safe job, for charging into battle with my rifle, my Kevlar, and a big grin.