We are seated infront of Dr Kim, who has not taken his eyes from the top of Mackenzies head. He is visibly blushing for fuck sake.
He is resting his elbows on the arms of his swivel chair and is brushing his bottom lip with the side of his thumb. He has 'horny' written all over his smarmy face. My palms start to itch. I want to punch him!
Instead of breaking his nose with my fist I decide to break the silence with a question.
"So, Dr Kim, any fractures!? What treatment if any does my friend need" I grind out through my clenched jaw
He looks at me, and catching the tone of my voice, and no doubt reading the expression on my face he clears his throat, moves his lip tracing hand to his tie and sits forward in his chair.
He loosens the tie and opens the small file he has infront of him.
"Whilst Mrs Santana was in X-ray we accessed her Electronic medical file in England and requested her notes be sent over via email. I have had very little time to read them yet, but so far I notice that she is a very healthy, although seemingly very clumsy woman"
He smiles, and tells me that she does not have a fracture of the wrist today, and that she is right, some gentle movement and some painkillers will be enough to treat it. It should be fine after a few days.
He goes on to say that he is very surprised that she only has a sprain though, especially since it would appear she has some brittle bones.
"What do you mean?" I ask him
"Well Mr Min... each time you fracture a bone it remains slightly weakened, even after it heals. In the last 10 years or so Mrs Santana has has at least 4 fractures of that right wrist, and 2 of the left.
She must be falling down all the time" he says with a nervous chuckle.
I cannot believe how stupid this man is!!! Nobody is that clumsy.
I swallow down my anger and ask about the chest X-ray.
"Oh yes, fairly recently she's had rib fractures too, all healed over now, and the lower half of her face was visible in the chest X-ray, so we noticed that in the past she has also had a hairline fracture to her jaw.
I can't believe what I'm hearing!!
This .....clown..... can't see that she is quite clearly a victim of abuse, and I find myself wanting to recreate every one of her past fractures on this idiot!
I look at Mackenzie and she is still looking down at her lap.
I say her name.... I love the way it sounds.... and she looks up at me.
"You were right" I tell her "no fracture,
Just painkillers for you. You will heal in a few days. Let's go"
I look at the Dr, reach out to shake his hand, and in as happy a voice as I can muster so as not to raise her anxiety levels I say "I will be making a call to the administration here tomorrow morning, and if they don't tell me of your resignation during that call I will make it my personal mission to have you fired from any job you ever get. Leave quickly and quietly and I will allow you to keep your career. I suggest however that
you go back to school and learn how to recognise signs of violent abuse on a body."
I continue shaking his hand as the look of shock on his face grows and I add "I don't make jokes Dr Kim, believe me when I say, I will make your life hell if you aren't gone from this hospital by tomorrow"
I smile at him, thank him in English for his time and gesture for Mackenzie to follow me from the room. She stops and shakes the Drs hand and thanks him in Korean for his time. He gulps, nods at her and bows slightly, then we turn and leave.
She seems happier now.
I am most definitely NOT happy.
I knew in my heart she had suffered abuse, but seeing the xrays and hearing the number of fractures she has suffered makes my blood boil. As we approach the car she thanks me for my concern for her.
Oh..... if only she knew how I really feel about her.
I smile at her. "You are welcome Mackenzie. Let's go and buy some painkillers and then go home to talk" I say.
She nods as we get into the car.
Around 30 minutes later, after a quick stop at a local pharmacy for painkillers, we arrive at home and go up to my suite.
I take off my jacket and throw it on the couch, then go and get some bottled water from the fridge. I hand it to her along with the bag from the pharmacy and tell her to take 2 tablets from each box. She doesn't question me, sits on the sofa and does as I say.
After taking off her shoes she tucks her feet up onto the sofa and pulls her knees up under her chin, circling her arms around her calves, and let's out a long sigh.
I reach out and touch her right hand and she turns her head to look at me.
"It hurts?" I ask her.
She says no, and I gently pull it away from her body and turn it over so her palm is facing up. I hold it with both of my hands, and gently rub my thumb over her inner wrist. Her breath hitches in her throat.
My breath hitches in mine!!
We have so much to talk about. I have so much I need to say to her, but how to start that conversation?
"Let us talk now" I suggest.
She nods at me and sits up a little straighter, pulling her wrist from my hands.
I pour 2 glasses of the wine we left unopened on the table earlier and hand one to her. She takes it and has quite a large mouthful, then thanks me, sending me a small smile.
"So...... why don't we start with you telling me all about my 'death' and then move on to how you know about my life, my kids parentage, why I'm here, what you want from me, and then finish up with what any of this has to do with you?" She says, having another huge mouthful of wine.
I really want to tell her everything today, but I need to spend time with her before I do that. She may never want to see or speak to me again once I tell her everything. That thought actually terrifies me. I want this woman in my life!
I drink half my glass of wine in one huge gulp. It's a good one, and really deserves to be savoured, but I'm using it as 'Dutch courage' right now. I could do with a few more glasses really.
I decide that telling her about her 'death' will not be too difficult for me, but discussing her kids father and the reason I have her here are conversations for another day. I pour some more wine into my rapidly emptying glass and hold the bottle up to her and tilt it from side to side and raise my eyebrows.
"More wine?"
She declines by placing her hand over the top of her glass and shaking her head, but finishes her glass with one more big mouthful. She continues to hold the glass, twisting it at the stem, making it rotate whilst just staring at it. She looks up at me as I start to speak.
"Mackenzie. I would love to tell you everything right now, but there is just too much to say for one conversation. You did not eat properly for days, you have no memory of the last week, today has felt like the longest day ever. Look, we are both tired. I don't want have such complex discussions with you when neither of us are fully capable of it. I don't want my tired brain to give my mouth the wrong script. I know you have no reason to trust me as we barely know each other, but I want to prove to you I CAN be trusted. I want you to fully understand your situation and I want to help you with it, but I want to be of clear mind when I do fill in the blanks for you. Although, you may actually regain some of your memories of the last week, given enough time, and in few days from now I might not have to tell you everything I know because you will have remembered it all yourself. Surely you would trust your own memories over my words, and you will see I'm not the bad guy here"
She has not taken her eyes from my face the entire time I've been speaking. That in itself has made talking tough. She makes me 'feel' things. Emotions I have never felt before and can't quite place.
She is thinking. I can see that. She is motionless on the outside, but the cogs in her head are whirring! Her face is so expressive.
I watch her closely and see fear and panic, confusion and pain cross her perfect features. Her eyes have gone glassy as if she is about to cry, and she is now reaching for the wine and pouring herself another, and tops off my glass with the last few drops. The bottle is now empty.
She finishes her wine in one final long gulp, head tilted right back. She gives me some serious side eye. She slowly licks her lips, I guess to remove the slight purple/blue stain from the red wine. This is why I struggle to remain composed around her! Tiny things she does, gestures she makes, faces she pulls, and the sounds too... OMG... she makes the sexiest sounds even when she doesn't mean to, or know about it.... everything throws me into a spin. She makes my mind a muddle, I'm sure my heart feels bigger when I'm near her, and I am as horny as hell everytime I see her. That one is not so much fun for me... she takes a big breath and releases it slowly.
"Fine. You tell me who 'killed' me, then you let me speak on the phone to my kids. If you do this for me I promise to trust you, and I will patiently wait until you decide the time is right for you to tell me certain things. I want to know everything right now, of course I do, but I know that some revelations need a little ground preparation first. Deal!?"
"Definitely, and Gamsahabnida, erm..... thankyou" I say
I finish my wine, turning the words I need to say over in my head as I do. I want then to have an impact, but I don't want to add more damage to her already shattered psyche. I have no desire to hurt her.
I have had to have some difficult conversations in my life..... telling my parents I was leaving home to pursue a career in the music industry being one of them. That did not go down well, but that's another story. I have never had to tell a living and breathing person sitting infront of me how they died!! I'm not sure anyone has. There's no manual on this one!
I am procrastinating! Another flaw of mine. I mentally shake myself, and start talking.