Fan Fiction |
by Jenny Tran
It has been over a week and still no call from Mel, Kathy had began to worry. The pit of her stomach turned to knots each time her cell phone rang. But to her disappointment, it was always someone else. It wasn’t until 9 days had passed that she decided to fly to Toronto. She may have little chance of finding him but at least she tried. The night she was heading out to the airport, she dropped by the bar to see Roach.
The guy was greeting some guests when he spotted her. He walked over with a welcoming smile “You’re lucky, Addy didn’t drop by tonight.”
“I guess.” Kathy said shortly “I’m going, Roach.”
“Where?” he asked.
She smiled “I’m not sure why I’m going.”
He let out a short sigh “Toronto?” Kathy nodded “It’s too dangerous. What if you don’t find Mel? You don’t even know where he is.”
“I know. I just want to ease my worries. I just have this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.” She said honestly.
Roach knew he shouldn’t tell her but he knew how much Mel would love to see Kathy. He pulled out a card from his back pocket “This is one of the bars that Mel will be at. But if anyone asks, you found it on the street.” He gave her a quick wink before returning to his duties.
“Thanks Roach.” Kathy said gratefully. She headed to the airport and prepared for the flight.
*******Toronto********
Mel sat in the crowded, smoke filled bar located not far from ‘Johnny’s’, the same exact bar he had a talk with Kathy years ago. It now belonged to the Red Dragon. So far business was booming. He didn’t run into much trouble, but that very night would change all that. When he noticed a group of guys stopped drinking as their eyes were glued to the doorway, Mel too turned into that direction.
A sexy girl walked in with a sultry walk. Her eyes were on Mel. He smiled and stood up “Long time no see.” He spoke when she was not too far from him. Mel pointed to the chair across from him “Have a seat.”
Janet smiled with a nod “Thanks.”
“So what brings you here?” Mel asked with amusement. He always thought that she would have returned to Hong Kong, but she decided to stay back in Canada.
“Waiting for my boyfriend.” She answered while looking around. Mel raised his eyebrows and she quickly laughed “No…not you. I’m over you.”
He nodded with a laugh “Well, that’s good to hear. Do I know the guy?”
Janet shrugged “I don’t know.” Suddenly Mel’s face changed, his eyes hardened at the figure behind coming up to them. Janet turned and saw Luke along with 5 other guys, Phil of course was there. “Speak of the devil.” Janet smiled and stood up to greet her boyfriend. “Luke…this is-”
Before she even introduced the guys, she earned a huge slap across the face. Mel instantly stood up “What the fuck is wrong with you!” he roared at Luke.
Luke laughed humorously “She’s MY girlfriend, I can do whatever I want with her. She loves the abuse right?” he pulled at Janet’s long mane downward making her gasp in pain, instantly forgetting about the stinging sensation on her cheek. Janet managed to nod her head and Luke quickly let go “I told you never to talk to other men if I’m not around. That’s very disrespectful.” He leaned in close to her face and threatened her “Remember we talked about the consequences?”
Janet lowered her head embarrassed to look at Mel in the eye “Sorry, Luke.”
“That’s better.” Luke said soothingly as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pushed her body against his own “Now go wait in the car like a good little bitch.” With that, he pushed her away as Phil had to catch her before she fell to the ground. Janet mumbled a little thank you and then left the bar.
Mel’s blood was boiling, never had he mistreated Janet like that and to watch another guy treat her like dirt was unbearable “You’re a sick bastard.” He mumbled before taking a seat again.
Luke laughed with his head shaking “Thank you. I didn’t know you liked to kiss ass too.”
“What the fuck do you want?” Mel grumbled as he pulled out a cigarette to light it up so it could help calm him.
“Just wanted to claim my bar back.” Luke said a matter of factly as he took a seat across from Mel.
Mel snorted “You’re bar? Last time I heard, we had dibs on it. Look, I don’t want to fight tonight, my arms are a little tired from beating your boys up that other night. Why don’t you just fuck off?” he asked nicely making Luke’s face turn to a boiling red.
“So you’re the mother fucker that gave my boys a black eye.” Luke asked as he tightened his fist.
“No, I’m not.” Mel said coolly as he took a whiff of his cigarette “I gave them two black eyes each.”
Luke suddenly flipped over the tiny round table standing between Mel and himself “Don’t fuck with me, boy. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get the hell out of here.”
“And what if I don’t?” Mel asked uninterestingly.
“This…” Luke said and without warning, he took a quick swing at Mel’s face. But Mel was ready as he easily dodged it. Within seconds, the whole bar became a fighting scene. Everyone threw punches at each other while Luke and Mel wrestled with each other. Phil stood on the sidelines watching and waiting until there was a chance for him to help Luke.
Soon Mel and Luke were bruised on the face as they carried the fight outside. The night was dark but the guys continued to brawl for a good 10 minutes. Luke turned to Phil and nodded at him indicating for him to help take down Mel. It was two guys against one and Mel was losing badly. They kicked him to the ground and started to beat him pretty badly. Suddenly they heard police sirens calling in the background “What now?” Phil asked.
“Fuck!” Luke cursed as he put out his hands “Give me the metal stick.” Phil pulled out a 3 inch metal bar that he kept in his pocket just in case and handed it to Luke. “Have fun bitch!” he roared before taking a full swing at Mel’s head.
Mel let out a painful groan so loud that anyone would easily hear it from blocks away. The two guys whistled for their guys to leave as they left Mel behind to bleed himself into unconsciousness. His head was throbbing while his vision was blurred by the blood that poured over his closing eyes. Mel could hear the sirens coming closer and then eventually, it was pitch black.
The ambulance took him away to the Toronto Medical Hospital which was a few miles down from the bar. The emergency crew worked fast to keep him alive as uv tubes were needled into his arm and a bag of blood was stuck into his other arm to keep him alive. Doctors worked fast to patch up the broken skull and it took a good three hours for him to be pulled out of the emergency room.
After he was settled into intensive care, the nurses bustled around each other wondering who would be assigned to the new guy. Caitlyn had just left one of the patients room when she ran into the conversation “So, who’s gonna take him? I heard he was fighting at a club…couldn’t be that good of a guy.” Nurse Judy gossiped.
“Who are you guys talking about?” Caitlyn asked as she wrote down notes for the patient in Rm 101.
“That guy they just brought in earlier. Fractured skull, bruised ribs and broken leg. Must be a gangster of some sort.” Judy replied.
Caitlyn stopped as she looked up “That bad? Sounds like he was beat up pretty bad.” She was the new nurse, which everyone made fun of because of her emotional attachment she always had with every patient she was assigned to. “Who’s gonna be his nurse?”
“Don’t know yet.” Judy shrugged. We’ll wait for Dr. Chu.”
Caitlyn nodded as she returned to her duties and checked on her patients. She ran across Rm 106 where Mel was placed. She looked around and nosy as she was, she entered the room and closed it behind her. She saw the young man who was bandaged from head to toe. His right leg was hanging from a sling and his head was bandaged tightly. She checked his heartbeat and water level. The light was barely dimmed so she could not see his face that clearly.
It had been an hour after his operation so he began to come to. He groaned in pain as he moved his head back and forth, his eyes were heavy but they blinked open. He saw a stranger in a white uniform staring down at him with a smile “You’re awake.” Caitlyn said brightly “Normally it takes a full night to recover for most patients. You’re pretty good.”
Mel looked around and found himself bandaged “Where am I?” his eyes closed as he tried to recall what had happen but it was blank.
“You were in a pretty bad fight.” Caitlyn explained as she brightened the room a little more. She noticed that his eyes were glossy. “How are you feeling? Do you remember what happened?”
He shook his head after a while when he squeezed his brain for memories but they were completely blank. “I don’t know…” he said slowly. Suddenly a surge of memories flashed against his eyes. “OW!!!” he groaned in pain as he reached his free hand up to his head and pushed it downward to relieve the pain.
“No, don’t do that!” Caitlyn cried as she pulled his hand back “You’ll make the cut bleed. The doctors just patched it up.”
“It hurts!!” He twisted painfully while trying to fight against her hands which were holding him down. “Let me go!!” he cried finally and used his last bit of strength to push her away. He succeeded when she fell back and dropped the metal pan next to his bedside which contained his medication. The door to his room suddenly opened and the nurses ran in to help Caitlyn while the others controlled Mel. Judy took the needle as she filled it up with Vikadin and shot it through the uv water tube that connected to Mel’s hand. He slowly closed his eyes disappearing into dreamland.
“Everyone out.” Judy commanded. Her eyes landed on Caitlyn who looked away guiltily.
Everyone gathered around the center desk of the Intensive Care Unit. Judy turned to the group of nurses with a scowl on her face “What did I tell you guys about seeing patients that have not been assigned?” she looked directly at Caitlyn.
“I’m sorry.” The petite girl replied with much remorse.
“Not only is that dangerous to your health but to the patient. They have not been cleared by the head surgeon, you cannot come in to see them. I will let it pass this time because you are new here, Caitlyn. But remember the rules are here for your own protection.” Judy concluded. She turned to the double doors and it opened as Dr. Chu walked in. “Dr. Chu.” She greeted with a nod.
The man was a ripe age of 50 and he had kind eyes “I heard.” He put up a hand when Judy was about to explain. “I want a word with Caitlyn.”
Everyone began to scatter away leaving Caitlyn with the head surgeon. “I’m sorry…I didn’t think it would be a problem.” She began.
Dr. Chu raised his hand to pause her “I understand you are new here. You are probably anxious to help the patients. Perhaps if it were anyone else, it wouldn’t have become this bad. But this one is special. He was in a vicious brawl, he could have easily lost his life if the cops did not get a call from the bar. When I was patching up the cut on his forehead, I noticed a vessel had been broken. Looks like a hard object hit it.”
“Why are you telling me all this?” Caitlyn wondered out loud.
He smiled at the naïve girl “Because you will be assigned to him.” He waved for her to follow him “According to his license, he’s from Hong Kong. Looks like you two got something in common.” Caitlyn smiled with a nod of the head “From my many years of experience, I can say that this young man has waken up with amnesia. The vessel that broke was lying under his right temple. It doesn’t look too good for him.”
“Amnesia?” Caitlyn shook her head sympathetically “So he won’t even remember any family members…that is if he has any.” She let out a short sigh.
Dr. Chu suddenly became worried as he stopped at the door to Mel’s room “Caitlyn, you know what the number one mistake for a new nurse is?” She shook her head “Getting too attached. I’ve seen you…although it is good to know your patients on a personal level, it will only hurt you in the long run when you get too emotionally involved. This patient is in an even more special situation. He will wake up and not remember anyone but he will soon rely on you for everything. Because you will be the only person he will trust and come in contact with. I know this is a tough case, but I think you are ready.” He patted her on the shoulder.
“Thank you, Dr. Chu.” She sighed as he opened the door to let her into the room. She turned and caught the elderly man smiling with a nod of the head as he walked away leaving her to get acquainted with Mel, her new patient.