Engle Byen A Place to Call Home Read online

  “What are you up to over there, what’s all that drilling noise I can hear?” I asked him in a terse manner.

  “Oh, just a bit of work in the garden, you know. You seen that Jacob guy?” he asked, quickly changing the subject.

  “Yes. Do you know him?” I enquired.

  “You keep away from that one. Nothing but trouble, you mark my words,” Ralph warned while his eyes were leering at my crotch.

  I had a little giggle to myself, Ralph sounds like he's an eighty-year-old man, too funny.

  “Oh really, Ralph, and why is that?” I ask like a petulant child.

  “He used to come up here with his parents on holiday every year. He was actually born in that very same house. His grandparents were locals here and they owned that house until they passed. Jacob’s family used it as a holiday house every year since. Nothing but trouble that one.”

  ‘Weird,’ I thought, ‘I never realised before that Ralph speaks like an old man.’

  “Thanks for the warning, Ralph; I’ll take care should I see him again.”

  As Ralph’s head descends behind the fence, I realised he didn’t actually say why I should stay away from Jacob. Maybe he wants Jacob all for himself!

  Chapter Five

  Beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep...

  I woke up suddenly and sat bolt upright in my bed. What’s that sound? Sounds like a patient’s heart rate monitor at the hospital. Am I at work, where am I? I regained my senses and recognised my surroundings. Oh OK, I’m at home in bed, must be the dishwasher finishing its load.

  Now I’m awake I may as well get out of bed. It’s 9 am and no work today, so I thought I would go for a run. I slipped on some shorts, singlet and my super new running shoes and off I headed.

  The morning sun was bright, the birds were singing, it was just another awesome autumn day in Engel Byen. “Hey, Ralph,” I called out as I ran past his house, “looking good there, Gabriella... see you this arvo, Muriel.” All the neighbours are out, so friendly.

  ‘I love my new life,’ I thought to myself, as I embarked on my 5km run.

  ***

  Huffing and puffing, I reached my destination and headed for the water fountain in the park, located on the coastal foreshore. I began guzzling the water, so refreshing and cooling, perfect after running all that way. Boy, I was hot, so I took off my singlet and headed to the bench seat overlooking the ocean. There was a slight breeze which helped me get my body temperature back down. I did some stretches in preparation for my run back home but decided to sit on the bench seat to admire the ocean view before heading off again.

  “Oh shit!!” I jumped and yelled out, startled, as I felt a hand tightly grip my right shoulder.

  “Mate, so jumpy.” I turned around and there was a smiling Jacob. He was so damn good looking and not wearing a top! I hadn't seen him shirtless before and what an eyeful he was, well-defined muscular chest lightly covered in hair, flat stomach, broad shoulders and pale skin. My eyes were scanning every inch of his body like red-hot lasers scanning a barcode. Did I even look him in the eyes, oh shit, Michael, look him in the eyes, and control yourself.

  “Do you come here often?” I asked. Oh, dickhead, Michael, what a lame thing to say.

  Jacob laughed, “First time in a while, I’d forgotten how beautiful this spot is. Mind if I sit?”

  ‘Oh, you can sit on me anytime,’ I naughtily thought to myself; focus Michael.

  As Jacob made his way to sit beside me on the bench I could see his eyes slowly scanning my body, studying my chest, stomach, lingering a while on my crotch and then slowly eyeing my legs all the way down.

  “We have very similar bodies, Michael, except those legs of yours they look like tree trunks.”

  ‘Hmmmm,’ I thought, ‘He made no secret of checking me out.’

  “There’s a gym at the hospital where I work, so I go there when I can and I love to run, like today, for example, when the weather is perfect.”

  Jacob looked around; there was no one around but an old couple walking hand in hand on the beach in the distance. He then placed his hand on my leg and kept it there for around thirty seconds, a little too long, oh shit, shit, shit, he is coming onto me!

  “Well, Michael, I’m going to wash the sand off me before I go home. Do you want a lift?”

  “Uh-no, thanks,” I said in a little too quickly, “I’ll run home.”

  With that, Jacob gave me a devilish bad boy grin and walked over to the outdoor shower and turned the water on. I watched him glance back over to me before taking his swim shorts off revealing black swimming briefs and something rather large bulging from them as the water cascaded down his perfect body.

  I stood up once my own excitement settled down, gave a wave and started the run back home. Boy, did I run! I’m not sure what it was about Jacob. Usually, if someone was giving me all the signals, which I’m sure he was, I would have taken them up on the offer. All this was going through my mind as I continued running home.

  Once home I opened the front door, stripped off and headed straight for a cold shower!

  Though I was used to getting a lot of attention, with Jacob it was different. I wanted him, but I didn’t. Why?

  Chapter Six

  Buzz Buzz, Buzz; Text message coming through.

  I wonder who this can be, as I reach and look at the message on my phone. It’s Muriel, what does she want now, I wonder, as I open the message.

  She wants me to pick up some groceries for her at the supermarket

  I reply that I will do that for her and drop them off after work tonight, she replies with a thank you and that I’m an angel.

  Now, I don’t mind helping others but some people can be particularly needy. Muriel and I did form a close bond when I was nursing her back to health at St Angelina’s, little did I know she was living in my street and her attachment to me has grown stronger. I did read out the ‘patient/nurse professional boundaries warning’ to her before her discharge but she wouldn’t have any of it and, me being the caring, compassionate fool that I am, I stepped over those boundaries as well.

  Muriel lives in an older, un-renovated Californian bungalow house with her little mixed breed, white, furry dog called Fluffy. Oh please, really, Fluffy? How original. Not!

  She doesn't have any relatives that I know of and no one comes to visit her, so I know she appreciates my time. She spends most of her day painting, drawing, sculpting; all manner of creative arts. She gave me a painting of an angel that she'd done, it was quite beautiful actually; the angel was a bare-chested guy with huge white wings. I got the luck of the draw with that one as most of her works are, well, they look like a child created them. I'm guessing she didn't actually paint the angel herself.

  The barking started as soon as I opened Muriel’s front gate. Fluffy was such a yappy thing, he was always happy to see me, and was scratching my legs with his nails as he kept jumping up on me.

  “Muriel, it’s Michael, I’ve got the groceries you asked for!” I yelled. “Where’s mummy, Fluffy?”

  “Oh, Michael, you’re an angel, always so reliable and helpful to an old girl like me,” Muriel’s voice rang out from inside her house. I opened the beautiful old wooden fly screen door and stepped in while rubbing the pain in my legs where Fluffy had scratched them up some.

  “Oh look at you, legs like tree trunks,” Muriel said.

  I rarely raise my voice but couldn’t help myself. “Why the hell does everyone keep saying that to me, like you are all hinting at something, is there something weird about my legs Muriel? Go on tell me, why tree trunks? Why do you all keep saying that? Why not strong, thick, muscular legs? That sounds better but no, you all say the exact same thing, everyone, the exact same thing! You, Gabriella, Ralph, Viktor and then this morning, Jacob!”

  “Jacob?” Muriel asked quizzically, “Is he back in town?” She became unusually quiet. “You keep away from him, you hear? Never let him in your house and definitely not into your heart.” Muriel said it in a way t
hat sounded very much like a warning, very direct and to the point, kind of scared me.

  “Ok, you are the second person that has warned me off him, Ralph has as well. What’s the story, is he like a vampire or something?” I giggled.

  “Now, Michael, you know I don’t speak unkindly of others so I can’t tell you the reason for my warning, you will have to figure it out yourself. Remember, there are always choices to be made, think carefully. If something is too good to be true, proceed with caution and most of all trust in yourself. Search for answers inside yourself, your spirit will guide you.”

  “Whoa, Muriel, where did all that come from?”

  I noticed Muriel’s face and demeanour had changed, she seemed to glow, shine, appear larger. I started to see little stars as my eyes shifted around, I tried to steady what I was seeing by trying to draw my gaze away from her and onto her questionable artwork which was on display on the walls. My head became lighter and I was feeling dizzy, I tried to speak but I think I was slurring whatever it was I was trying to say. My shoulder blades began hurting quite badly, ‘Must get back to Viktor, must have that x-ray,' I thought. My head was pounding and the room went dark.

  “Oh, Jacob, that feels amazing!” I moaned as he licked my neck. I whirled in this amazing feeling of ecstasy, I had finally succumbed to Jacob’s evil bad-boy ways. What was I thinking, how did I let it get this far? His tongue began to explore my mouth. I felt waves of intense pleasure that I had never known before.

  “Fluffy! Get off him!” Muriel shouted. I woke up.

  "What the, get that fucking dog off me!" I yelled. "Yuck! Gross! Muriel, what the hell happened?"

  “You blacked out and fell to the floor.”

  “How long was I out for?” I demanded to know.

  “About six minutes.”

  OK, Michael, calm down and don’t blame Fluffy, it’s not his fault. Then I recalled the fantasy I just had about Jacob, he was getting into my head, consuming my every thought.

  Chapter Seven

  My alarm clock made an awful sound as it woke me up this morning, must be the batteries going flat; hang on, it's electric, isn't it?

  My train of thought was interrupted when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a large single white feather on the floor near my bed. ‘That’s odd, how did that get there,’ I thought. I got out of bed and picked it up, it was a beautifully clean white firm feather about six inches long. I think that’s a good luck symbol or something for Native American Indians, I must find out. I placed the feather on my bedside table, excited about what type of good luck will be coming my way, and proceeded to get ready for my day shift at work.

  * * * *

  “Michael, it’s mum.”

  “Hi, Mum, how are things?”

  “Michael, it’s mum, can you hear me?”

  “Yes, Mum, I can hear you. Can you hear me?” Silence.

  * * * *

  Day shifts at work are usually super busy, and today was no exception. I work on ward six.

  St Angelina's isn't a huge hospital, just big enough to cope with the number of patients we receive from this small town and the surrounding suburbs. There are generally three nurses on ward six for the day shift and just the one nurse for the night shift, there are also a few doctors coming and going, we have one admin person and one new orderly I haven't met yet. The ward is divided up between the private patient rooms and the public rooms, basically, the haves and the have-nots.

  “Hey you, nurse man, come over here!” A call came out from one of the private rooms as I was walking past. It was Mr Burgess.

  Mr Burgess has been admitted with category three cancer and has chosen to spend his last days here at St Angelina's in a beautiful private room, well suite really. The suite is beautifully appointed with large windows that overlook the ocean, a large overstuffed lounge and accompanying chairs, magazines and books are neatly stacked on the glass coffee table, you wouldn't know you were actually in a hospital except for the machines and oxygen outlets near the queen-sized bed.

  Mr Burgess has not had any visitors that I know of, he is a cantankerous, seventy-year-old so and so. He made his fortune on the stock market and various other entrepreneurial ventures. All we can do is make him as comfortable as possible and… put up with all his nonsense. He loves to give us nurses a difficult time, so we try not to go into his room unless we really have to.

  I popped my head into the room. “Yes, Mr Burgess, is there something wrong?” I asked.

  “Where’s that hot looking young orderly gone? She said she would drop by this morning to get my answer on something we discussed, well I have my answer. So where the hell is she?” he asked, getting quite agitated.

  “She had an amazing sounding deal for me to consider purchasing from her, it would revolutionise the IT industry, I went over the proposal she brought into me and I figured I could make a fortune from this. I do realise that I probably won’t be around to see the huge financial windfall I can make from this, but I don’t care, whatever it takes to make loads of money, I’m in! She said this deal will come at a high price, but I’m the only guy around that can make this project a reality so I says yeah, babe, count me in, I’d even sell my soul to the devil to make this thing happen. Jacquie just laughed and said ‘great, consider your soul mine, sold!’ My name will be on everybody’s lips. I will be rich and famous and probably too dead to know about it. Just think of the legacy I will be leaving the world, Burgess Electronics Inc., and even you can tell all your mates you knew me, the great and amazing business mogul; Angelo Burgess.”

  Finally, I get a word in, “Sorry, I don’t know who Jacquie is, the orderlies rarely set foot into the patient’s rooms or wards. We don’t have any female orderlies that I know of on this ward Mr Burgess. Are you sure it wasn’t a nurse?”

  “No! No, she was definitely an orderly, different uniform boy; I ain’t losing my marbles yet!” he barked at me gruffly.

  Whilst I was checking his chart I noticed a do not resuscitate instruction, the grumpy old so and so must be on his way out. So rich and no freaking manners, he’s been giving me a hard time for the last few days, probably because he knows he’s not long for this world.

  "You have a good day now, Mr Burgess," I said sarcastically as I snapped his chart shut loudly, returned it to the foot of the bed, and left him in his private room to wait for the so-called female orderly.

  Chapter Eight

  I swiped my security card, beep!

  The door to the men's locker room opened and I made my way to my locker, opened it and after a hard days work of bedpans, sponge baths, catheters and the demanding Mr Burgess, I was relieved to begin to change out of my nurses uniform into my gym gear.

  I bent over to pick up my water bottle that dropped on the floor. “What the hell!” I yelled out as I heard a loud metallic bang above my head which startled me. I looked up to see a hospital orderly with his hand on the front of my locker door. The so and so had slammed it shut, obviously to scare me.

  “What the hell do you think you are doing? You scared the shit out of me!” I shouted at him as I stood up to attention.

  “Oh, you are bloody kidding me!” I exclaimed as my eyes focused on the perpetrator's face; Jacob!

  “Hey there, Michael, I was wondering when I was going to bump into you and here you are.”

  "Jacob, nice to see you," I said. Well, it was nice to see him. Who could resist that gorgeous face? Oh yeah, me, I keep resisting! I was also getting a bit creeped out because everywhere I go he appears as if out of thin air. I didn’t even hear him come into the locker room and I’m the only one in here.

  “Judging by the uniform, I gather you are working here now, Jacob?”

  “Yeah, well, I’m planning on staying in Engel Byen for awhile so thought I’d get a job to help out with the bills and so on. Then I remembered you said you worked here so I applied for an orderly position, I’m good handling stiffs.” He smirked.

  “I’m just about to hit the gym, it’s
in the basement downstairs," I said quite dismissively.

  “Cool, headed there myself, if you want to wait here while I get changed, I’ll join you, it’ll be awesome to have a gym buddy.”

  I noticed the name on his hospital ID badge; Jacob Devlin. ‘Hhhhmmm,’ I thought, ‘So that’s his last name.’

  I walked over to the water fountain to fill up my drink bottle as Jacob was getting changed because I just knew he would be putting on another near naked display in front of me like he did when we met at the beach last time, which I quite enjoyed, but I am at work now. Actually, we are both at work.

  “Ok mate, ready for our workout?” Jacob called across the locker room. We made our way to the elevator to go the two floors down to the basement where the gym is located. Jacob walked out of the elevator first and I couldn't help but notice his strong, muscular, hairy legs and bubble butt highlighted by those tiny shorts he was wearing. Focus Michael!

  "Well, Jacob, this is St. Angelina's hospital gym! It's not that big but, being staff, it doesn't cost us anything to use. Let me show you around. There are a few machines over there, free weights near the male change rooms and here in the change rooms, as you can see, the open showers, soap dispensers next to the shower taps and towels are provided over by the vanity basins. Any questions?”

  “Nope, all good thanks Michael, let's get pumping."

  We walked over towards the free weights and did a few stretches together, I was most impressed by all the muscles I could see in Jacob’s back protruding from the skimpy singlet he was wearing.

  “Spot me, mate?” Jacob said as he headed to the bench press.

  “Sure,” I said.

  Jacob weighted up the barbell and laid down on the bench, I stood behind him as his head was below my crotch, he lifted up the barbell, with more weight than I could ever lift. I eased down the barbell with every repetition, as a good spotter does and, of course, I caught him looking up my shorts before each lift.