A Most Naughty Nurse

It was the night of her bachelorette party. Katarina was set to get married in one week. Her concerns about the wedding were nonexistent until the patient came in. He was a young man, built like a bricklayer. His muscles toned whatever fabric clung to his skin. His thick handlebar mustache was a statement of strength, masculinity, and virility for Katarina. It reminded him of her husband. 

He, too, had succumbed to COVID, but Katarina figured his odds of survival were good. Didn’t smoke, only chewed. Vigorous physical activity, certainly not sedentary. History of eating balanced meals, not overweight. No co-morbidities. A full recovery was in sight. 

When his pulse crashed and his wife screamed for a nurse, Katarina was the first in the room. She called the doctor, told him the right code. There she was, calling out oxygen levels and watching as the resident doctor pumped life into his chest. The time of death was 4:12 p.m. No one likes a death in the afternoon. Katarina notified the hospital’s social worker.

She blocked it out, for the most part. But it wasn’t until she saw the dancer at Tusky that she was reminded of the patient. The dancer wore a purple thong. His muscles were impressive. Perhaps he, too, was a bricklayer. The abdominal muscles were like nothing she’d seen with her own eyes. The contours of muscle that led to hips and groin begged her to know what lie beneath the fabric of the thong. Her bridesmaids bought her a private dance with the purple thong dancer. 

She was picked up, fireman style, by the dancer after money exchanged hands. She found herself placed in a private room. No beads, no curtain. Just a door. The pale purple light shined on his oiled muscles. She began to wonder whether her dress was oily, too. 

“So, Kat, your girls tell me this is a special day?” he said. He walked over to the stereo in the room. “I’ve got a special dance for special girls like you.” He turned the dial on the music to the point Katarina could feel it in her bones. 

“I watched a man die today,” she said.

“What’d you say,” the dancer said.

“Nothing,” she said. 

She leaned back.