**2016 WATTYS WINNER FOR VISUAL STORYTELLING**
Letting her appearance fall to the wayside and desperate to find a reason for her life, Marilyn sits half naked in an Urgent Care examination room with a mysterious skin itch. If she can survive the hum...
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"Did that just happen?" Bubbles asks-head tilted to the side and mouth slightly ajar. "And why do marshmallows suddenly make me feel icky?"
McSexy shakes his head, hiding a smirk with his hand. "Should I be worried that made total sense to me?"
"So let me get this straight," Bubbles inquires for clarification. "Smokescreens weed out the life partners from the soul mates?"
"Yes," I confirm. "I think?"
"Smokescreens distinguish who's in it for the high and who's in it for the bungalow." McSexy's summary is both perfect-and sexy. It's sexy because he's a handsome man and he's a man that listens. A man who genuinely listens is about as sexy as it gets. So why do I feel worried? I should be excited a handsome man listened to me.
"I made sense?" I gasp, both hands covering my heart. "For a second there I thought I wasn't-"
"We'll use the term 'made sense' loosely here," Bubbles interrupts, her fingers emphasizing quotation marks around made sense. "But I will say is this: PamPam's a respiratory specialist. She, of all people, should know not to inhale the smoke."
McSexy blows me a kiss, then slaps the arms of his chair with his hands and pushes himself into the standing position. "I think I'll take the knife out of my back and return it. I liked myself better when I was intimidated by no one."
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Don't do it, an inner voice begs. Don't let him return the knife!
Bubbles presses her lips into praying hands. "This is a proud moment. Mama is so proud of her boy."
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"Yeah, yeah, yeah," McSexy says through a chuckle as he walks towards the door. Bubbles slips off the bed and follows him.
Stall him, my inner voice urges. What if you gave McSexy bad advice?
"Wait!" I roll onto my side and gently pull my granny panties down to reveal my hip. "Should you check my hives? It's been about an hour."
Both McSexy and Bubbles cross their arms and scan my body with their eyes, nodding to hums of approval. "Looks better," McSexy says. "Less swelling and redness. How does it feel?"
"I haven't scratched for a while."
"What about your breathing?" he asks.
Bubbles chuckles. "After that high-speed story about cockamamie marshmallows, I'd say her lungs are doing just fine."
I inhale deeply, then exhale slowly. "No more weight on the chest." Except for the weight of worry that my influence could backfire horribly.
"Perfect." McSexy scribbles something on the clipboard. "Let me get this in the computer so we can get you out of here." He winks, then turns to leave.
As the nurse swings open the door, I scramble to the end of the table-bed and grab Bubbles by the wrist. "Don't go," I whisper.
We watch Nurse McSexy exit the room, tight butt strutting-door creeping to a close behind him.
"There's no more egg salad sandwiches," Bubbles says when the latch clicks shut.
"It's not sandwiches. I think I made a big mistake."
"What you talkin' 'bout?"
"What if we gave him bad advice? What if it isn't true? Everything Imma said? Everything I said? What if the surgeon-"
Bubbles cuts me off with a Pshh and a wave of the hand. "Don't be silly."
"I'm serious." In a hushed voice, I whisper, "I corrupt people."
"Oh, really? Who've you been corrupting?"
"Nuns."
"Come again?"
"I've corrupted a Catholic nun!"
Bubbles raises an eyebrow. "Say a couple Hail Marys and call it good." She gives me an endearing pat on the head, then opens the door. But as she takes a step into the threshold, she freezes.
We both see it-across the hallway, behind the nurse's station. McSexy calls out to Doctor SilverFox who's headed in our direction. "Doctor Silverton?"
"What?" SilverFox answers without turning around.
"When you get a moment, can I have a word with you?" he asks.
"Concerning?" the doctor snaps, still not giving McSexy the courtesy of his attention.
"Just whenever you have a moment," the nurse replies.
Without responding to McSexy, SilverFox continues to walk toward us, shaking his head in what appears to be aggravation. Before walking past the room, he glances up at Bubbles with a sneer. "What a debacle."
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Bubbles gently closes the door so it's only open a crack, then turns to me in a mild panic and whispers, "What do you mean you corrupt people with your advice?"
*****McSEXY BREAK*****
Corrupting a nun? True story. You'll hear about it in the next chapter.
MUSIC: The Chainsmokers. Setting Fires. For those of you that read "Seducing Her Into a Closet" on Wattpad's Tap App--then you know the reason PamPam was in the closet was for revenge. The girl's setting fires. The question is, who is she getting revenge against?
