Mesmerized

dieciséis.(según lo dicho de Mahdi)

Nurse Santos and I were in the fourth hour of our date and I could see that she was getting tired, at least emotionally. It seemed like she was finally willing to let me get to know her, something that filled me with equal levels of excitement and worry; dealing with her would be anything but easy, but I was too interested to walk away.

Santos shocked me at every turn since I walked into her apartment, though the most endearing part of our time together had been the way that she'd insisted on bandaging my ribs; a simple precaution she'd said, though she made it clear that I shouldn't go back into work for a few days. The smirk that accompanied her warning was all that I needed to show me that she knew that I wouldn't stay at home any longer than I needed to.

That moment caused images of an unlikely future relationship to flash into my mind; her being able to take care of me when I was hurt, and more importantly wanting to. I'd felt the urge to take care of her, emotionally; not in a savior context, but I wanted to support her even if it ended up strictly platonic. As we laid out on the blanket with soft music playing in the background, I thought about how differently we'd interpreted every single encounter that we'd ever had; Santos encouraged me to be the type of person that I only ever felt like when I was on the job. I was an easygoing person for the most part, I never liked to tell people what to do unless it was necessary; maybe it was with her.

"I have to head out Santos." I murmured into her hair, an action that I'd immediately regretted.

She craned her neck upwards, nodding in understanding. "I'll walk you out."

We both stood up, I moved slowly because the pain in my ribs had only worsened throughout the night. I'd been partially pinned under a wooden beam the day before; a little bruise was something to be grateful for when considering just how badly I could've been injured. Santos leaned against her doorway with a strange gleam of mischief dancing behind her eyes.

"Thanks for coming Mahdi Taylor." She smiled softly; voice lower than before; another clear sign that she was close to being drained.

I raised one hand, stalling slightly in a way that asked permission, she nodded, and I pulled her into a brief hug, not wanting to push my luck. "Can I call you later?"

Santos was a confusing one, I never felt like I could assume with her.

"I'd like that, I'll be unavailable after four in the evening though." Santos was staring at my lips, but I decided to ignore it. "Work." She explained further.

I chuckled, "Got it, I'll try to call you before I get busy with Cairo, if that fails, I'll definitely try to call you before your shift."

"That's fine, be safe Hero, and take some painkillers." Santos chuckled.

I laughed, kissing her on the cheek and walked away, she stayed in her doorway until I got onto the elevator.

It was late at night; I'd told my mother that I wasn't sure how long that I would be out for; she'd been more excited than I was that I was going on a date. For me, the stakes were higher when it came to giving myself to other people; I didn't mind it, but it had to be worth it. My life consisted of work and Cairo and for a long time, I believed that I would break if I disturbed the already weak balance that I had with my life. I'd dated since she was born, but nothing ever panned out for a variety of reasons; scheduling, the nature of my job and most importantly, the fact that Cairo was always my number one priority.

The only woman who I'd seen on a more seriously level couldn't handle the fact that she would never be more important than my daughter. After her, I got married to my job and was content with life.

My mother and daughter were fast asleep on the couch when I got home, I chuckled at the sight; it would've been too easy if Cairo was already in bed. I gently shook my mother awake, her eyes gradually opened and she carefully untangled Cairo's limbs from her body so that she could stand up. She took me by the hand and dragged me into my kitchen, so alert that it was hard to believe that she'd been asleep mere minutes before.