Love on Wheelz

Read Part 1
The next night, I was waiting for Roxanne. I half expected her to flake. It was, after all, a Saturday night. And considering how she liked to party, it wouldn’t have surprised me if somebody invited her to one and she went there instead. Hell, I wouldn’t have blamed her either. I’d have been a little pissed, but would’ve gotten over it as long as she was honest about it.

That was all moot though because she showed up right around ten, just like she said. I was nervous. Nick wasn’t there to translate or fill in any lulls the conversation with his crass humor. No safety net, and I could easily see myself falling on my face. At least with Nick I could bounce back, but I was on my own here.

“Hey!” she said, “I brought Futurama. It’s my favorite show.”

“Oh cool. We have the whole first season.”

“Did you hear that they’re bringing it back?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but they’re hiring new voice actors. That kinda sucks.”

“Well, it might be okay, as long as they keep the same writers .” I wasn’t doing too bad. She put the DVD on, but we didn’t really watch it. It was more background noise than anything. We talked about what shows we liked, our favorite books–Farenheit 451 for her–the typical getting to know you stuff.

“So what about music?” She asked.

“It varies. Well, here, let me show you.” I started opening up my iTunes.

“Oh, you have… uh… something in your nose.” Goddamn it. Whenever I meet new people I try to swallow my saliva as much as I can, unlike usual when I just have sucked out. I try to be as normal as possible. This, however, usually backfires because when I try to swallow it, it goes the wrong way and out my nose.

“Oh, sorry. Can you get the nurse, please?”

“I’ll do it! Just blow your nose, right? Where’s the tissue?” She started looking around, found it and blew my nose. It… surprised me. People don’t usually do that with me. Especially right after meeting me. I know it seems like such a small thing to mention, but there was something about the gesture. It told me something about her. I’m not sure what it was. Maybe it made me feel more normal? That I can be normal. Maybe it showed me that she viewed me like a normal guy. I’m not sure, but, whatever it was, it was the first time she made my heart beat a little faster, my pulse go a little quicker and my head seem a little lighter.

We talked a little more. She told me about how she has a heart condition, how only half of her heart is working properly.

“Oh, that sucks.”

“Yeah, I almost didn’t make it as a baby. I had to go through a bunch of surgeries as a kid. I got a tattoo right under the scar. Wanna see it?”

“Sure.” She lifted her shirt up to right before her tits. “Nothing Can Touch Me” was written in plain black ink.

“That’s awesome.” I smiled.

“Thanks! I might have to get a transplant in five years. But… whatever. I try not to think about it too much…” she trailed off, “So what about you? Do you have any surgeries left?”

“No. Hopefully not… I had my last surgery a couple years ago.” I told her about it . Then we talked about how awesome morphine was and how much waking up from surgery sucked.

“Shit, I gotta go, dude.” she said looking at the time, “I gotta get up early tomorrow.”

“So I’ll see you tomorrow?” I asked as she left.

“Yep! Pick me up at 7:30.” she waved goodbye. I watched her walk out with a big, goofy smirk stuck on my face. The kind you get when you’re drunk and realize that shit ain’t so bad. Shit might even be alright. That feeling stayed with me the rest of the night.

To Be Continued…