Page 44 of Brooks

“Why not? Triplets are awesome and we’re all good looking and beautiful,” he laughed. She stared at him and then laughed as well.

“Okay, let’s get busy.”

“Explain to me again why we’re moving all this shit?” asked Mitchell.

“Because Mama Irene said it needed to be moved from the storage room at the clinic to the Sugar Lodge. It’s the last load. It’s just a bunch of old file cabinets and they want them placed in the attic space away from dampness.”

“Isn’t the attic damp?” Mitchell asked his brother.

“No. Grant put an HVAC system up there a few years ago. Now they can store anything up there and it’s safe.”

“Fine. But there has to be something else we can be busy doing afterwards,” he growled.

“Stop your fucking whining,” said Leif. “We all have to move this shit. No one is above the job.”

“I didn’t say that,” said Mitchell turning to face the other man. The toe of his boot caught at the corner of a file cabinet and he felt himself tumbling forward. Before he could catch himself, he slid along the corner of the cabinet.

Immediately Mitchell felt the sting of metal slicing into his forehead. When he landed, he heard the others cussing as he tried to regain his vision.

“Fuck! That hurt,” he yelled.

“Stay still, dumb ass,” said Leif. “Shit. Go get medical.”

Brooks took off down the hallway and Leif and Brix held Mitchell to the floor as he kept trying to get up.

“Stay still! Fuck me. You know head wounds bleed like a bitch and this is a good one,” said Brix.

“Wh-why is there so much blood,” he stammered.

“Mitch. Mitchell, stay with me you little shit. Don’t you dare pass out on me,” said Leif.

“My head hurts guys. It hurts really, really bad.”

“I know, brother. I know it does but I need you to stay awake. You slammed into the corner of the fucking cabinet. You’re gonna need a tetanus shot and definitely some stitches.”

“Damn, now I’ll never be pretty for the girls,” he said trying to laugh.

“Oh, I don’t know, you’re pretty cute even with blood,” said the sweetest, sexiest, smoothest voice he’d ever heard. “What happened?”

“We were moving the cabinets and he caught his toe and fell forward, hitting the cabinet head on at the corner. He’s bleeding like a fucking gunshot wound,” said Leif. She nodded, smiling.

“Yes, I can see that. Let’s get him on a gurney and to the ER. He’s going to need stitches, but we’ll want to get an x-ray as well.”

Mitchell kept trying to keep the blood from obscuring his vision but it wasn’t working. He looked up at the shadows above him but couldn’t make out where that voice was coming from.

“Who-who are you?” he asked.

“I’m new here. One of the ER docs. My name is Marnie.”

“Marnie. I like that,” he slurred. “Marnie?”

“Yes, Mitchell.”

“Marry me.”