'I did something a little bit naughty last night,' she said, closing the fridge door. She snuck a glance to see if Anna was listening.
Anna was sitting at the table, slowly getting through a piece of toast -- absorbed in her phone.
Rachel put her container in the microwave and closed the door.
'Did you hear what I said?'
Anna looked up.
'Mmm?'
'I said I did something a bit naughty last night,' Rachel said, and felt the colour flush into her cheeks. She quickly turned away to face the microwave.
'On your shift?'
The microwave beeped. She took the container out and went and sat opposite Anna.
'Yep. I—,' she started, but then thought better of it and took a bite of food.
Anna put her phone face down on the table and watched her stepmother look everywhere except at her.
'What did you do?'
Rachel felt herself blush again.
'It was Dean,' she said quickly. 'I was doing the rounds quite late and he was still awake. It was really quiet on the ward so we started having a chat.' She stopped and fidgeted with her fork.
Anna leant in.
'The guy you were talking about last week? Young guy?'
'Yep that one.'
'How's he doing?'
'He's ok - I mean, given the circumstances. He gets a little bit weaker every day but he's still got a bit of time left I think,' she said, and let out a sigh.
Silence hung in the air for a moment.
'And -- what did you guys chat about?'
Rachel put her fork down and brought her hands together under the table.
'Just the usual really. Things he'd done, things he'd dreamt of doing. Everyone talks about this kind of stuff on the ward all the time, but he's just... different, in a way. He's so young, well-' she stopped herself, blushing again 'not
that
young, I should say. But he was talking about having been shy, and feeling like that held him back from experiencing life. And in a lot of ways I feel like that's true for me too.'
She felt herself tearing up, like she had the night before.
'Anyway, we're talking and after a while I notice that he's, you know-' she fidgeted in her chair, 'he's, like, hard,' she blurted out.
Anna raised her eyebrows.
'The hospital gowns don't always leave much to the imagination,' she added. 'Well one thing led to another and -- you don't need to know the whole story -- but I gave him a, uh- ' she stuttered, knowing her face would've been beetroot red by now, 'I gave him a, uh-'
'Handjob?' Anna interrupted.
'Well, I, uh- '
'Blowjob?' Anna said, her mouth agape.
'Yep.'
Silence hung in the air.
'Wow. I'm -- I'm impressed,' Anna said.
'Don't be silly,' Rachel said quickly. 'It was a silly thing to do. I shouldn't have told you.'
She got up from the table.
'Hey -- wait,' Anna said.
Rachel sat down again.
'Were you worried about getting caught?' Anna asked.
'Not really. He's got one of the special suites right down the end of the hall. His family must be super-wealthy to afford it, even though I hardly ever see them visit. A few of the rooms before his are empty at the moment so the closest person is a fair way away. And the other nurses know that I,' she paused, 'that I like to take care of Dean when I'm on shift so they won't come down to his room.'
Anna raised her eyebrows.
'They know you like to "take care" of him?'
'No, no, not like that. They just know I like to look after him.'
Anna leant back in her chair.
'I've got to say, that's pretty wild.'
Rachel blushed.
'He -- he mentioned something else to me afterwards as well,' she said, and stopped.
'What?'
'Well, I asked him if there was anything he'd ever wanted to do -- sexually -- before he, you know,' she trailed off, a tear forming in her eye. She wiped it away and continued. 'I thought maybe I could do something special for him.'
She took in a deep breath.
'And?' Anna asked.
'He said he'd always dreamt of being with 2 women at once.'
'A man who knows what he wants,' Anna said.
'I was kind of hoping he might say for someone to wear a policewoman's costume or something like that, something I could do easily,' she paused. 'I've thought about hiring someone to do it with me for him -- a sex worker.'
'Don't be ridiculous,' Anna said. 'Hiring a sex worker would be super expensive.'
'Well what else am I going to do?'
Anna had a think.
'I'd do it if you wanted,' a grin spreading across her face.
Rachel shook her head and got up from the table.
'I'm serious!' Anna said. 'You'll feel way more comfortable doing it with me than some random stranger. Plus, I don't cost anything.'
'You're -- I -- I don't even know what to say to you right now,' Rachel said. She busied herself with washing up her container and fork. 'You're my stepdaughter!'
'Suit yourself,' Anna said, still grinning. 'I think it could be kind of hot.'
Rachel reddened.
'You're ridiculous,' she said. 'I need to go to sleep.' And she walked off without another word.
***
The next day Rachel came home from her night shift again. She put her bag down on the table and burst into tears. Anna heard the noise and walked into the room.
'What's wrong?' she said, coming up beside Rachel and giving her a hug.
'It's Dean,' Rachel replied, sobbing. 'He got some bad news. They don't think he's got very long left. He's starting to get quite weak.'
'Oh no,' Anna said. 'That's awful.'
'You -- you know what we talked about yesterday?'
Anna remembered.
'Yeah.'
'I want to do it,' Rachel said.
***
They stood outside the door to Dean's room. Rachel hesitated. She turned to Anna.
'Are you sure about this?'
'Of course. Are you?
Rachel looked up and down the hallway.
