Coffee Shop Love

Ch. 1
My life is nothing special. I got my nursing degree straight out of high school and decided I was going to join the military as an Army nurse and I wasn’t going to let the fact that I’m paralyzed from the waist down due to a car accident when I was 5, get in the way of my dreams of becoming a nurse. I absolutely love my job it’s by far the best thing that’s happened to me at this point in my life. It’s the center of my world.
At 25 years old and I can say I am pretty happy with my life. Other than the fact that I’m still a virgin and my dating life is virtually nonexistent. Women don’t usually go for jar head nurses in wheelchairs. And my dog Puma likes having me all to herself.
So here I am at 0600 hours with Puma, sitting outside porterhouse coffee shop in Norfolk Virginia sipping a vanilla chai latte with 2 espresso shots. Puma and I love this place. We are here morning, noon, and night. It’s the best coffee in town, the staff is amazing and they all love Puma. Glancing at my watch, I realize I have 45 minutes to get to work.
“Shit! Puma, we have to go.” I say glancing down at Puma who is happily staring up at me wagging her tail. I threw away my trash and we zip out the door.
I arrive at work on the base 15 minutes early with Puma in tow. “Nurse Amy Shaw reporting for duty, Sir!” I say to my superior officer as I clock in and roll into my office, my dog walking beside me on her leash. The thing about being an Army nurse is you get all the perks of being in the military but don’t have to go through it all. And most of the time my job is relatively easy. A pulled muscle here and a sprain there. Every once in a while someone will need stitches. And I pray to God most days that I don’t have to pull out the rape kit.
Work has gone by dreadfully slow this morning, it’s almost lunchtime and no one has needed to see me. Everyone loves me around here or maybe it’s just Puma they love. My service dog is always around to brighten someone’s day. The men and women around here treat her like a queen. Sometimes they even drop by just to give her doggie biscuit or 2.
My cell phone goes off at 1200 hours to alert me that it’s lunchtime. Puma is already at the door before I can tell her it’s time to go. I put her harness on her and start our journey back to porterhouse coffee shop. When we arrive, I see a girl in a barista uniform sitting against the wall with her face in her hands, sobbing.
Puma immediately pulled me towards her. As we got closer I noticed some of her features. She was thin with short spiked black hair. Puma approached her cautiously and nudged her a little with her nose. It was then the girl jumped with fear and moved away from Puma. That’s when I realized her face was bruised and bloody.
“Hey, are you okay?” I asked as I moved a little closer. She cowered in fear. “I’m not going to hurt you and neither will she.” I said pointing to puma as I grabbed some gauze and medical tape from Puma’s vest. The girl looked up at me with bright emerald eyes tears rolling down her cheeks and blood coming out of her nose and said “nothing is okay.”
Puma whined and put her head on the girls’ knee. “Let me help you I am nurse.” I said softly. She looked up at me and shook her head violently no. Now I can see her face. She’s beautiful maybe even the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. “I swear to God I will not hurt you” I reminded her. “Who did this to you?” She looked up at me and shook her head “I don’t know they came out of nowhere” “and why on earth would you want to help me? I’m a nobody”
Honestly I couldn’t answer the question. She needed help and I have this gut feeling that after today my life is going to change. “Come on” I said holding out my hand for her to take as puma slid her body underneath her arm to support her. She grabbed my hand and sat in a chair outside the coffee shop. Sparks traveled through my hand as we touched. She looked at me quickly which let me know she felt them to. “Do you work here?” I asked as I dressed her wounds as carefully as I could. “Today is my first day” she responded looking down at her feet. I lifted her chin and smiled “Don’t be embarrassed it’s going to be okay. Call them when you’re ready and reschedule your first day and if they give you any problem I know the management here.”
She smiled shyly and whispered “thank you.”
“It’s not a problem at all, Miss…?”
“Lucy” she answered
“Well Lucy I’m Amy. Would you like to have lunch with me? It’s my treat”
she smiled “ it would be my pleasure.”