INKED: HIS BODY, HER CANVAS by marchpisces92
Summary:

Bathsheba "Sheba" Nightingale's father was dying and she knows that she'll have to come to terms with that. And while she's dealing with that; Russian American gentleman Roman Volkov commissions her for a project that she's never done before. Sheba's confused as to where her heart should be for the next month. Should it be with her ailing father? or to this handsome stranger?


Categories: Original Fiction Characters: None
Classification: None
Genre: Romance
Story Status: Active
Pairings: None
Warnings: Strong Sexual Content
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 3 Completed: No Word count: 7136 Read: 12780 Published: May 06 2017 Updated: October 19 2017

1. COMMISSION by marchpisces92

2. OUTLINES by marchpisces92

3. MORE OUTLINES by marchpisces92

COMMISSION by marchpisces92

COMMISSION

"Your father does not have much time left Miss Nightingale"

"How long does he have?"

"I'd say less a month"

Bathsheba Nightingale peeked over the doctor's shoulder to see her sickly father in bed resting as the monitors beeped all around him. Sheba bit her lower lip nervously and found herself begging now.

"Dr. Green isn't there anything you can do?" she asked trying to hold back tears "Pop is the only family that I have"

"I'm sorry Miss Nightingale" he said sincerely "stage four prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers in men and it's fatal"

"We're doing everything we can to make your father comfortable"

"Yes I know" Sheba replied, "thank you Dr. Green"

Sheba placed a vase of flowers on her father's nightstand and sat beside him. This wasn't happening. It couldn't. Abraham Nightingale was only fifty-four years old average lifespan wise he still had at least fifteen to twenty years left to live; if it weren't for this cancer.

Sheba gently gripped her father's hand something she done since she was a little girl whenever she was scared or sad. Tears were at the corners of her eyes. She was twenty-four. A grown woman now but what was she going to do without her Pop?

"Is that my Sheba?"

Hearing the chuckle Sheba looked up to see her father had opened his eyes and was giving her a little smile.

"I'm here Pop it's me"

Abraham chuckled "I wish your mother could have lived to see you now you look just like her except those---"

"Eyes" Sheba said smiling

"Yup those are my eyes" he said with pride "Nightingale eyes"

The tears that were at Sheba's eyes now fell and rolled down her face and that made Abraham frown.

"Bathsheba?" he asked gently now wrapping his hand around his daughter's "what is it honey?"

"I don't want to lose you Pop" Sheba confessed, "Dr. Green said that you don't have a lot of time left"

"I know" Abraham said, "I'm at peace with that---"

"Well I'm not" Sheba cried, "I love you Pop I can't go on without you I don't want to"

"Shh" Abraham soothed "Sheba you know I'll always be with you"

"I'm at peace with this" her father repeated "hell as a former mortician I should know about death more than most people"

Sheba couldn't help but to chuckle at this along with Abraham if anything her father had a very unique sense of humor and she grew up with a sense of sarcasm most children didn't have.

Not everyone's father was a mortician Sheba knew that if Abraham hadn't gotten so sick the past two years he would still be practicing his profession.

"I know that I raised an independent young lady who knows how to stand on her own to feet"

"Pop..."

"You're strong Bathsheba I know you are" Abraham went on to say "before your mother died we often joked that you'd be strong with the name we saddled you with"

He did have a point on that although Sheba loved her uncommon biblical name it was why she usually just went by Sheba as opposed to Bathsheba. She got called "Bathtub" by other kids and found it was much easier to apply for jobs with just Sheba.

None of that mattered because Abraham taught her to love herself and Sheba had no doubt in her mind that if her mother hadn't died shortly after her first birthday she would have taught her the same thing.

"I'll be with your mother again soon" he smiled "I can't wait to see my Deborah again and I'm going to tell her all about you Sheba how proud she would have been how talented you are"

"I know Pop" Sheba smiled "I know you will"

Sheba really didn't like Abraham talking that way if Dr. Green said that he had about a month left to live she wanted him to be comfortable and happy and not so somber.

In fact his birthday was just in two short weeks would be here and she wanted it to be special for him.

"Your birthday is coming up," Sheba pointed out "how about I make you some bread pudding?"

"Oh you know how much I love that sinful gooey stuff" Abraham smiled "I'd love that Sheba"

"Alright Pop" Sheba said "I have to get ready to go to the shop you call me if there's anything you need"

"I'll be fine" Abraham reassured "you're so young Sheba don't feel tied down to me"

"You could never make me feel tied down Pop I love you"

"I love you too Sheba"

 

Growing up in a funeral home was quite unique so Sheba wasn't unfamiliar with seeing dead bodies she supposed in a way she took after father. Being a tattoo artist Sheba also tended to people's bodies it wasn't that different from being a mortician.

The only difference was her clients were still alive and greatly appreciated her craftsmanship.

Sheba had been working at The Wounded Rose tattoo parlor for about four years now and had built quite the clientele. Sheba was quite popular despite not having the outgoing personality of a typical tattoo artist. 

Despite it being a female owned tattoo parlor all of the tattoo artists were white or Asian except for Sheba; she was the only black female there.

Sheba was used to sticking out like a sore thumb with her given name but even more with her coworkers. Not that her coworkers weren't nice to her because they were it was just they were more vocal than she was.

Sheba always let her tattoo and artwork speak for herself the only person she felt comfortable around was her father.

Sheba quickly wiped away her tears reminding herself that she was at work now and she'd have to deal with her father later. Just as Sheba entered her studio space and was about get her needles and guns cleaned for the day there was a light tap on her door.

"Hey Sheba you okay?"

Sheba looked up to see her redhead friend Wendy Kraft enter her space. Yes her name was Wendy and yes she was a redhead just like the fast food burger chain mascot. Sheba supposed her parents also had a sense of humor as well.

"Hey Wendy I'm fine" she replied, "I'm sorry I was a little late today"

"C'mon Sheba you know it's Sunday we're pretty laid back today just getting ready for the week" Wendy replied "how's your dad doing?"

"Not so good physically" Sheba admitted "the doctor's telling me he only has a month left"

"Oh Sheba you know that we're sisters here you're not alone in this" Wendy said sincerely

"I know it's just that today was a wake up call for me Pop is taking the news better than I am then again I guess being a former mortician helps"

"Your dad is a sweetheart" Wendy added, "remember when we were ten and my grandpa passed away?"

Sheba managed to smile she remembered that. Wendy really loved her grandfather and it was a bit much for her and she ran out of the funeral parlor in the middle of the service. Sheba had run after her to comfort her to find her in tears. It wasn't long until before Abraham came out onto the porch to comfort the girls.

Abraham had pointed to a beautiful orange Monarch butterfly that went by and whispered to Wendy "That's your Grandpa dear"

Sheba remembered that Wendy's tears stopped and a smile slowly grew on her face in place of the tears.

"Yes I remember" Sheba said fondly and Wendy patted her shoulder

Just as Sheba was getting ready to say something else Ming Wu burst in with an excited expression all over her face.

"You guys have got to see who walked in the parlor right now!" she exclaimed, "even Rachel is freaking out!"

"It must be somebody hot" Wendy chuckled "Sundays are dead around here"

 

Roman Volkov admired the work that he saw on the walls and definitely liked what he saw so far. He was looking for the best of the best and so far the tattoo parlors he had been to were mediocre. Mediocre wasn't going to cut it for what he was looking to get done.

Roman intended on getting a full upper body tattoo that would cover his whole back, chest, and shoulder blades. A tattoo like that would of course cost a pretty penny, which was why he couldn't just let anybody do his tattoo. He needed someone talented. Extremely talented.

Roman had been fixated on a certain set of designs that caught his attention. Obviously all of the women of The Wounded Rose were very talented but there was one in particular who he strongly believed would be the one to successfully bring his design to life.

 

"How long has he been here?" Ming asked

"About an hour" Holly Adams replied "damn he's so fucking hot we don't have a lot of clients come in here that look like him"

"I know right" Wendy chuckled "how big do you think he is?"

"Eight point five inches curved like a banana," Holly guessed "nine inches when erect"

All of them giggled like they were a bunch of eighth grade girls.

"You guys come on" Sheba said feeling a bit weird as she and her friends were watching this potential client from their enclosed space "we've never leered at our clients before"

"You're right" Ming said, "let's go introduce ourselves"

All of them quickly went out to the lobby to introduce themselves to Mr. Handsome while Sheba hesitantly followed.

"Hi welcome to Wounded Rose!" Holly greeted in a perky voice "how can we be of service today?"

Sheba noticed that Mr. Handsome managed to sneak a glance at some of the cleavage that happened to be popping out of Holly's V-neck shirt. He didn't linger long so he must be used to having a lot of women.

"I'm looking to get a full upper body tattoo" he said "I was just window shopping some of your designs you ladies are very talented"

"Yes that us" Wendy said proudly "we are the top rated tattoo shop in the district on Yelp"

"Yes I can definitely see why"

Sheba noted the man's accent was he of German or Russian descent? Either way it sent chills down her spine.

Roman turned the page of the sketchbook he had been looking at for a while now. He ran his fingers across the page and to his amazement even the sketch even felt textured. It was of a Day of the Dead skull adorned with flowers but it was so thought out it didn't feel typical at all.

"I want to know whose work this is" Roman said, "it's amazing"

Sheba froze when she realized that he was that it her sketchbook he was looking at and it was her designs he was raving about

"That's my sketchbook Sir" Sheba said awkwardly as if he was going to take it from her so she wasn't sure why she said it like that.

Roman was surprised to see the young black female step forward. She did this? He didn't have a racist bone in his body however he never met a black female tattoo artist before. One thing he did know though he found his artist.

"This is brilliant"

"Thank you sir" Sheba replied she didn't know why she was being so bashful she just met the man.

"Roman" he introduced himself "Roman Volkov and you are?"

"Bathsheba Nightingale" she said quickly regretting say her mouthful of a full name "everybody calls me Sheba though"

"Nightingale huh?" he said giving her a smile "like the little bird?"

"Yes" Sheba said, "I guess you could say that"

Roman thought that was amusing since his last name was the Russian word for wolf. The big bad wolf seeking the talents of the little meek bird. Strange. Yet interesting.

"Well Miss Nightingale I would like to hire you to do my tattoo"

"Oh" Sheba said taken by that "well I don't know Mr. Volkov I've never done a full body tattoo before"

"You seem to have the skill to do so"

Sheba felt her face feet up and she knew that she was blushing. This client was really throwing her for a loop. Sheba had plenty of male clients in the past if not the same amount of female clients but Roman was really intriguing to her.

"My co-worker Wendy" Sheba tried to convince him "has done plenty of full body tattoos before did you see her sketchbook?"

Sheba quickly went to the coffee table to where they kept all of their sketchbooks for the clients to flip through but Roman took a hold of her hand.

"Miss Nightingale I was serious" he said sincerely "I want you to do my tattoo"

"Well you two can certainly go into more discussion about this in Sheba's studio space" Ming said teasing Sheba a little. In fact she, Wendy, and Holly were excited for Sheba because like she said usually a request like that would have been done by one of them.

"I would love to see your studio" Roman said, "I want to see where the magic happens"

 

"Well here it is" Sheba said, "it's not much but it's comfortable"

"I'll say" Roman replied closing the door behind him making the studio even cozier. The walls were dark red and black and pinned to those walls were more of Sheba's sketches, some drawings she did in high school, even some oil and watercolor paintings too.

"You paint too?" Roman asked impressed

"In my spare time yes" Sheba said getting her notebook ready to take some notes down about what kind of tattoo Roman wanted. At this point she supposed she didn't really have a choice but to do this since Roman seemed pretty persistent.

"Namesake painting?" Roman asked admiring the only framed painting in the room.

It was of Bathsheba bathing from the biblical story in 2 Samuel with David watching and admiring her from afar. A very private and intimate setting and one of the most sexual parts of the Bible aside from Song of Solomon.

"Yeah" Sheba said, "I do like my name I just wish that it wasn't associated with the woman who caused King David to stumble it even got her husband killed"

"A beautiful woman is a beautiful woman," Roman said simply "David was only human and couldn't resist no sin in that"

"I guess" Sheba replied getting a strange feeling that he wasn't just talking about the biblical Bathsheba anymore and quickly went back to the matter at hand.

"So what are you thinking of getting a tattoo of?"

Roman sat down across from her and said simply "Something aesthetically pleasing to the eye just like your other tattoo designs"

"Thanks" Sheba said "but could you be more specific? This is going on your body after all I want to make sure you have a design in mind"

"I need a design done that I believe only you have the talent to come up with Miss Nightingale" he said as he pulled out two glossy photos from a brown envelop he had been carrying.

Sheba felt her heart skip when Roman pushed the photos and they were pretty graphic. The photos showed Roman's back, chest, torso, and shoulder blades were all scarred up and some skin tissue tearing.

Even though in the photos the scars looked healed up Sheba could tell that when Roman had gone through this horrific incident it caused much pain.

"Mr. Volkov...I don't know what to say..." Sheba said she just met this man today and he was laying a lot on her did he really trust her this much with a task like this? Sheba never had a client with scarred skin before she didn't want to hurt him.

"I'm okay" Roman reassured "lucky to be alive really this is the injury that ended my military career happened about five or six years ago in Iraq"

"I'm sorry"

"I'm not" he said simply "I've been looking to get past that chapter in my life I don't want to have the memory of that terrible day anymore"

"So you want me to cover them?"

"If you must" Roman said "or try to make the tattoo compliment my body which I have a feeling you can do"

"Mr. Volkov you still haven't told me what exactly you want the tattoo to be"

Roman smiled at her "I want you to decide"

"Mr. Volkov I usually let my clients decide on a design" Sheba said, "it's what they pay me for"

"Well Miss Nightingale I'm paying you to have full range" Roman said "think of my body as your canvas"

 

"I'd rather him think of my body as his canvas" Holly said "a canvas that he could do whatever he wanted with it"

The ladies chuckled as they were getting ready to close for the day and were cleaning up. They also closed early on Sunday and Roman Volkov had been their only client for the day so of course they were still raving about him.

"Of course you would" Wendy said, "he probably knew that which is why he chose Sheba instead"

"I don't know" Sheba said uncertainly "he probably should have picked one of you guys you all know that I've never did a full body tattoo"

"We also know that you still have your V-card too" Ming chuckled "so you've got two birds to kill with one stone"

"I'm just giving him his tattoo" Sheba said "that's all I'm keeping this professional"

"Like I said he's probably curved like a banana" Holly pointed out again "damn I'd kill to be a virgin again if I knew I'd be giving it to him you better hop on that Sheba"

"Alright girls let's stop teasing Sheba" Wendy said.

When Ming and Holly left for the afternoon it was just Sheba and Wendy left

"You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine" Sheba said "I know they were just teasing but I don't know if I can do this and I feel like it's distracting me from Pop he needs me right now"

"Sheba I'm pretty sure your father still wants to you to live your life too"

"I know"

"Besides I think you're ready for this" Wendy added "okay okay maybe not the virgin part if you're not ready for that but this tattoo could be great for your portfolio and certainly have enough skill for it"

"Yeah but I've never been given full range before" Sheba said "I've got my work cut out for me with this one"

The average full body tattoo took about twenty hours to complete maybe even longer considering the inking, shading and application to color. It would be a lot of time spent with Roman Volkov in her very modest studio.

OUTLINES by marchpisces92

OUTLINES

"What's that you're working on honey?"

Sheba looked up from her sketchbook and saw that Abraham had finally woken up.

"Pop you're awake"

"I'm sorry Sheba" he said, "have I been sleeping your whole visit?"

"I've only been here for fifteen minutes you're fine" she said "I'm just working on a few designs for my new client"

"Oh I thought that your clients gave you their own designs" Abraham said sitting up and was surprised to see Sheba begin to blush a little

"Is this a special client?"

"I guess you could say that"

"Oh I definitely can" her father teased her up"

"What do you mean?"

"Bathsheba Evelyn I love you" Abraham said "Lord knows I do and I was fortunate enough during your teen years not to be stressed about boys coming around since you didn't really take interest in them but any father knows that look"

"Oh" Sheba said a light bulb switching on in her head "it's not like that Pop I just met Roman---"

"Roman? Is that his name" Abraham smiled "sounds like a handsome fellow to me"

"He's my client Pop nothing more" Sheba said, "he's nice but I don't know him"

Abraham chuckled "Well I didn't exactly know your mother either when I met her"

"What is he getting a tattoo of?"

"That's the thing Pop he wants a full body tattoo and wants me to pick the design" Sheba explained "I've never done that before"

"With your talent and experience I'm sure you can do it"

"I don't know" Sheba said doubting herself

"I think there may be a bit of infatuation holding you back" Abraham teased "because you're never doubtful about your work"

"Pop I'm serious"

"I'm serious too honey" he said, "you're my daughter and I know you"

Sheba shook her head at that notion it was silly to be infatuated at her age it wasn't like she was thirteen she was almost twenty-five she felt like she should have a better grasp of her emotions and hormones.

Abraham shifted in his bed a little and winched in pain

"Pop"

"It's okay" he reassured gripping his midsection "I'm okay honey just these damn pains again that's all"

Dr. Green explained to Sheba that her father's symptoms were getting worse by the day. Abraham was tired from being up most of the night from frequent and painful urination there was even blood in his urine. Yet Sheba was amazed that her father still had a smile for her.

"I'm still going to make time to see you Pop," she promised

"I know you will" Abraham said "but Sheba I don't want you to have to come here everyday you shouldn't have to sit here and watch me die"

"Pop don't say that," she said, "I don't want you to be alone"

"And I don't want you to be alone either Bathsheba" Abraham said, "I've got a good feeling about this Roman fellow"

Sheba blushed but let her father have that piece of mind even if she felt awkward about it.

 

The following day was the consultation appointment with Roman and Sheba found herself on pins and needles. She was praying that Roman would like the designs she came up with.

Sheba wasn't surprised to see some of the female clients flirting with Roman.

To her surprise Roman was not flirting back. He wasn't rude either but he wasn't giving them the attention they craved.

"Mr. Volkov"

Roman smiled when Sheba called his name much to the annoyance of his current admirers

"Miss Nightingale"

"You can come back now"

Well no turning back now but if looks could kill Sheba would be dead and she couldn't blame them since they looked like the type of women that were used to getting attention from a man like Roman while she didn't.

"You saved me from those vultures out there I owe you one" Roman joked reading her mind.

"Sorry about that although we do have some men come in here it's just that you're the first one we've had in months" Sheba explained trying her best not to say that the reason being was because Roman was so handsome.

"I'm going to need you to sign these Mr. Volkov" Sheba said handing him a clipboard "it's a health and safety waiver to make sure we have you're full consent and that you feel comfortable here"

"You can call me Roman"

Sheba was placing the designs on the wall with pushpins so they could look at them

"Only if you're sure that's what you want"

"I'll be shirtless around you," he said, "I think we can put formalities aside Bathsheba"

"You can just call me Sheba then" she insisted "Bathsheba can be a mouthful to say at times"

"It suits you" Roman said handing her back the clipboard "now let's see what remarkable designs you came up with"

"These over here are some of the designs for your back and the others over there are for your front" Sheba said as Roman walked closer to get a better look. 

Usually Sheba made her sketches for her clients rough and quick to give them a vague idea of what they wanted their tattoo to look like.

For Roman she had to come up with the concept herself so the sketches looked more finalized and Sheba was nervous.

"What's going on with this one?" Roman asked

"Oh" Sheba said surprised that he picked the design she worked on the most "it's a lot to explain"

"Well I'm all ears"

Sheba blushed her clients never really asked her to explain the sketches and just simply said okay to him. Tattoo art was just like traditional art and the same amount of time and thought was put into it but a lot of people didn't understand that.

"So for your back you have a wolf's muscle anatomy of his whole face to represent how strong you are" Sheba said "actually I could probably work around the scars on your back to enforce that"

"And for the front you'll have the wolf in his full glory and wrapped around his neck will be flowers and ribbons with quotes to show how you're moving on with your future"

"Wow that is a lot"

"You're right" Sheba said, "well I have two other designs---"

"No I like this one" Roman reassured "I like that you put some thought behind it too"

"You're welcome"

"How did you know my last name is the Russian word for wolf?" Roman asked amused raising his eyebrows at her.

"I did a little research" she said bashfully "was that too much?"

"It's perfect this is the one I want you did your research well Miss Nightingale"

"Great" Sheba said "we'll get started on the stenciling the designs on your body it won't take long I should be done in three hours"

"Take all the time you need" Roman insisted, "I want this to look exquisite"

Roman removed his shirt and laid on the tattoo table with his back exposed for Sheba to begin to stencil on the back design. The pictures did no justice Roman had been hurt really really badly she supposed that he certainly was in fact lucky to be alive after all.

"My mother always told me that I was blessed with a charming personality" Roman said as if he were reading her mind "I suppose she's right I've had a few relationships end because of scars"

"The women you were with were that vain?" Sheba asked in disbelief as she pressed the large sheet of tracing paper with the design on his back. She couldn't see his face right now but she could imagine how sad he looked.

"Oh you'd be surprised" Roman chuckled "I'm good at detecting things like that just like those women in the parlor"

"That's awful"

"You're telling me" he added, "I can't remember the last time I had sex with the lights on"

Sheba of course could not speak on that subject but it did sound awful how could somebody not stand the sight of his or her own lover?

"Well you don't have to worry about that anymore" Sheba said as she began to use one of her special ink pens to trace the stencil on "this is going to look great"

"I know it is" Roman said, "everybody will know that this is a Bathsheba Nightingale original"

"I know I shouldn't pry into your personal life Roman" Sheba said "but I think it's best that you find a woman who loves you for you and not just the physical aspect because that sounds like what you're ultimately looking for"

"That would be nice," he said, "if it happens it happens if it doesn't well I don't mind continuing being a lone wolf"

"Sounds like you just take life by the horns" Sheba said

"It's the best way to live" Roman replied, "life is short why not live it the way that you see fit?"

Sheba bit her lip now she was glad that Roman couldn't see her face but the mention of life being short made her think of her parents. All her life she had been taught that and she wasn't sure how she felt about statements like that.

From losing her mother before she was old enough to have any memories of her, to growing up in a funeral home, and now her father was on his own deathbed.

Sheba didn't like to hear people talk about dying she felt that death had already taken so much from her and she didn't want that feeling of being alone when it would eventually take her father too.

"Sheba? You okay?"

"I'm fine" Sheba replied "just lost my train of thought that's all"

"Something I said?"

"Oh no you're fine Roman I just wish I could live the way you do you're not scared of anything"

"I wouldn't say that" Roman chuckled "we all have something we're scared of it's what makes us human after what I just told you about my love life I guess you can call me a commitment phobe"

"I wouldn't say that," Sheba insisted "like I said the women you were with were obviously shallow I think they were the commitment phobes not you"

"I'm glad that you think so highly of me you barely know me"

"A picture says a thousand words" Sheba said "you already told me a lot when you showed me those pictures and looking at you now you're letting me know who you are"

"Well what about you?" Roman asked, "will I get to know the real Bathsheba outside of her tattoo studio?"

"Roman" she said slowly "I'm pretty lax around my clients and I know that we're now using first names now but I still have a professional and moral code that I stand by"

"Oh I see," he said simply

"I don't want to sound cold I really don't it's just that I have a business to run"

"Understandable"

There was silence between them for the rest of the stenciling of the back tattoo and when Sheba was finished two hours later Roman rolled around on his back and now he was looking at her face to face and he broke the silence.

"There's no professional or moral codes that I stand by" he said "if you want to talk to me about anything and I mean anything Bathsheba I'm here"

"You really like using my full name don't you?"

"Why not? It's beautiful"

"It's a mouthful" Sheba admitted, "I don't expect people to use it all the time"

"Well I don't mind," he said sincerely

Sheba looked into Roman's eyes and she never saw so much warm in a pair ice blue eyes before she met him.

Keeping this professional and moral code was definitely going to be a challenge and Sheba had a feeling that her father's intuition would be correct after all.

 

The nightingale fluttered its wings as it made it's way through the trees singing without a care in the world. When suddenly a whimpered yelp came from the bushes. The yelp sounded like it was a creature in pain so the curious nightingale went to go see what it was.

A mangled injured grey wolf with sad eyes looked up at the nightingale almost pleading with her to make the pain go away. The nightingale was such a small little bird how could she help an animal that was much bigger than she was. She was going to try though.

The nightingale came back with some aloe leaves and started covering the wolf's back with them and gave the wolf a few reassuring pecks around his ears. The wolf knew that the nightingale was going to take care of him while his pack had left him for dead.

 

 

 

MORE OUTLINES by marchpisces92
Author's Notes:

 

 

 

 

MORE OUTLINES

"How are you feeling today Pop?" Sheba asked as she entered her father's room to see him sitting up. Abraham was staring out of the window and turned when his daughter walked in the room.

"Hey honey" he smiled at her; however Sheba was taken aback by her father's appearance. His eyes looked tired and pink, his breakfast completely untouched, and he looked a bit gray in the face.

"Pop you don't look so good" Sheba sat next to him "are you alright?"

"I'm fine" Abraham lied "everything is fine"

"Pop be honest with me"

"Bathsheba I don't want you to worry"

"Pop what did Dr. Green say?" Sheba asked worried now and she didn't like her father beating around the bush

"I've been thinking about your mother lately" Abraham said, "I've been thinking about Deborah"

"Pop..."

"You look just like her Sheba" Abraham chuckled "I swear you're her all over again"

"Pop you need to tell me if you're okay"

"Going to seeing your mother again soon" he continued, "I miss her Sheba"

"Pop you didn't eat any of your breakfast" Sheba said, "do you want me to get the nurse to bring you something else"

"I'm not hungry"

"Pop you have to eat something" Sheba said she sounded like she was on the verge of tears and that's exactly what it felt like

"I'm tired Sheba" Abraham said softly and calmly "I'm real tired"

"Here" Sheba took an extra pillow out of the closet and gently pushed the bed up "just lay back and rest"

"No honey" Abraham tried to explain to her "I'm tired"

Sheba knew full well what her father meant by that but she didn't want to hear it

"You'll be alright" Sheba reassured "your birthday is in three days I'm making that bread pudding for you"

Abraham chuckled as his eyes slowly drooped "You know I love that sweet stuff"

"I love you Sheba I want you to know that"

"Shh I love you too Pop" she kissed him on the forehead "you rest now okay"

Sheba stayed by Abraham's side until she heard his gentle breathing to let her know that he was asleep.

 

Roman arrived a little early for his next session with Sheba and had a chance to see her interacting with some other clients. Today was an excited high school senior.

"Now are you sure you're eighteen Amber?"

"Yes"

"We're going to need to see some ID then our policy is we don't tattoo minors"

The young Latina girl quickly dug into her school bag and got out her junior driver's license and once her date of birth was confirmed Sheba proceeded with the consultation.

"I'm so excited!" Amber said "I already told my mom that once I paid off my graduation fees and prom fees I was getting a tattoo for my eighteenth birthday"

"Congrats" Sheba smiled "are you starting college in the fall?"

"Yup I'm going to Harvard!"

"This is certainly is the time to celebrate then" Sheba said "now what will you be getting a tattoo of?"

"This" Amber took out a sketch of what she wanted her tattoo to eventually look like.

"What's this?"

"My father" Amber said "I never really knew him he was one of the many firefighters on 9/11 who died on duty"

"Oh I'm sorry"

"It's okay" Amber insisted "I was only two so it doesn't hurt too much when I think about him"

"I'm sure he's watching you"

"I know" Amber smiled "Mom swears that he'll be at graduation too"

Roman noted while her interaction with Amber was sweet he couldn't help but notice a hint of sadness in her eyes.

"Miss Nightingale?" Amber asked, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine" she replied "let's set up an appointment for you since it's April I can definitely have this done for you in time for you when you graduate in June"

"That would be great!" Amber's eyes lit up

Sheba smiled at the young girl and she pulled out a calendar so that she could get her an appointment written in for her.

 

"Amber sure sounded excited about you doing her tattoo" Roman said breaking Sheba from her concentration. It had been a quiet session for the most part as Sheba was putting the final touches of the outlines Roman's tattoo on his back.

When she was finished she instructed Roman to turn over so he was laying on his back. Needless to say Sheba had been doing a good job of not making eye contact with Roman up until now as she etched the design on his chest and torso. However it seemed that Roman was going to turn that around.

"Well we usually get a lot of high school seniors in here excited about getting their first tattoo" Sheba said

"Ah to be eighteen again" Roman chuckled "so full of life"

"Yeah I think she said she's going Penn State her father would be proud"

"You alright?" Roman asked sensing the hint of sadness in Sheba's voice

"Yeah I'm fine" Sheba quickly code switched "why don't we take a break I'm pretty sure you'd like to stretch for a bit"

"That sounds good," he said getting up to admire himself in the mirror "this looks fantastic already"

"I hope so" Sheba said "would you like some water?"

"Sure"

Sheba poured both of them a cup from her Deer Park cooler dispenser and as she was about to hand it to him she paused.

For a moment Sheba forgot that she was supposed to be professional and was now taking the time to actually admire Roman the way all the other females at Wounded Rose did.

The man was gorgeous and was rugged at the same time despite his wounds and scars from the war. It was as if that didn't matter. To quote Lauryn Hill's song Nothing Even Matters nothing mattered at all but Roman himself. Not his wounds not his scars just him.

Sheba felt her heart pitter-patter and she also felt flutters all over her body even in places she didn't think was possible. She shouldn't be thinking or even looking at her client that way it was everything she was against.

Roman turned around to take his cup of water from her and Sheba swore her heart stopped either that or a frog got caught in her throat.

"Thanks"

"You're fin-I mean you're welcome"

"I'll take both as a compliment" he chuckled

Just then Sheba's cell phone rang which she was a little grateful for to say the least. However when Sheba saw that it was coming from the hospital it certainly alarmed her.

"Roman I have to take this call it's important" she said, "I'll be right back"

"No rush take your time"

Sheba stepped outside of her studio and answered the phone it was Dr. Green.

"Hello Dr. Green" she greeted slowly trying to stay calm "is everything okay with my father?"

"Miss Nightingale I hate to be the bearer of bad news but your father passed away this afternoon"

Sheba froze and found her breath hitched in her throat  as her lower lip trembled.

"I just saw him two days ago are you sure?" Sheba felt pathetic asking but she had to "because his birthday tomorrow and I'm bringing him bread pudding---"

"Miss Nightingale I know this is a lot to take in and I wish I didn't have to call you and give you this news"

"I know Dr. Green"

"We're making preparations for the funeral home to pick him up with your permission of course"

"Yes that's fine" she managed to say trying her best to hold back tears "actually I want him sent home I mean to his funeral home"

"Yes that can be arranged"

"Okay thank you for everything Dr. Green"

The tears fell freely now when she hung up but she made sure her cries were silent. The last thing Sheba needed was for Roman to hear her crying when she was supposed to be getting back to doing his tattoo.

"Bathsheba?" she heard him "everything alright?"

Sheba quickly wiped her tears away and cleared her throat to make her voice sound normal.

"I'm fine I'll be right there"

 

Roman knew Sheba wasn't fine. Although she was doing an excellent job with his tattoo he sensed that her whole demeanor changed. It made him wonder what her phone conversation was about after all.

He looked up at her face and saw how concentrated she was but her eyes looked glassy with moisture. Then suddenly a tear fell and hit Roman's bare skin and Sheba cursed immediately putting her inking needle down.

Luckily the tear didn't destroy the design but it did throw Sheba off guard.

"I'm sorry Roman I guess I got something in my eye..."

However more tears began to run down her soft brown cheeks and Roman sat up so he was at her eye level.

"What's wrong Bathsheba?" he asked her seriously now "because you were fine before you picked up your phone"

"I'll....I'll....I'll be fine" she insisted

"No you're not Sheba tell me what's wrong"

It killed Roman to see Sheba like this as her face bunched up in tears once more but this time those tears fell freely.

"Pop...my father....he....died" she said softly between her sobs

Sheba immediately tried to turned away from Roman but he caught her hand made her turn back around to face him.

"Don't turn away Bathsheba" he said gently "I'm here"

"This isn't your problem---"

"I just made it mine" Roman cut her off "your father died Sheba it's not a problem and it's not your fault and I want to make sure you're okay"

Shivers ran up and down her body as Roman brought Sheba in for a hug, which any other time would feel wrong because it wasn't professional.

However with Roman it felt right. It felt like home. The two of them found comfort in that hug and stayed in that embrace for a long time. Or at least until Sheba's tears ceased but either way Roman allowed Sheba to take all the time she needed.


The grey wolf starting to feel better since the nightingale was doing wonders with her healing techniques. Even his fur was beginning to shine again. However the nightingale stopped rather abruptly and began tweeting and hoping around in distress.

The wolf turned around to see a huge thorn was caught in one of the nightingale's wings and was causing her great pain. The wolf gently clenched the thorn between his teeth and slowly pulled it out. Her wing still bled a little but at least the thorn was out.

The wolf licked at the nightingale's wing to stop the bleeding and the nightingale gave the wolf thankful pecks around his ears. They were healing each other now.

 

 

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