Death by Shaving

The weather is starting to turn cool and I couldn't be happier.  Not because I hate the heat (although I do) and not because I'm looking forward to cozy sweaters and jeans and boots again (although I am), but because I hate to shave.   And let's be honest - there's less shaving of the legs in the winter.  I mean, I'm not going full on Sasquatch over here but I don't shave my gams every single day (sorry honey).

Lots of women hate to shave but I really hate it.  I like to think I have a good reason for hating it.  About fifteen years ago I nearly died from shaving my legs. 

I was in my mid-twenties and living on my own in a tiny little apartment.  One morning I woke up and realized that my leg was kind of sore.  In fact it was so sore I was limping.  Upon investigation I discovered a large red bump on the inside of my upper thigh, just above my knee.  It was so painful to the touch that I was forced to wear a skirt to work that day.  My pant leg brushing against it was like being brushed with fire.

Later that morning I went to my family doctor, a lovely woman named Dr. Meg, assuming I had a boil or something on my leg.  She took one long look at it, probed it gently with her fingers and then gave me a strange look.

Dr. Meg:  Elizabeth, you need to go to the hospital right now.
Me:  What?  I can't go to the hospital.  I have to go back to work.
Dr. Meg:  No, you're going to the hospital.  I am not kidding about this.  You leave my office and go straight to the hospital.
Me:  Um, okay?
Dr. Meg:  See how it's red all around the lump?  I'm going to take this pen and mark where the red is.
Me:  Why?
Dr. Meg:  It's an easy way to let us know how quickly the red is spreading.
Me:  Oh.
Dr. Meg:  I'll call ahead to the hospital and let the infectious disease people know you're coming.
Me:  Infectious disease?  Am I dying?  I'm dying aren't I?
Dr. Meg:  *pauses* Noooo...but you have a really bad strep infection.
Me:  Strep infection?  My throat's not sore!
Dr. Meg:  Sweet Jesus Elizabeth!  Stop arguing with me and get your ass to the hospital right now!

When I arrived at the hospital the infectious disease team was waiting for me.  I was hustled into a room and a stern-looking doctor and an intern showed up within minutes.  The stern-looking doctor examined my leg for a few minutes, poking and prodding at the lump as I hollered and cursed every time he touched it.

He frowned at the pen marks and asked when they had been made.  At that point, the red had nearly doubled in size and was well past the pen marks Dr. Meg had made.  When I told him twenty minutes give or take a few, he grunted loudly in alarm and turned to his intern.

Infectious Disease Doctor (IDD):  If we start her on IV antibiotics immediately there's a chance we'll be able to save the leg.
Me:  *blink, blink*
IDD:  She's allergic to pencillin so let's try her on clindamycin.  It should be powerful enough to knock back the infection.
Me:  Um, I'm starting to feel slightly alarmed here.
IDD:  Have you had clindamycin before young lady?
Me:  No, but if I may, did you say there's a chance you'll be able to save my leg?  Because it sounded like you said that but obviously I have misheard you.
IDD:  You heard me correctly.
Me:  Am I dying?  I'm dying aren't I?
IDD:  You have an extremely serious strep infection that is on the verge of turning into flesh-eating disease.  We're going to start IV antibiotics today.  If we're lucky and caught it in time and if the antibiotics are powerful enough, you'll keep your leg.  If it doesn't work and turns into flesh-eating disease, best case scenario - you lose your leg.  Worst case scenario - you die.  Do you understand me?
Me:  Perfectly.  Also - do you have a bucket I can vomit into?
IDD:  You can vomit after we get an IV into you and start the antibiotics.

Obviously the treatment worked as I have all four limbs, but it was the scariest moment of my life.  After a few days of having an IV lodged in my hand and going twice a day to the infectious disease center to have antibiotics pumped into my body, the doctor actually ended up lancing the lump (at that point, the most painful experience of my entire life).  Apparently it was full of an astonishing amount of pus.

Oh, and it turns out that I was also allergic to the clindamycin, but it had already knocked back a significant amount of the infection before I turned into a giant walking rash and had to switch to yet another antibiotic.

The strep infection was caused from an ingrown hair.  The ingrown hair was caused from shaving.  Ingrown hairs are quite common and happen to a lot of people.  Only in my case I nearly died from an ingrown hair.  How lame would that sound in an obituary?  Seriously, I would have been all, "Tell people I was killed pushing a small child out of the path of a speeding bus."

Contest Winner

Thanks to everyone who participated in the "Twice Tempted" contest.  A winner was drawn this morning!

Congratulations to Malissa Gaiter! 

Malissa, please send me an email at elizabethkellybooks @ gmail . com and I'll email you your pdf copy of "Twice Tempted" first thing tomorrow morning.

Thanks again everyone!

Cheers,

Elizabeth

Twice Tempted Contest

Hello all!

To celebrate the release of  "Twice Tempted", the conclusion to Lucy and Jason's story, I'm running a contest where a reader can win a free pdf copy.

It`s super easy to enter the contest - just leave a comment on this post.  The contest will be open until midnight (pacific time) on September 8th.  One comment will be drawn randomly and if it's yours - you win!

On September 9th I'll announce the winner on this blog and I'll send you your pdf copy of "Twice Tempted" by email.

Good luck and Happy Reading!

Cheers,

Elizabeth

Twice Tempted - An Excerpt

"Twice Tempted" - the conclusion to Lucy and Jason's story - will be available September 10th on Amazon and Smashwords for $0.99!

Please enjoy an excerpt from "Twice Tempted" and check back on the 6th of September to participate in a contest to win a free copy of my latest novella, "Twice Tempted".

Excerpt from "Twice Tempted" by Elizabeth Kelly.
Copyright 2013 Elizabeth Kelly

* * *

Chapter 1

Lucy rang the doorbell of the large and impressive looking two-story house.  She had hemmed and hawed over going for most of the afternoon and still wasn’t sure that she had made the right decision.  The door opened; Jerry’s wife Heather beamed at her in delight and she was suddenly glad she came.

“Lucy!  Honey, it’s so good to see you!  I keep telling Jerry to invite you over for dinner but you know him – he just grumbles about keeping his professional life separate and sneaks off to his shop in the back to tinker with his cars.  Which is just silly because the man loves you like you’re one of his own daughters you know.”

Lucy flushed a little and Heather laughed.  “It’s true.  I know he acts all gruff and serious at the office but he’s such a softie.  Oh, he’d kill me if he knew I was telling you this.”  She looked around before leaning forward and whispering conspiratorially, “You’ve always been his favourite at the office.”

Lucy laughed.  “Well don’t you tell him this but he’s always been my favourite as well.”

Heather looked her up and down.  “You look lovely tonight Lucy.”

“Thank you.”  Lucy tugged at the hem of her shirt.  “I wasn’t sure if this was a formal or casual event so I threw a skirt on rather than my jeans just in case.”

“You would have looked just as lovely in jeans my dear.  Besides, it doesn’t matter what you’re wearing – we’ve got a mixture of everything tonight.”

“It was really nice of Jerry to do this.”  Lucy said.

“I thought so too.  Jerry thought it would be good to have a bit of a shindig for everyone at the office.  You’ve all been working so hard for the last six months and the company has been doing so well – you deserve a night of celebration.”

Lucy was still standing on the doorstep and Heather smacked herself lightly in the head.  “Oh for heaven’s sake!  Come in – come in!  I didn’t mean to leave you standing on the doorstep like a lost little waif!”

She stepped back and Lucy followed her into the house.  “Don’t worry about your shoes Lucy.”  Heather called over her shoulder.  “The others are gathered in the living room and the dining room – go on and start mingling and I’ll grab you a glass of wine.”

Lucy went down the hallway and into the living room.  She scanned the room quickly.  Nearly everyone from the office was there, and the living room and adjoining dining room were filled with people.  Alex was standing by the fireplace talking with Maureen and Wallace, and Jerry was standing next to Carol and gesturing wildly, his face already a bit red from the wine. 

 

She scanned the room again, refusing to admit to herself who it was she was looking for.  When she didn’t see him her pulse, which had been thudding loudly in her ears, quieted down.  Ignoring her disappointment she headed towards Penny who was standing next to the large bay window.

* * *

“Oh my God!  Look who just walked through the door!”  Penny couldn’t hide the glee from her voice.  It was just over an hour later and Lucy had been telling Penny about the time her brother had tried to stuff her into the dryer when Penny had interrupted her with a soft squeal.

She looked behind her.  Jason had just walked into the living room.  Immediately her face flushed and her heartbeat quickened.  She turned away swiftly.  

“Damn, he looks good.”  Penny sighed.  “I wonder where he’s been for the last two weeks.”

Lucy shrugged.  “I don’t know and I don’t care.” 

It was a lie of course.  Two weeks ago she had been in Jason’s bed having the best sex of her life and not caring that he was her boss.  But, she thought grimly, a lot could change in two weeks.  The Monday after the weekend she had spent with Jason, she had been on cloud nine, but that had changed quickly.  By Tuesday he was gone from the office and no one knew why.  Not even Carol knew and she could always be counted on to know exactly where everyone was at any given moment.  Lucy had overheard her and Maureen talking in the lunch room one day and Carol had shrugged when Maureen had asked her about it.

“I don’t know.  All I know is he had to leave to attend a personal matter.”  The woman had bitten into her apple.  “Jerry’s been taking all his calls and I don’t even know when he’ll be back.”

For the first few days Lucy had checked her cell phone constantly, positive that Jason would text her, but when she heard nothing from him her worry had turned to anger.  He had been so sweet to her at the beach house that weekend, making it sound like he wanted something more than sex.  He had certainly fooled her.

Lucy sighed softly and stared into her wine glass.  From the day he started, Jason had been cold and rude to her.  She had been positive that he hated her and she hadn’t been that fond of him. 

 

“Liar!”  Her mind screamed immediately at her.

She had been attracted to him from the start, and the night they had gotten trapped in the elevator together Jason had finally admitted his rude behavior had been an attempt to hide his attraction to her.  They had given in to their mutual attraction and had mind-blowing sex on the floor of the elevator.  She had tried to stay away from him – sleeping with the boss was about the stupidest career limiting move you could make – but by the following weekend she had been at his beach house and in his bed and couldn’t have been happier about it.

It hadn’t taken long for the women in the office to start drooling over him and an office bet had been started.  The first one to bed their sexy new boss would win a gift certificate to the spa.  Lucy had not been invited to join the bet and she had told no one about sleeping with Jason.  But, after discovering the bet, Jason had bought her a gift certificate to Heaven’s Gate Spa.   

Two weeks without seeing him, without hearing his deep voice or having him touch her in the way she had grown way too accustomed to in way too short of a time, had left her feeling lonely and blue.  She had been confused by her reaction.  A weekend of sex did not make a relationship and she had never been the type of girl to fall quickly for someone.  In fact, she hadn’t had a serious relationship in three years and she had been perfectly content with that.  

Although Jason had mentioned he wanted it to be more than sex between them, they weren’t actually dating yet and he was under no obligation to share anything with her.  Still, she couldn’t shake her hurt over his two weeks of silence.

“He probably regretted what he said.”  A voice inside of her whispered.  “He probably changed his mind about having a relationship with you and used his two weeks away from the office as the perfect way to send a message to you.  You’re stupid if you think he would risk his entire career just to spend some time between your legs.  You’re good in bed girl but you’re not that good.”

Lucy took a large gulp of wine.  That was another thing – despite her poofy hair, extra few pounds, and pale-as-a-freaking-vampire skin – she’d always had loads of self-confidence.  She’d never doubted her ability to get or keep a man until Jason Young had come along, and she hated that he had rattled her confidence so much.

So what if he didn’t want her?  Like her mom always said - there were plenty of other fish in the sea.  And not one of those fish was her boss.  She was better off not having anything to do with Jason Young.

“Lucy?  Are you okay?”  Penny was staring at her oddly and Lucy forced herself to smile at her.

 

“Just fine.  Why?”

“You looked weird for a minute there.”  Penny studied her closely and Lucy widened her smile. 

“I’m good.”

“Okay, well if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go and say hello to Jason.”

Lucy rolled her eyes.  “Seriously Penny?”

Penny wiggled her eyebrows at her.  “Hey, I have an office bet to win remember.  Alex is already glued to his side and Maureen and Jamie are eyeing him up from across the room.”

Lucy moved to the dining room as Penny practically sprinted across the living room to Jason.  She stared out the patio doors into the backyard and reminded herself repeatedly not to turn around and scan the living room for Jason.  

She smiled when a familiar voice said, “Hello Lucy.”

She looked down at the short website developer standing next to her.  “Hey Carlos.  How are you?”

“I’m good.  How are you?”

“I’m well thanks.  Enjoying the party?”  Lucy asked politely.  Carlos was a nice guy and she had a feeling he was interested in her as more than a co-worker, but he was definitely not her type.  Forgetting that he was four inches shorter than her, he was loud and boisterous and commanded the attention of the room.  She had always preferred the quiet types.  She was attracted to the type of guy who radiated a quiet confidence and didn’t need to use loud words and grand gestures to get people’s attention.  

Jason’s type. Her inner voice whispered immediately.  She groaned irritably to herself.  Would she have even one day where she wasn’t thinking about her stupidly hot boss?

“I am.  It was nice of Jerry to throw this for us.” Carlos moved a little closer and squeezed her arm lightly. 

“Have you gotten something to eat yet?”  He asked.

She shook her head.  “No, I was chatting with Penny and haven’t hit the buffet table yet.”  She looked behind her at the dining room table that was laden with food.  

He tugged on her arm and she allowed him to lead her to the table.  “Let’s grab a bite to eat then.”

Jason looked over Alex’s shoulder, tamping down his irritation when he watched Carlos squeeze Lucy’s arm.  He led her to the table and they began to help themselves to the food.  Carlos said something to Lucy that made her laugh and Jason frowned.  The shorter man was standing way too close to her, his arm brushing against hers, and when he led her out of the dining room and into the backyard he had to stop himself from following.

“Jason?”  Alex brushed her hand across his chest.  “Earth to Jason?”

“Sorry?  What?”  He said a bit impatiently.

“I asked where you’ve been for the last two weeks.”  The blonde woman smiled at him as Penny and Maureen stared at him expectantly.

“It was a personal matter.”  He said shortly.  

“Oh of course, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to pry.”  Alex said hastily.

He peered over her shoulder again but Carlos and Lucy had moved away from the patio door and he couldn’t see them any longer. 

“So, what do you like to do for fun Jason?”  Penny asked eagerly.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this small excerpt from "Twice Tempted".  Remember to check back on September 6th for your chance to win a free copy!

Elizabeth

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my blog!  Here, you'll find updates on my latest novels and novellas, book excerpts, contests to win free copies of my books, random book reviews, and the occasional blog entry about my personal life.

Thanks so much for joining me on my journey of self-publishing.  If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to ask.  I love reader feedback!  I look forward to getting to know you all better.

Cheers,

Elizabeth