I don’t know what to say to that. She’s talking about my friend Kelli sleeping with Marc. It’s apples and oranges...the two scenarios, but the abuse of trust is the same. I know exactly how she feels right now.
“Lay off of her, Emily. She said she’s sorry.”
I spin around and see Linc behind me. He’s glaring at Emily and I’m shocked into further silence. Linc is the last person that should be speaking up for me.
“Fine,” Emily huffs. “But if she screws you over a second time, don’t come whining to me.”
Emily walks away without another word to me. I can feel tears prickling in my eyes and I blink several times to push them back. I never once considered how my actions would affect Emily and I’m kicking myself right now.
Linc lays his hand on my shoulder. It’s comforting and I have no right to be seeking that feeling from him. “Don’t worry about Emily. She’ll cool down.”
I look into his eyes and they are filled with kindness. Kindness that I don’t really deserve and I am immediately suspicious. “Why are you being so nice to me?”
Linc squeezes my shoulder and laughs. “I’m not really. I just don’t want to give you any reason to write a bad article about me. It’s not good for my image. Now come on...let’s go get some lunch.”
Linc turns to walk toward the elevator but I grab his hand to stop him. He reflexively squeezes mine back. My skepticism has now morphed into utter confusion over this man. “Seriously. Why are you being nice to me? I don’t deserve it.”
He tilts his head at me in sincere curiosity. “Why don’t you think you deserve it?”
“Because of what I did to you. I’m the last person in the world you should be nice to.”
He looks at me with patience...like I’m a child almost. “Did you apologize to me?”
“Yes.”
“Were you truly sorry?”
“Yes.”
“Are you putting forth an honest effort to get to know the real me?”
“Yes...but—”
“Well then...why shouldn’t I be nice to you? I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt, why don’t you do the same for me?”
I feel a little of the guilt that I’ve been harboring ease up in my chest. His words are so simple, yet they have a major impact on me. A smile overtakes my face, one that I am powerless to hold back.
He answers me with a smile of his own, but it is different than mine. It actually looks predatory in nature, like the way I imagine a lion would smile when it realizes it’s captured the gazelle. My insides squirm. Linc steps in close to me, so his next words are for my ears alone. “Your smile would bring a lesser man to his knees. But if you wore your glasses and smiled at me like that, it would topple me.”
Linc is teasing me, I know it. But I can’t help the heat that floods through my body at those words. That same heat has flooded my face and I’m sure he’s taken stock of my reaction. The downside to being so pale is that it is painfully obvious when I’m embarrassed.
Before I can even think of what to say, we are interrupted.
“Linc? Is that you?”
We turn to see a young, pretty nurse in pink scrubs walking toward us. Linc steps back from me slightly but doesn’t release my hand. “Hey, Monica.”
She offers me a smile and turns to Linc. “Are you here to see Kyle? He’s having a bad day and you will certainly brighten it.”
“Actually, I was here to see someone else but I’ll stop by his room and check on him. Thanks.”
“Sure thing,” she says and then walks off, glancing back at him once and smiling flirtatiously.
I look to Linc questioningly.
“Do you mind if we make a quick stop before we leave?” he asks.
I shake my head and Linc leads me to the elevators, still holding my hand. My head tells me to pull it away but I’m enjoying the warmth and feel of it. I also couldn’t help but notice the way the perky, nurse Monica looked at Linc, and it made me feel nice that Linc was not acknowledging that look.
And just as soon as I have that thought, I mentally chastise myself. That’s exactly the type of thinking that led me to fall for Marc. Feelings of security and self-worth parceled out to me by a man pretending to love me. I quickly pull my hand out of Linc’s grip and he doesn’t say a word about it.
Linc takes us to the fourth floor and when we get off, it looks like we stepped into Disney World. The walls are painted bright colors and adorned with cartoon characters. Even the floors are painted with bright flowers, butterflies and birds. All of the nurses walking by are wearing colorful scrubs, many covered with the same cartoon characters that grace the walls. I even see one nurse walking by wearing a red clown nose.
Obviously, we are on the children’s ward.
Most of the nurses and even some doctors that we pass say hello to Linc. He’s definitely not a stranger here and that has got my reporter’s curiosity raging. I watch as he walks up to the nurse’s station and reaches over the counter to grab something. He acts as if he owns the place. His hand pulls back and he’s holding two red balls.
He hands me one with a grin and takes the other, putting it on his nose. I can’t help but laugh at him.
“Red and bulbous is not really my style. Do you have something else?” I ask.
He takes the red ball from me and reaches back behind the counter, pulling out a pair of black rimmed glasses with a large nose and mustache attached.