Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 62430 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 312(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62430 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 312(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Gina hadn’t come to say goodbye. Either she had forgotten, or she didn’t actually care. I had missed dinner, which wasn’t a big deal. I could go hungry for one night and take myself out for a big breakfast at a real pancake house tomorrow morning. I wished I could take Gina out for pancakes, but apparently the entire friendship had been all in my head.
I had resigned myself to reading in my room, when I heard the familiar tap on the door. I set my book down, looking up to see her bathed in hallway light, looking exhausted. I sat up instinctively, making room for her to sit opposite me. She accepted the gesture with relief, sinking into the mattress and leaning against the wall for support.
“Rough night?” I asked.
She nodded. “I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye.”
“Everything ok?”
“Yeah, we had a situation on another floor by it’s been resolved.”
“Is everyone alright?” I was already familiar with the hospital privacy laws that forbid me from knowing much of anything about anyone else. But that simple question seemed safe enough.
She exhaled, meaning that everyone was not entirely okay. “I’m supposed to go over your crisis plan and your support network with you one last time.”
I decided to shoot my shot. “You look like you’d rather be home with your feet up. You could give me your number and we could run through it all tomorrow instead.”
“Ha ha.” She leaned toward me, more casually than I had ever seen her before.
“You don’t have to walk home, do you?” I asked, suddenly alarmed.
“I do.” She straightened.
“It’s late.” I didn’t want her out walking the streets at night.
“I’ll be fine,” she said. “Let’s do this.”
“Do what?” I couldn’t believe she was talking about the same thing I was thinking.
“Go through your crisis plan.”
“My crisis plan is to call you,” I said, letting subtlety be damned.
“Porter…” she objected.
“Gina,” I asserted.
She laughed. “I’m really gonna miss you.”
“And I’m gonna call you a ride,” I said, standing up.
“How?” she demanded, looking up at me with wide eyes. “You don’t have a phone.”
“Just stay there,” I told her.
She relaxed back into the wall in quiet defeat. I took that as an invitation and hurried to the nurses’ station. One of the orderlies, Brad, had been fairly friendly throughout my stay. He and I had shared a couple games of cards, and I knew a quick ride through the city wouldn’t put him out much.
“Can I borrow your phone?” I asked when I found him.
“No,” he said.
“I have to get a ride,” I explained.
“You’re getting out tomorrow. Wait until then,” he laughed.
“It’s not for me,” I said.
“Who’s it for?” He folded his hands across his chest.
“A staff member,” I answered.
“Who?”
“A young woman I don’t want to see walking home at this time of night,” I said finally.
Brad nodded, convinced. He opened his phone and pressed his own ride app. “Five minutes.”
I hurried back to my room to find Gina right where I had left her. “Your ride will be here in five minutes.”
She lifted a hand to me, and I helped her to her feet. “I don’t know how you did it.”
It was the first time we had ever touched, barring that one fist bump a week ago. Her hand was warm and delicate in mine, feminine but strong. When the innocent connection was broken, we both realized what had happened and turned away from each other.
“Take care, Porter,” she called me back.
“You too, Gina,” I responded.
And that was it. She walked out of the room, leaving nothing but the ghost of her touch against my palm. I forced myself to remain in my room and not follow her to the front door like some goddamned puppy dog. She hadn’t denied her feelings for me, but she hadn’t given me her number either. I was going to step out those doors tomorrow morning with no way to contact her unless I asked her father which was never going to happen in a million years. Mr. Matthews might be a great guy who was willing to help me keep my shit together, but there was no way he’d ever want me sniffing around his daughter.
12
GINA
Because I hadn’t officially walked Porter through his exit strategy, they rescheduled our appointment. The day he was going to be released, he was my first client. I had taken the rideshare home and climbed onto the couch with the remainder of my Thai food. I had a hard time going to sleep. A combination of sadness and adrenaline kept me up, tossing and turning.
It was raining so hard that I broke down and drove myself to work. It figured that on a day that was draining my heart of all its reserves, the weather would mirror my insides. Racing for the front door, I broke through into safety, water streaming through my hair. I changed my shoes and grabbed my clipboard, feeling a wash of relief when I saw Porter’s name.