Hush (Just This Once 1)
consult and surgery, I hopped on the subway and headed here.
“Evan, right?” He shakes my hand briskly. “Your choice of work-out attire is interesting.”
I laugh that off since I’m dressed in scrubs and a black sweater. “I didn’t know you were a member here too.”
I know I’m stretching the truth. I did know he was a member. I happen to be one although the last time I stepped foot in this place was months ago.
I make a mental note to cancel my membership on my way out.
“Trying to keep the heart healthy.” He rakes a hand through his hair. “Heart disease runs in the family so I’m taking a proactive approach.”
He’s a smart man.
“Hey, now that I ran into you, I have a question.” My intention is to sound nonchalant. I can’t tell whether that’s working for me or not.
“What’s that?” he asks before he takes a mouthful of water from a bottle in his hand.
I swallow, realizing that this is treading on dangerous ground. “I want to surprise Chloe with some flowers. I could use some insight into her favorite.”
He smiles. “Pink roses. She loves them.”
I like knowing that. I want to dig deeper but that will raise alarm bells. If he knew what happened between Chloe and me the last time we talked, I doubt he’d be giving me the time of day. “That’s good to know. I’ll pick up a bouquet for her today.”
“Today?” He furrows his brow. “You don’t think they’ll be dead before you get a chance to give them to her?”
I try to act like I know what the fuck he’s talking about. “Good point.”
“Unless you’re planning on sending them to her hotel in Boston. That’s a surprise she’ll appreciate.”
With that he steps back onto a treadmill and starts a slow jog.
I walk away wondering why the hell she’s in another city and whether she’s thinking about me as much as I’m thinking about her.
***
“What’s her name?”
I turn to look at the patient I’m having a consultation with. Physically there’s absolutely nothing wrong with her. Emotionally, she’s suffering from a broken heart.
Her symptoms began the day her husband died.
“Who?”
“The girl that you wish you could be talking to right now.” Judith Lancaster points at my cell phone. “You’ve stolen a peek at that twice since you walked into this exam room. Might I suggest you take the bull by the horns and call her yourself?”
I take a seat on a stool that is facing the exam table. “I was checking the time. I’m not waiting for anyone to call me.”
I’m not. I wish to fuck I was. Maybe if I had pushed Chloe for her number, I would know whether she’s even back in Manhattan yet.
It’s been days since I tracked her brother down at the gym. I sent Vanessa to the Roasting Point Café this morning with a bouquet of pink roses in her hand. Chloe didn’t show and now those roses are sitting on the desk at the nurses’ station reminding me that I know virtually nothing about a woman I think I’m falling for.
“My husband used to tell me that love begins in here.” She taps her forehead before she lowers both hands to her chest. “And it lives in here.”
I listen because I sense there’s more to tell.
“You can’t stop thinking about her.” She leans forward to rest her forearms on her knees. “That means that it’s still young.”
“It’s not like that.” I stand and pick up my tablet to make note of our uneventful appointment. “You’re fine, Judith. You can get back to your everyday activities.”