“Me?” She lied terribly. “Why on earth would I do that?”
Shelly kept smiling.
“I think he is a very kind and talented man who loved his mother, that’s what I think,” said Doris. “To me, he is someone special. Someone you should notice.”
Shelly saw Doris’s dark eyebrows raise up. “It was you, Doris!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Shelly stood, still smiling, with her arms crossed, not giving in.
“Don’t you have rounds to do, Doctor?” “Yes, I do. And my files are where?” “Right in front of you.”
“So they are. By the way, that phone call? I have a lunch date with Nick Harris in the cafeteria at noon. Want to join us?”
“Why would you want me to go and ruin your meal? You know me. I may eat everything at the table while you’re not looking.”
“Ha ha, Doris. Ha, ha.”
Shelly grabbed her files and turned down the western hallway, beginning yet another day of trying to keep some of her sanity among sick children, all the while trying to make them smile and forget their troubles. Day in and day out, like it or not, that was her job.
*****
Shelly found Nick waiting in a hospital-issue chair outside the cafeteria.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Oh, hi, there, Shelly… um … Dr. White,” Nick stood like a gentleman and adjusted his shirt. He checked his watch. “You’re two minutes early.”
“I’m starving,” she replied. “Let’s go.”
Nick held the swinging door and they entered to the distinct smell of cafeteria food. Shelly looked over and smiled, knowing by his expression it had hit him right in the face. Not that the smell was bad, just the aroma of so many items being cooked and served in a confined area. As with most cafeteria style dining rooms, the proverbial trays, damp from being wiped down, waited by the chow line entrance. He grabbed one and handed it to Shelly.