Page 26 of Left Behind

“You would have done it for me,’ Tom said. “Get some rest. I’m gonna shower. Do you want a snack or something to drink from the fridge?”

“No. I just want the pain to go away so I can sleep.”

Tom patted his friend’s shoulder, then stripped and walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

Johnny heard Tom turn on the shower, and then the pills kicked in.

He was asleep when Tom emerged with a towel wrapped around his waist. He glanced at Johnny, then got a cold Coke from the fridge, and stretched out on the bed to check messages. When he was finished with his drink, he crawled into bed so damn tired he couldn’t think and closed his eyes.

***

Wiley was relieved of duty just after eight the next morning. He checked in at the precinct before going home to get a few hours of sleep. As soon as he got to his house, he showered, ate some breakfast, then sat down and called Linette, hoping it wasn’t against hospital rules for nurses to take personal calls because he was done with texting. It was too freaking impersonal and too easy to be misunderstood.

When his call began to ring, he half expected it to go to voicemail, but instead he got her.

“Hey, you.”

He grinned. “Hey, back,” Wiley said. “I just got off work and am going to catch a few hours’ sleep. I don’t go back on duty until eight p.m. What time do you get off work today?”

“I came on at six. I get off at four today.”

“Are you free for dinner this evening?” he asked.

“For you, yes.”

He closed his eyes, thanking God for a second chance. “I know it’s short notice and a short date, but I can pick you up at five and spend a couple of hours with you.”

“I would love that,” she said.

Wiley exhaled, grateful she didn’t know he was grinning from ear to ear.

“Awesome. See you at five.”

He set his alarm for 4:00 p.m. and crawled into bed. Thinking about Linette made it easy to go to sleep.

When he woke up hours later, he was excited by the thought of spending time with her. He already admired her dedication to her job, but there was something about her that spoke to his heart.

Chapter 5

Linette was a bundle of nerves by the time she clocked out. She flew home, jumped in the shower, and then once she was out, did her hair and makeup before going to her closet. She couldn’t decide what to wear, and time was getting short. Finally, she settled on a pair of gray slacks and a pale-blue blouse with elbow-length sleeves.

As she was dressing, she kept remembering the first time she’d dressed for a date with Wiley. She’d been so smitten with the man that she’d been expecting too much, and then had been humiliated by the two women who’d ruined it.

But after the attempted bank robbery, her perception of what mattered most in life had changed. They’d survived the tragedy together, and experiencing firsthand how swiftly a life could end had changed the whole dynamic of her life. Now all that remained was to see if the chemistry from before was still there, too. She was pacing the living room, anxiously awaiting his arrival when she heard a knock at the door.

He’s here!

She opened it to tall, dark, and handsome, and then realized she was holding her breath, and exhaled.

“You look beautiful,” Wiley said. “Are you ready, or do you need a minute?”

“I don’t want to waste a minute. I’m ready to go,” she said, then grabbed her purse and pulled the door shut as they headed for the elevator.

There was an awkward moment when the elevator doors shut them in. He pressed the button to take them back down to the lobby and then glanced at her. She was watching everything he was doing when he caught her staring and winked.

She blushed, then laughed, and the doors opened. They walked out of the apartment building to his car and were soon headed downtown to the tourist strip. When he pulled into the parking lot at the Back Porch, Linette sighed.

“I love this place. The food reminds me of my grandma’s cooking,” she said.

---