Page 52 of Let Leaves Lay Where They Fall

“Well, you’re my V.I.P. today then.” He beams as the darling woman. “Let me grab a few things really quick. I’ll be right back.” He sets the tablet on the foot of the bed and draws the curtain.

“You can leave that open. I love watching the nurses all working away. It reminds me of my days on the floor.”

“You’ve got it.” He beams back at her. Strolling to the nurse’s station. He gathers a small cup of water and pushes a med cart back to the bedside. Pulling a rolling stool in with his toe. He settles down on it and starts rifling through shelves in the cart. “Did you work here in Portland?” He slips blue rubber gloves onto his hands.

“No dear. My wife and I retired and moved here. Around the time Maine legalized gay marriage. We were so excited and knew our home state would be far behind that progress.” She wrinkles her nose with disgust. “Florida.” Shaking her head. ‘Yes. It’s strange. Most people would retire here and move to Florida for the weather. But we had been together for decades and wanted to make it legal.”

Nathan’s heart may have melted a few chilly layers from her story. “That’s amazing.” He pours sanitizing solution into a gauze pad. “Where is your wife today?” He’s scared of the answer.

“Millie passed three years after we moved here.” Her squinting eyes gloss over, recalling her love. “We had an amazing life though. Especially those last three years.” She rubs her knuckles. “I miss her every day.” She swipes a single tear from the corner of her eye and smiles.

“I’m so sorry.” Nathan can feel her sorrow.

“Do you have a special love?”

“I'm as single as it gets.” He chuckles. Dabbing at her wound and clearing away sidewalk debris. “Though.” He pauses, unsure if he should carry on.

She lights up with anticipation at hearing his story. “Though?” She eggs him on.

“There is a man I met recently.” He worries about jinxing the potential by talking too much, too soon.

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” She sits up a bit taller against the pile of pillows behind her back.

A familiar voice is suddenly passing behind him. Jamie and the waitress from Truffle who had given him a hard time when trying to collect his things from the restaurant are being led through to the doctor’s offices in the back. The cutie smiles through the side of his eye, waving an open palm held against his hip.

Flutters tickle Nathan’s belly. He turns back to Rosemary, waiting patiently for him to carry on. “Speak of the Devil.” He smiles.

“Oh? Is that him?” She leans forward to get a better look around the curtain’s edge. “He’s handsome.” She touches his forearm.

Blushing. “We’re going on our first date next week.” He applies a topical numbing cream to her wound.

“Oh! What are you doing for the first date?”

“We’ll. I’m new to town, so I had to look up ideas on the internet, but I came across a guided ghost tour in the Old Port. So I reserved two spots for that.” He pinches her skin together and pushes the first thread through. Tying it off. “I think it will be fun. There's dinner at the end of the tour. We can see how things go from there?” He shrugs.

“That should be fun!” She cheers. “Oh I love the first moments of a blossoming romance.” Her lips press into a wide smile, clasping hands together under her chin.

The phone in his pocket vibrates against his thigh.

“Millie and I had our first date at a little park near the beach. It was a picnic. She had prepared the most delicious spread. We were together every day after that.” Her eyes well up again.

Nathan gives her knee a tender squeeze. “You two are an inspiration.”

He knots the final stitch, closing off her cut and giving it one last wipe down with sanitizing liquid. “Let’s bandage you up and get you out of here.”

“No rush dear. It’s quite nice to be among my people.” Her deep-set eyes float over the room. “I loved being a nurse all those years.” She meets his eyes again.

He remembers Bertie and how she had always loved her career too. The way she spoke fondly of the years she had put in and all of the people she’d met. She always had a new story to share at the dinner table. Maybe it was the pungent odor of the sanitizing alcohol, but his eyes welled a bit too.

Rosemary patted his arm when he finished taping down her bandage.

“How are you getting home?” Nathan suddenly felt responsible for the sweet little lady.

“I spoke with my friend Darla earlier. She lives in my building and helps me from time to time. She’s already on her way.” Rosemary pats down her denim skirt and rainbow striped sweater.

“Well, sit here and relax until she comes. I’ll help you out to the car when she arrives.” Nathan hands her the little paper cup of water and pushes a rolling try over the bed. “Can I get you anything else?” He’d love to sit and listen to Millie stories the rest of the day, but there are other patients to tend to. “Yell for me, if you need anything at all.”

“Thank you, Nathan.” She closes her eyes and lays back on the pile of pillows.

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