Page 22 of Dirty News
Even as I tried to rest, my mind kept churning. I thought about stopping by one of the hospitals to see if I could talk to someone about doing some kind of volunteer work. I wanted to give Artimus and Mrs. Baker everything I could. I wanted this job more than I’d ever wantedanything.
The idea of making a living doing something I absolutely loved had me clinging to the hope that I would be able to make enough money to take care of myself. The small job doing the weather wasn’t going to do much more than pay my bills. Of course, I wanted to do more than just pay the bills. And I was ready to work as hard as I had to for that tohappen.
Somehow, I finally drifted off to sleep, and woke up when Nina jostled me. “We’re home, sleeping beauty. Time to wakeup.”
Yawning, I stretched my arms then got up to get off the plane. The pilot had already gotten my bags out, and they’d been placed on a cart for me. I gave the older man a big smile. “Thank you, Jeffery. That was nice ofyou.”
“Not a problem, Lila. Good luck with everything. I hope things go your way.” He tipped his hat at me then took off in the otherdirection.
Nina and I walked into the airport together. She looked tired too. “I’m going home and taking a long nap,” she informedme.
“I’m going to drop by the hotel, get the rest of my things, and go check into a cheaper place. WOLF paid for the first two nights but my dad’s been footing the bill for the other nights I’ve had to spend in town. I think his credit card’s gotten enough of a workout.” I pushed the cart with my luggage through the sliding glass doors that led out to where tons of taxicabs wereparked.
“I’ve got three roommates already, otherwise I’d invite you to move in with me.” Nina was proving to be a very good friend. “I can give my aunt a call to see if she’s got a room open, if you’d like. She runs a bed and breakfast inManhattan.”
“Would you?” I asked. “That would begreat!”
Hopping into a cab, we shared the ride as she made the call, finding me an affordable place to stay. It wasn’t my own apartment, but it was my own room and bathroom, complete with breakfast each morning. And her aunt gave me the employee discount,too.
The driver dropped Nina off first, as her apartment was on the way to the hotel. I hurried to pack my things then checked out of the fancy establishment. When I got to the bed and breakfast, Nina’s Aunt Lacey showed me to myroom.
“Here we are, Lila. I hope you like it.” Lacey opened the door, and my eyes scanned the smallroom.
It wasn’t huge, but it was very nice. A pale blue bedspread covered the queen-size bed. Four fluffy pillows made it look comfy and inviting. One window, with curtains that matched the bedspread, lit the roomup.
“This is so pretty.” I put my luggage down near the door to lookaround.
“You’ve got a large closet here.” She opened the door to a walk-in closet that had more than enough space to store myclothes.
I opened the other door, finding a small bathroom with a clawfoot bathtub. “I loveit!”
“Thank you. I know it’s cozy, but there are three living areas on the main floor where you can stretch out a bit. All the bedrooms are on the second and third floors. On the fourth floor, there’s an exercise room for our guests. And breakfast is served in the dining area from five in the morning until ten in theafternoon.”
It was more like a real home than a hotel. “Thank you so much. I can’t tell you how nice it feels to know I’ve got a place to stay, and such a nice one at that.” I turned around, looking at the whole room once more. This would be my home for the next little while. And I couldn’t have been happier aboutthat.
After unpacking my things, I headed out to Lenox Hill Hospital to see if I could get something set up for the next day. Walking past one of the hospital rooms, I heard a familiar voice coming frominside.
Peeking in, I found Duke sitting on the edge of a bed, a small girl with all kinds of tubes running into her lay on the bed, gazing up at him as he read her a children’s story. One cameraman and a sound man had their backs tome.
Duke had donned blue scrubs and a surgical mask, making him look like one hell of a sexy doctor. I stood there, frozen in place, as he changed his voice for each different character in thestory.
The little girl seemed to be just as charmed by him as I was. As he read the last words of the story, he started lifting his head, and I hurried to duck away so he wouldn’t seeme.
But it seemed he’d spotted me after all, as I heard him calling out behind me. “Hey, you. What’re you doinghere?”
I stopped and turned around. “Just checking to see if I can do some volunteer work here. I see you had the sameidea.”
He caught up with me, taking the surgical mask off and shoving it into one of his pockets. “Great minds think alike. Come on, the cafeteria here has some pretty good food. I’ll buy youlunch.”
I ran my hand over my empty stomach. I hadn’t eaten all day. “Thanks, I’d appreciatethat.”
After getting a couple of turkey sandwiches and some chips, we took a seat in a booth, sitting across from each other. “So, how’d the interview with Ted Turnergo?”
His question surprised me. “Who told you aboutthat?”
“His publicist.” He looked at me with humor in his eyes. “I called to set up an interview myself but was told he already had one lined up with someone else at the network—one Lila Banks. She asked if I’d like to set up a time after you, but I told her that wouldn’t be necessary. Seems you and I think alike more often than wedon’t.”
“Seems so.” I took a bite of my sandwich and tried not to think about how great he looked in thosescrubs.
