“Jeremy, get out here!” Joline called around the wall. Then she went over to the register and pressed a bunch of buttons.
Jeremy appeared with an apron tied around his front, wiping his hands on a towel just like the one his wife had used. “Eddie!” he said jovially, extending a hand for us to shake over the counter. “What can we do for ya?”
“I need a coffee and a hot chocolate, Jeremy, STAT. Eddie has places to be.”
“Coming up!” He retreated to the coffee bar behind the large glass pastry counter and began filling the order.
“The buns are in the back still. We were just drizzling the glaze on them. They’re still warm. I’ll just grab them for you.”
Joline and Jeremy worked like a fine-tuned machine. No sooner than she appeared with a pastry box with a clear window on top did her husband set the two beverages in tall paper cups on the counter beside it.
After handing over the money and adding a couple singles to the tip jar beside the register, I picked up the coffees and smiled. “Thanks, guys. I’m sure these are going to be great.”
“Bring her by when they spring her. I’ll let her sample everything in the case!” Joline offered, and I knew it wasn’t just a polite invitation. It was genuine. “And tell your mother I said hello!”
“I will.” I promised, then stepped back out into the dewy, foggy morning, balancing the breakfast in my hands as I walked to the truck.
I stepped onto Amnesia’s floor before the clock even hit seven. It was quieter in here this time of morning, but a couple nurses were sitting at the nurses’ station. The second they saw me, the older one shot out of her chair and rushed around the counter.
“Morning, ladies,” I said, smiling. “Just bringing Amnesia something from Joline’s.”
She didn’t smile. “It’s not visiting hours, Eddie.” She moved in front of me.
“I won’t tell if you won’t.” I winked and started past.
Her hand hit the center of my chest, gently pushing backward. “You can’t go in there. Not right now.”
Whatever I heard in her voice put me on high alert. Drawing back, I pinned her with a hard stare. “Why?” My mouth suddenly felt dry and my heart was no longer beating at its resting rate.
The nurse hedged, and I gave her a stony stare. “She had a rough night.”
“Poor thing.” The other nurse, still sitting behind the counter, chimed in.
I didn’t know what that meant, but I was too far gone to even ask. It didn’t matter. Stepping swiftly around the nurse, I strode right down the hall.
“No visitors!” the nurse exclaimed, rushing after me. She grabbed my arm and tried to restrain me.
My feet slowed but didn’t stop. I looked pointedly at where she held my bicep, then flashed my stare up to her face. “I’m going in.”
She drew back instantly, shock on her face. I brushed her off and strode away. People knew me as easygoing, ready to smile, never far from a laugh. Charm wasn’t something I worked at; it just was, like my dimples. What people didn’t often see was the steel at my core. When I wanted something, no one would get in my way.
I didn’t pause at Amnesia’s door. I walked right in. My eyes went straight toward the bed. I used my foot to make sure it didn’t slam behind me.
She was huddled on her side, curled in on herself, eyes on the door. There was a flash of stark fear on her face when I first stepped in, but then recognition replaced it and with it I was sure came a look of relief.
“Eddie?” Amnesia asked, pushing up into a sitting position. She looked rumpled and tired, dark circles beneath her eyes. “What are you doing here?”
“Brought you some breakfast,” I answered off hand. “What’s wrong?”
Her eyes drifted toward the items in my hands. “The nurses didn’t try and stop you?”
“They tried,” I said, hooking my foot around the leg of the chair and dragging it across the room beside her bed.
“They’re going to be mad.” She frowned.
I paused. “Do you want me to go?”
Her reply was instantaneous. “No.”
Warmth suffused my chest. “Then don’t worry about it. I’ll make sure no one’s mad.”
Her eyes seemed like saucers in her face. “Everything’s okay out there? In the hall?”
Resisting the urge to frown, I set the box and cups on her bedside table. “Everything is fine. You gonna tell me what’s wrong?”
“What did you bring me?” she asked, peeking at the treats.
I went with it because her voice sounded more like it did yesterday, and the color in her cheeks seemed to be getting warmer. I’d get my answers even if I had to sit here all day.
“Bananas.” I teased her because I wanted to see her smile.
It worked. “I think I’ve changed my mind. You should leave.” She teased.
“You would dismiss me so effortlessly?” I asked, feigning sadness.
“Bananas are no joking matter.”
Chuckling, I held out the cup. “Hot chocolate. Extra whipped cream.”
Taking it, she wrapped her hands around the heated cup and sighed a little. I noticed the goose bumps along her bare arms.
Her brown eyes shifted up to mine. “I don’t know if I like hot chocolate.”
“Give it a go.” I gestured, my heart squeezing just a little.
Tenderness swelled within me as Amnesia tentatively tilted the cup to her lips, allowing the warm, rich liquid to coat her tongue.
Her eyes shot to mine the second she tasted the concoction. She went back for a second sip. Then she smiled. “Yes.”
I sat down, pleased. “I would’ve had serious doubts about you if you didn’t like it.”
“What else you got?”
“Fresh from the bakery… monkey bread muffins.”
She shrugged. “I have no idea what that is.”
Flipping the lid over, I reached in and snatched a pastry out of the box, holding it out to her. She studied it cautiously, as if she really thought I was trying to somehow turn it into a banana. When she finally reached out for it, I snatched my hand back and took a huge bite right off the top.
“Hey!” she demanded.
“You snooze, ya lose,” I said, chewing obnoxiously. With a sound of extreme pleasure, I took another huge bite. Then I retrieved a second muffin and handed it over.
She took it, studying the lumpy top that glistened with glaze and was dotted with cinnamon and raisins. It looked huge in her hand.
As I finished off my breakfast, I watched her. The hot chocolate was tucked into her lap. Then she plucked a chunk off the muffin top and stuffed it into her mouth.
Her eyes rolled back in her head, and a low moan filled the room. My lower belly tightened, and desire filled my limbs.
“This is so good.” Her voice was excited, like she’d found a treasure.
I didn’t say anything, just staring at her, completely taken in. She seemed different now from the first moment I walked in. Livelier, less stoic. It was almost as if she’d been lying in bed, trembling with fear.
I didn’t bring it up just then, though I sorely wanted to. I waited, watching, bemused as she devoured her muffin between sips of hot chocolate.
“Thank you for this,” she said after several minutes of us just sitting in the same room. “This is literally the best thing I’ve eaten since I woke up.”