CHAPTER TEN
“I hear congratulations are in order.” Calvin’s voice enters before the rest of him as the sliding door of Willow’s room opens. I shuffle her up my chest as she rests on me, and I look towards him with a smile.
“I was wondering if you’d be working today,” I say.
“I’m not supposed to be. I wanted to catch my favourite patient before she goes.” He reaches out and tickles the bottom of Willow’s foot. Calvin is usually with Willow four shifts a week. I’ve taken a lot of comfort knowing he’s been here when I can’t be.
“Willow, don’t be rude. Thank Calvin for all his hard work.” I lean in closer to her ear, but project my voice so Calvin can hear too. “You owe him, kid.” I tilt my head up and see Calvin watching us, a fond look in his eye.
He clears his throat against a fist. “Since I’m not technically working today, and since Willow is no longer my patient, I was wondering… if I could give you my number,” he says.
My eyes widen, but I’m not shocked, to be honest. I know how special Willow is to him—he told me he started in the NICU the day Willow was born, transferring from a different department. She has been his first and only patient here. “Of course!”
He smiles but looks surprised. “I honestly didn’t think that would work.” He hands me a piece of paper with his number on it.
I turn to lay Willow down in her car seat for the first time. “What? Why not?”
“Well, it’s a little unusual, and you’re way out of my league.”
I stiffen. Thankfully my back is turned to him as I buckle Willow in. Oh, he meant to give me his number like,give me his number.I scroll through my Rolodex of memories with him over these past eleven weeks.
He’s cute, around my age, and seems kind. Also, he knows the tiny, precious baggage I now carry fairly well. All right, I’m cool with it. I turn around and offer him a playful eye roll with a smile. “I’m not out of your league.”
He looks down at the suitcase in my left hand, the diaper bag around my shoulder, and the car seat on my right. “Want help to your car?”
“Oh, actually, we’re taking a cab.” I’m working on saving for a car, considering how many specialist appointments Will is going to have, but I’m also hoping to have enough saved up so as not to take on more debt, in an effort to not displease the CPS gods.
Calvin looks down to his feet as he speaks. “I… I drove here. Can I give you two a ride? I don’t want to stick around here too long anyway—I’ll get roped in to work.” He looks towards my face with trepidation.
Thirty-three dollars.That’s how much the cab company quoted me. “Yeah, that would be great. Thank you.”
He reaches out for the bag, and I hand it over, our fingers brushing briefly.
“All right, well, allow me the pleasure of Willow’s first car ride.” He slides open the door, and I say a silent goodbye to the room that has housed my sister for the past eleven weeks.
“No pressure.” I wink as we enter the hallway side by side.
We stop at the nurses’ station to say our goodbyes. Calvin receives more than a few suspicious smiles and widened eyes as he stands behind us in street clothes, holding Willow’s suitcase. I blush, wondering how far the other nurses’ imaginations are going.
Calvin leads us towards the elevator and down to the parking garage below the hospital. After checking at least three times that the seatbelt is properly laced through the car seat,I sit next to Willow in the back of Calvin’s sporty SUV.
“It’s okay if I sit back here, right? I’m a little nervous,” I say.
“Of course. I would be too.”
It suddenly dawns on me that I know nothing personal about Calvin. Perhaps I missed the part of stranger danger lessons when they tell you to not accept rides, even from kind nurses.
We made small talk for the entire twenty-minute ride to my apartment building fairly effortlessly. Calvin insisted on parking and helping us up to my door, which felt like a very gentlemanly thing to do.He carries the diaper bag and Willow in her car seat while I pull the suitcase behind me.
“Yeah, right?” he’s saying. “That is the last time I ever let a patient talk me into an extra Jell-O. It was horrible. I won’t eat anything lime-flavoured ever again.” Laughter bubbles out of me as we step off the elevator.
“This is us.” I unlock the door on my third try to place the suitcase to hold it ajar, turning back to face Calvin, standing in the hallway of our floor.
“Right. Well, thanks for letting me give you a ride, and thanks for—” Calvin stops, looking over my shoulder. I turn to see Warren leaning against the wall behind me, past the bathroom entrance. He’s staring at us with a teasing gleam in his eye and arms crossed in front of his chest. I look at Calvin, who is smiling awkwardly at the man behind me.
“This is my roommate, Warren. Warren, this is Calvin.” Calvin steps around me, places Willow’s car seat down, and reaches to shake Warren’s hand. Warren does so reluctantly. “Nice to meet you, man.”
“Yeah, you too,” Warren responds, looking him up and down.
