Mr. Barnet snorted so hard his teeth fell out. “You’re going to kill me, son. I’m too old to be laughing so hard.”
Mitch had been complaining to Mr. B. about Harold,hoping for some sympathy, but getting none.
“That’s what you get for laughing at a man’s serious problems,” Mitch said. He’d been to the hospital a couple of times since his first visit. After his volunteer time, he’d sit around and shoot the shit with Mr. B. They mostly just gave each other a hard time and watched TV, but he seemed to enjoy the company.
“So, what about this Maggie lady? You mention her a lot.” Mr. B. had reinserted his teeth and finally composed himself.
“Huh? No, I don’t. There’s nothing going on with us,” he said defensively.
“You should woo her,” Mr. B. stated with authority.
“Woo her?”
“Yes, nobody woos anyone anymore. It’s a damn shame.”
“Sure we do. We just don’t call it wooing.” Mitch rolled his eyes.
They were interrupted by a nurse who came in to check Mr. B.’s vitals. When she finished, she asked him if he’d like a snack.
“Watch this,” Mr. B. stage whispered to him. “May I get a Whopper with cheese and a side of fries, please?” he asked politely.
The nurse, Lisa, looked at him as if he’d lost his damn mind.
“Fine, how about a Whopper Junior with cheese, no fries?” he tried.
She stood firm, hands on her hips.
“Regular hamburger, no mayo?” Mr. B. gave his best smile.
“In your dreams.” She laughed. “Jello or pudding?”
“Oh, well, I guess I’ll go with jello then, Lisa. Thank you.”
Lisa’s eyebrows shot up, and a suspicious look came over her face as she headed out the door. He never called the nurses by their actual names. Or said thank you.
“That’show you woo a woman.” Mr. B. sat back confidently.
“I hate to break this to you, but I think you’ve lost your touch, old man.”
Ten minutes later, Lisa returned and set a plain hamburger, a cup of jello, and a glass of milk on Mr. B.’s tray. “Don’t tell a soul I gave you this burger, you hear me?” She feigned sternness.
Mr. B. glanced over with a smug I told you so expression on his face.
“You’re a doll, Lisa. Don’t think I’ll forget about this,” he said as he greedily picked up the burger. She waved on the way out. Mr. B. looked over at Mitch and winked.
“What the…? How’d you do that?” Mitch stared in disbelief.
“It’s the wooing. The world needs more wooing,” he proclaimed, before digging into his burger.
“The wooing,” Mitch grumbled as he pulled his vibrating cell phone from his pocket. It was Adam.
In an attempt to be friendly at work that morning, Mitch had learned some very interesting things about Adam. Officer Thomas had a brother that worked for Boston PD. The brother didn’t know Adam personally, but apparently his reputation as a man-whore was well known throughout the department. The rumor was that he’d left Boston because he’d already slept with everyone possible there and needed a new hunting ground.
Mitch doubted it was that extreme. Adam didn’t strike him as a one-night-stand sort of guy, and he was usually a pretty good judge of character. Although, Adamhadgone from giving a play-by-play of his every move to being borderline secretive about what he did at night and on the weekends. Maybe hewasout chasing skirts every night. Whatever. What he did on his own time was his business. As long as he stayed away from Jenny, Mitch couldn’t care less what he did.
“Hey, man, what’s up?”
He listened intently as Adam filled him in on the bank robbery. Maggie had given her statement to the police and then called him to ask if he’d go with her to the police station. They wanted her to sit immediately with a sketch artist to capture everything while it was still fresh in her mind. He’d agreed and was calling to see if Mitch wanted to be there.
