Sticky Notes - A clean romance (Ethel King Series Book 1)

by Sherri Schoenborn Murray

  “It’s Professor Benton’s book.”

  “Dr. Zhivago?” He nodded.

  He’d obviously overheard.

  “You can tell a lot about a person’s brain when they’re on morphine.”

  “Do you mean their alter ego?”

  “No, their brain. You have an active brain, and you’re funny.”

  “I’m embarrassed by your first impression of me. I’m usually a very boring person.”

  “I doubt that very much.” He glanced at his watch.

  She felt healthy blood flow returning to her face. “How many more days do you think I’ll be here?”

  “When you can walk to the bathroom without passing out, you’ll be released.”

  She looked at her bandaged foot, suspended fourteen inches off the bed.

  “Is Professor Benton the Eliminator?” Dr. Ungerbach asked.

  Could all her ramblings hurt Quinn’s career? “He blind dates every Friday. That’s probably what I was referring to. Was he present?”

  “No, only Nurse Pat. You had just told me that you are a King and that I am a Vi-king.”

  What kind of impression of her did he have? “I, um . . . I’m so embarrassed. I almost need morphine to apologize.” She closed her eyes. Maybe she should never reopen them.

  “Your color is a definite improvement.” He chuckled.

  Ж

  When she awoke from her afternoon nap, Benton was asleep in her guest chair, her blue backpack near his feet. He’d driven to Potlatch and rescued her things. The sweet man.

  Nurse Pat carried in her dinner tray and rolled the side table in front of her.

  Katherine’s appetite had returned. She felt ready for something hearty, like Grandma’s meatloaf. She uncovered the soup bowl to see shimmering beef broth. Green Jell-O, a piece of dry wheat toast, and a cup of tea rounded out the meal. It was official: they were starving her.

  “It was a wine bottle.” Quinn yawned and rolled a kink out of his neck. “A cheap Gallo wine. I even found the label.”

  “Who went with you, Grandma?”

  He nodded. “I used her kitchen tongs to retrieve the glass. She drove home your grandfather’s truck.”

  “Thank you.” Katherine picked up the toast.

  “Promise me you’ll never do that again.”

  She paused from chewing to look at him. He appeared so serious that she nodded.

  “Good.”

  That was easy.

  “From now on, you’ll always wear an old pair of tennis shoes when you swim in non-chlorinated water.”

  She nodded.

  “You’ll always swim with a buddy.”

  His stern voice inspired warm color to rise in her cheeks.

  “And . . .”

  It was evident he was running out of promises.

  “You’ll . . .”

  The spoonful of Jell-O wiggled all the way to her mouth.

  “Never wear a swimsuit to the emergency room again. That’s why the young Hungarian-barbarian is interested in you.”

  Had she been in her swimsuit on a stretcher? What an embarrassing possibility. Had Benton seen her in her bathing suit? Had Miss Princeton? Had he run into Miss Kitty in the hallway?

  “You know firsthand that he’s also interested in me for my alter ego.”

  “You should already have been sent home. He’s making a special exception for you. Evans said if it was anyone else . . .” Benton’s chest inflated.

  “Anyone else . . . what?”

  “They would have only spent one night.”

  “Dr. Ungerbach said when I can crutch to the bathroom without passing out, I’ll be released.”

  “Usually, Katherine, patients are wheeled out when they’re passing out.” Bunching his mouth, he looked like a jealous orangutan. Did he care for her? He’d driven to Potlatch and retrieved her books. He was here visiting her. Had he come to his senses?

  “After my morphine-induced alter ego performance, I believe he’s also interested in my mind.”

  Eyes large and dull, he’d obviously lost his sense of humor.

  “I’m sorry I called you Zhivago. I thought it once the first day of class. It’s something about your eyes, and poof, seven months later, I see you when I’m on morphine, and well you do have marvelous eyes.”

  Quinn cleared his throat and looked up at her IV drip bag. “I think Ungerbach’s putting something in your meds to get his kicks.” He sighed and patted the arms of his chair. “Would you prefer that I call you on the phone and read to you, or that I sit in this chair and read to you?”

  “Tonight?” She glanced at the book. Was he actually going to spend time with her here in a public place?

  “Yes. What’s my curfew?”

  “Ten.”

  “Then I’ll be here at nine.”

  How romantically confusing.

  Standing up, he patted the metal railing on the side of her bed. She waited for him to squeeze her hand, or brush her hair away from her face, or kiss her forehead, but he was hesitant about all three. She wouldn’t worry too much about it—they had a date tonight.

  She woke several hours later to Dr. Ungerbach standing on the left side of her bed. “Katherine, you have company, and I wanted to tell you that I’m off duty now and heading home for the evening.”

  “Oh, thank you. Good night.” She stretched and realized that Quinn was seated in her guest chair. She smiled softly and turned her head his direction. For their date, she hadn’t even brushed her hair. As he stared back, harp and string music begin to play. Though faint, the melody hadn’t left her heart.

  “I heard that you have a date this Friday with Kitty, one of our nurses,” Dr. Ungerbach said.

  “Yes, we have a mutual friend—Professor Linton.”

  “Visiting hours end at ten.” Doctor Ungerbach squeezed her hand.

  “Thank you, Doctor.”

  After his squeaky tennis shoes were no longer audible, Quinn cleared his throat. “Boy, he tried to put me in my place.”

  “You are dating Miss Princeton, and he’s concerned about his patient’s rest.”

  “Every time I’ve been here, he squeezes your hand.” His chest puffed out as he watched the doorway.

  Was Quinn jealous? He almost acted like it.

  “Did you bring the book?” she asked.

  “No, Ethel brought your copy by the other day. I have it right here.” He patted the book on the side table.

  Which book was it? Two different titles came to mind.

  “I believe you stopped reading on chapter three. They’re very long chapters, by the way.” He flipped through the pages, clearing his throat. “Leaving the unsuspecting Heyward . . . Hmmm . . . Who’s Heyward?” He scanned the page and glanced over at her. “Nothing’s ringing a bell.”

  Katherine suppressed a giggle.

  He flipped back to the cover. “Hmm . . . American Scripture.” And, then he carefully slid the jacket off. His dark brows gathered. “What is this, Katherine?”

  Under the starched sheet and single blanket, she curled the toes of her left foot. “Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper.”

  “Yes, but why is it—” He shook his head.

  “I switched covers a while ago when you were being an ogre about me reading your beloved book.”

  “Oh, I see.” He nodded. “When you were reading The Last of the Mohicans, you were really reading American Scripture?”

  She nodded.

  “Why?”

  She pulled the covers up a little higher. “You’d intrigued me, and I didn’t want you to know.”

  “Why?” His dark brows gathered.

  “Because you were being such a bully and I was busy. And I didn’t want you to know I was enamored with your—”

  “Enamored?”

  She’d known he’d be this way. She glanced at the clock above the sink area. He could very easily argue with her for the next forty-five minutes.

  “I’m sidelined, a casualty; you can’t arg
ue with me now. I’ve been taken out of the game for rest and rehabilitation.”

  “You’re talking nonsense.”

  She stared up at him. Did the Lord know she’d needed a break from his heart-wrenching search for love?

  “What’s happening with the doctor and you? Something’s going on.” Thankfully, he kept his voice low.

  She leaned her head slightly forward and wrapped her hair into a high bun before resting back into the pillow. “As soon as I’m discharged, we’re driving to Fresno to meet his parents. He said that he knew the minute he set eyes on my ankle that I am the woman of his dreams.”

  “Is that the truth or a lie?” Quinn tucked the book under his arm and paused near the foot of her bed.

  How could he possibly believe her?

  Finding the correct button, she turned off the lights.

  Quinn sighed deeply and finally retreated. He was dating a nurse this weekend. Why should he be so troubled by a doctor showing her attention? Maybe it had been her tone.

  Learn from this: Never agree to a date with the professor you’re in love with in your hospital room and, pretend to be interested in your doctor. Once you’re alone in the dark, it doesn’t sit well. She sniffed.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  In the dark, the phone rang beside Katherine’s bed. It would take her longer to find the button for the light than it would to find the annoying phone.

  After the third ring, she cradled the receiver to her ear. “Hello.”

  “Hello, Katherine, it’s Quinn.”

  She nestled back into the pillow. “Hello, Benton.” He’d probably just gotten off the phone with Nurse Princeton and Miss Palouse, and he was bored.

  “I behaved like an ogre. Katherine, I’m sorry.”

  Like a jealous ogre. He’d purposefully left out that word. She waited for him to expound upon his apology, but he remained silent on the other end of the line.

  “I’m sorry I teased you. We’re not meeting his parents, and I fibbed about Fresno.”

  “Apology accepted. While I have you on the phone, I’d like to share with you an idea I’ve been mulling over.”

  “Okay.” She stared deep into the darkness and didn’t let her imagination do the moon boogie.

  “I want . . . I want you to stop thinking about Hungerbottom and get back to who you’ve been thinking about for the entire semester.”

  She relaxed deeper into her pillow. It was so like Benton to be so utterly unromantic. “Well, Mr. I Want…” She paused to yawn and while she was at it, it felt so good to close her eyes.

  “Are you still there, Katherine?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is he there now?” Quinn whispered.

  “No.” The dummy.

  “Good. I do not want you accepting any dates with him.”

  “Dr. Ungerbach has not asked me out. He just has an extremely kind bedside manner.”

  “I’ll make you a deal.” He inhaled. “I’ll stop blind dating. No Miss Palouse. No Miss Princeton. No Miss Wazzu.”

  “You’re out of order, Benton, which clearly reveals that you need to meet Miss Palouse.” Katherine wrapped the phone cord around her left elbow. “Miss Princeton chronologically should come first. And besides, I want you to meet Miss Palouse. I always have. I don’t want you to question her on account of me.”

  “Do you have questions about Ungerbach?”

  Hmm . . . She took her time. “He’s attentive, but he hasn’t asked me out. I try not to let my mind wander to all the what-ifs.”

  “I’ll stop blind dating.” In the dark, he sounded weak, like one more straw might break him.

  “Benton, I want you to meet Miss Palouse.”

  “Why?”

  “If we ever did become a couple, I wouldn’t want you to have questions about a woman that you spoke with for months on the phone, but never met, who lives only fifteen miles away.”

  “Katherine.”

  “And besides, you’re only a week away from meeting her.”

  “Eight days. A lot can happen in eight days.”

  His sweet tone made her feel like Nurse Pat was sitting on her ribcage. She tipped her head back and inhaled deeply. After all these months of talking about Miss Palouse, he couldn’t change his mind now.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  “Dr. Ungerbach wants you to walk today, Katherine,” Nurse June said as she parted the curtains. A healthy amount of sunlight streamed into the room.

  Katherine looked at her elevated foot and her IV bag.

  “I need to put more clothes on before I walk down the hall.”

  “Of course.” June lowered the suspension apparatus supporting Katherine’s injury and carefully moved her foot from the sling. With June’s help, Katherine edged both legs over the side of the bed. She already felt sweaty.

  “First time’s always the hardest,” June whispered.

  Two blonde nurses arrived; one was younger and one middle-aged.

  “I’m Lisa,” the middle-aged nurse said. “We’ll be your crutches today. Dr. Ungerbach said to take you on a little cruise around the room. You’re to hold your injured foot behind you. June, you’re in charge of steering the meds.”

  The nurses sat one on each side of her on the bed, and Katherine lifted her arms over their shoulders.

  “Tell us when you’re ready,” the younger nurse said.

  “We’re your crutches, but you still have to do the work,” Lisa said.

  “Okay, on the count of two,” Katherine said. “One . . . two.” The pain in her foot went up to a seven as the women lugged her about the room.

  They made it halfway to the door; for some reason it was wide open, and so was the back of her gown! “Who’s going to shut the door, so no one sees me when we turn around?”

  “Fiddlesticks!” Nurse Lisa said. “We’re going to have to walk to the door.”

  They made it all the way to the door before Katherine passed out.

  She became cognizant a few minutes later. Her arms were still around both nurses’ shoulders, but they were now seated on the side of her bed, her foot beneath her.

  “What happened?” she whispered.

  “We walked too far,” Nurse Lisa said. “Feeling better?”

  “Maybe.” Katherine laughed lightly and looked to her left. The young nurse’s blue eyes appeared familiar. Katherine’s gaze dropped to the white plastic name tag on her poodle-print smock. It read Kitty.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  “Lord, You let me live.” A tear slid down Katherine’s cheek. “I don’t think it was only so I could make a complete fool out of myself—be totally humbled—and flunk all my classes. I know You have a plan for my life and that I need to trust in Your perfect and sovereign plan for me.

  “In the meantime, can You please help me to stop making a fool out of myself?” She sniffed and sank down on the bed and pulled the sheet over her head. After a couple of minutes of feeling sorry for herself, someone gently gave the sheet a tug, and she found herself staring into Professor Evans’s kind green eyes. He was in his teacher attire—nice pleated slacks and a short-sleeved button-up light gray shirt.

  “It’s not a good sign.” He glanced toward the hallway. “The sheet over your head. Worried me at first, and then I heard you crying.”

  She sat up and tucked the sheets beneath her armpits. “I wasn’t crying. I was just sniffling.”

  He held up a small Ziploc bag. “I brought madeleines. Push your little buzzer and ask them for two cups of tea.”

  Tea and chocolate madeleines were the perfect pick-me-ups. Sugar was exactly what she needed.

  “How’s Cindy?”

  “Buried in lesson planning. She sends her love.”

  “I met Miss Princeton today.”

  Evans’s eyes had brightened above his melamine mug of tea before he lowered it to his knee. “Is that why you were crying?”

  “No. I keep hearing things I said when I was on morphine.”

  Evans smiled. “Go on.�
��

  “And Kitty is pleasant and pretty. There’s potential.”

  “Sounds like several of the others. How’s the young Hungarian?”

  She held her mug steady. Was Evans here on a mission? “He’s German and very attentive.” She emphasized the very part for Benton’s sake.

  “Hmmm . . . what do you think?”

  Most likely Evans was on a mission.

  “I’m afraid that Dr. Ungerbach’s first and favorite impression of me is when I was on morphine.”

  “You were exceptionally funny that night.” He patted the bar that ran along the side of her bed. “I’m here to clear the air regarding something I’ve said.”

  “Yes.” Katherine was glad that it wasn’t something she’d said.

  “You’ve heard me mention the Wazzu grad student a time or two. The one I’ve been trying to line Benton up with for a blind date.”

  “Yes.” She managed a brave smile.

  “Just between you and me . . . I lied. Mashburn never told me about her. I’m the one trying to get you and Benton to meet as a blind date. The Wazzu history grad student who’s never been married is you. I thought it would be amusing for you two to meet for a not-so-blind date.”

  “Amusing?” She glanced at her IV drip as Evans’s words calmed her spirit.

  “What do you think, Katherine?”

  She shrugged. “Maybe in a couple of weeks, we’ll see how things go.”

  “It’s all about strategy.” His brows gathered. “Tomorrow night is Miss Princeton. Next Friday is Miss Palouse. How about the following Friday? That’ll give you a little bit of time with the doctor, and get you closer to the end of the semester as well.”

  “What do you mean by the latter?”

  “If it’s possible for you two to wait until the end of the semester, if would be best for Benton’s career.”

  “Oh.” She nodded. “I still don’t understand why you encouraged the kiss in the first place.”

  “The heart hears what it wants to, Miss King.” He smiled.”

  Maybe it was the meds, but tears filled her eyes. She swallowed a large lump in her throat. “Kleenex, Evans. I’m going to need the box.” She took the flat colorless box from his outstretched hand.