The Nurse's Bodyguard

by Melanie Mitchell

  Luke saw Claire enter and acknowledged her with a quick wave and a broad wink before returning his attention to the screen. “One more...one more...one more... Oh man...”

  He sighed and threw up his hands in defeat. “You got me again.” His tone was comically downcast. “Thanks, partner. Kamsahamnida,” he said with a smile. The beaming boy was being congratulated by his fellow patients, as well. Luke patted his shoulder and then gave the child a slight bow.

  He nodded a farewell to the small crowd of parents, hospital personnel and kids as he rose to join Claire. His gaze swept over her, missing nothing, then returned to meet her eyes.

  “You’ve been sandbagging,” he mumbled.

  Claire was gratified by his stunned look but a little confused by the comment. “I’m sorry?”

  He continued to stare. Pointing to her hair, he said, “You’ve been hiding behind long skirts, glasses and pulling your hair up. You look amazing.”

  “Thank you.” Claire blushed. Pleased, but self-conscious from his compliments, she glanced at her watch, trying to change the subject. “I’m sorry, I thought you said six o’clock. Have you been here long?”

  “I got here a little before five. Let’s just say I was anxious. Besides, I wanted a rematch. I had this idea that I would vindicate myself from the shellacking I took yesterday.” He sighed dramatically. “That didn’t happen. I got soundly trounced—again.”

  She laughed appreciatively. “Thanks for playing with the kids. They loved it. And anything we can do to help them mentally and emotionally promotes their recovery.”

  Luke frowned a little and his voice quieted. “Um, that boy I was playing with—I think he said his name was Min-soo. Is he going to be all right?”

  Claire gave him a quick nod. “Yes. The oncologist thinks he’s in remission now. He’ll probably go home in a week or so if his blood counts continue to improve. And thanks again for your attention. It seems like a little thing, but it was big to him.”

  Luke looked relived and then took her hand as they headed to the parking lot.

  As they had the previous evening, Claire and Luke made their way down busy Itaewon Street and into the Italian restaurant. A different waiter seated them and took their drink orders.

  “Are you going to get another mysterious call in the next thirty minutes?” she teased.

  “Gosh, I hope not.” He gave her a wry look. “I’m still more or less on call, but I’ve threatened the duty NCO with dire ramifications if we’re bothered.” She grinned at his vehemence.

  The NCO complied and they talked—interruption free—almost non-stop as they dined on pizza and soft drinks, followed by a shared slice of cheesecake.

  “I found some videos of you skating online,” Luke said between bites. “You were great.”

  Claire shrugged. “Thanks. I was all right, but I couldn’t quite break into the top ten in the national standings.”

  “I saw footage from a competition in San Francisco about ten years ago—you were what, about fifteen? You were terrific.”

  “That was a pretty good meet. I finished seventh—one of my best. It would have been better if I’d landed my triple.” She gave him a self-deprecating smile.

  “So, why did you quit?”

  “Several reasons, actually. Into the next year—when I was sixteen—I injured my left knee. Not a full ACL tear, but I had to have arthroscopic surgery and was out most of the season. About the same time, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Skating is very expensive. World-class skaters can get sponsors, but for me, it was all on my parents. When Mom got sick, I didn’t want to be a burden financially. So, I quit to help take care of her.

  “How’s she doing now?”

  “Oh, fine!” Claire beamed. “She had surgery and radiation and thankfully, there’s been no recurrence for more than eight years.”

  “But you never went back to skating?”

  “No, but that was okay. I had probably peaked, anyway. I was a really good spinner, but only average at jumping.” Luke looked as if he wanted debate the point, but Claire continued. “That’s when I got interested in nursing—specifically oncology nursing. Helping take care of Mom gave me a feeling that I can’t really explain—it was kind of like a ‘calling.’ I believe—no, I know—that it’s important.” She blushed a little, surprised by her own passion.

  “Anyway, because of the skating, I had been home-schooled in my later years and was pretty much done with high school, so I decided to start college. I graduated when I was twenty and started grad school.”

  Luke already knew much of what Claire told him. He’d actually spent hours on the internet searching for every scrap of information he could find. Luke had told himself he wanted to figure out why someone would want to harm her. But the truth was, he was infatuated.

  With his abilities and resources, he’d been able to learn where she grew up and that she was an only child. He knew that her father was a pastor of a large Lutheran Church and her mother had been a teacher before retiring to support her daughter’s skating.

  Claire had stopped skating and started college at sixteen and gone on to earn her bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota. He knew that she’d worked in the pediatric oncology unit of the Mayo Hospital before going to graduate school, where she’d finished her master’s degree and was about midway through her PhD. He’d actually viewed her college transcripts, as well as her Minnesota driver’s license, and the apartment lease from when she moved to Rochester.

  Then, with considerable apprehension, he’d searched the social media sites. As it turned out, her profiles and entries were relatively sparse and almost ridiculously G-rated. Rather than questionable proclivities or embarrassing photos, the sites revealed a sweet, wholesome young woman with an interest in science classes, Christian music, ice skating and children with cancer.

  His relief was enormous.

  “Okay, enough about me.” She took a sip of her Coke. “Your turn. Your experiences have got to be much more exciting than mine. Growing up in Minnesota and working in hospitals are not the height of adventure.”

  Luke shrugged. “No, not really. I’m just an ordinary guy from a big family in west Texas who wanted to land fighter jets on aircraft carriers. I got halfway there, but then fate—or rather genes—took over and that dream was quashed, leaving me to wander the world at the whim of the U.S. Navy.”

  She leaned forward, watching his expression as he talked. “I’m sorry. What happened?”

  He grinned and rubbed his thumb in the crease between her eyes as if to erase her frown. “Honey, it was probably for the best. What happened is that I was not quite eighteen when I graduated from high school. At that point I was kind of—um—husky, but not all that tall. During my freshman year at the Naval Academy, I grew more than three inches and put on about forty pounds; the next year I grew almost as much. It’s rare to see a fighter pilot over six feet tall. Any more than that, and they’re at risk of breaking both femurs if they have to eject. I’m fond of my femurs, so, long story short, the Navy found other uses for me.”

  “What kind of uses?”

  “Football for starters. I played for four years while I was in school.”

  She nodded. “I have no trouble visualizing you playing football. What position?”

  “About the least glamorous on the field—offensive line.”

  “I bet you were good.”

  “I was okay,” he replied.

  “I don’t believe you. I bet you were amazing!” She chuckled. “You sure look the part.” Claire took a sip of her soft drink. “So, besides football, what other uses did the Navy find for you?”

  “Computers.” He said the word, then finished off his pizza.

  “Computers?” She looked doubtful. “You mean the Navy has you working on computers?”

&
nbsp; “Well, yeah. You seem surprised.” Shaking his head and looking downcast, he groaned, “Once again, I’m perceived as a lummox... Just brawn; no brains.”

  She giggled. “I didn’t mean that. I know you’re involved with surveillance and I can certainly see you flying planes and piloting ships or doing military police type stuff. But...computers?” She shook her head. “Not so obvious.”

  He responded with a wry, almost apologetic look. “I have degrees in computer science and computer engineering—both hardware and software. Believe it or not, I’m a bona fide computer geek.”

  His nonchalance was charming. “Well, I’m very impressed. That’s not easy. I’ll have to remember that when I’m having problems with my internet connections.” She folded her napkin and moved to a different topic. “You said you came from a ‘big family.’ Were you talking numbers or...em...stature?”

  “Both, I suppose. I have three brothers and a sister, so there are five of us altogether.” He chuckled. “I’m the tallest, but my brother Mark is at least six-five, then my oldest brother, Matt, is probably heavier than I am. My youngest brother, John, and sister, Ruthie, are more normal—they take after Mom’s side of the family.”

  “So, you’re in the middle then?”

  “Yep. We’re all about two years apart. Johnny, the baby, just turned twenty-four. He and I are the only ones not married. Everyone else is contributing to the population explosion, making Mom really happy.” He pulled out his cell phone and punched a couple of apps. He leaned toward Claire and showed her a family picture. “This was taken when I was home last Christmas. That’s Mom and Dad.” He indicated the tall, lanky man with gray hair standing by a relatively petite blonde woman. “That’s Matt and his wife, Heather, and their three kids. This is Mark and his wife, Kim, and their two little girls, and that is Ruthie and her husband, Ike. Ruthie was pregnant in the picture; she had a little boy about two months ago... That’s me of course, and next to me is Johnny.”

  “Oh my gosh!” Claire exclaimed as she studied the photo. He hadn’t been exaggerating. The smallest of the Llewellyn men was the youngest son and he was probably at least six-two. “Your poor mother! She looks tiny surrounded by all of you. How in the world did she give birth to four men as big as you?”

  He grinned. “Well, we were smaller then.”

  “Okay, you got me there.” She laughed. “I bet your grocery bills were outrageous!”

  “Yeah, but according to both Mom and Dad, the worst part was keeping us all in jeans and athletic shoes. Then there was paying for the car insurance when we started driving... That was brutal.” His smile was disarming.

  Claire shook her head. “I can only imagine.” She was charmed by his affection and pride for his family. “That sounds like so much fun. I always envied people from big families...” Her voice was wistful.

  Luke was staring again, but he seemed to have stopped caring.

  “So what part of Texas is home?”

  “Midland. It’s a big town several hundred miles west of Dallas.”

  “Will you go back there when you leave the Navy?”

  He glanced away, suddenly seeming a bit nervous, before his eyes returned to meet hers. “Ahem... Funny you should mention that.” His mouth tightened. “The answer is ‘yes,’ I’m planning on going home to Midland.”

  “Is something wrong?” Claire asked.

  He paused a breath before answering, “The timing stinks.”

  Claire’s brow creased. “Timing?”

  “It’s only about two weeks.”

  “What’s two weeks?”

  “I’m being discharged. I’m heading home in a couple of weeks.” He didn’t look particularly happy about the prospect.

  Claire’s disappointment was acute. She folded and refolded her napkin as she struggled to come up with a response. “Oh, I see,” she said. “That’s great. I’m very happy for you... I know that what you do—well, what you’ve been doing for years—must be very difficult—being so far from home and all...” She felt like crying.

  Luke seemed oddly heartened by her response and managed a grin. “Hey, don’t look like that, Mary Claire.” He placed one large hand behind her head and rubbed her cheek with his thumb. Holding her eyes with his, he said quietly, “I know we’ve only known each other for a few days, but there’s no way I’m going to let a little thing like you being in Seoul and me being in Texas stop what I think—what I hope—is happening.” Very gently, he leaned forward and kissed her temple.

  She stared into his hazel eyes, searching for evidence that he felt something akin to the warmth growing in her. Blinking rapidly to fend off threatening tears, Claire spoke softly. Her words were hopeful and tentative. “Yes. All right.” She stumbled verbally before recovering. “Well, yes... Please, let’s not let a little thing like three thousand miles get in the way.” Then she smiled and leaned forward. Almost copying his earlier action, she tentatively kissed his cheek.

  The pizza and cheesecake were gone and the waiter approached them with a check. Claire glanced around and noticed that the crowd had dwindled considerably. She looked at her watch and realized they’d been talking for more than two hours.

  “Do you need to get home?” Luke asked.

  “No, not at all.”

  “I could stand to work off some of the pizza. Let’s go walk down Itaewon and find a coffee shop.”

  The night air was cool and dry, and even though it was a weekday, the street was very busy. Luke caught Claire’s hand to pull her aside, away from a pedestrian who was paying more attention to a heated discussion than his surroundings. The man would have bumped into her, otherwise. When the small threat was over, however, Luke didn’t release her, and Claire happily clasped his warm hand. Leisurely they strolled a few blocks down the street and found a Starbucks. Reluctantly, Luke dropped Claire’s hand to open the door and ushered her inside.

  They collected cups of steaming coffee and found an empty table in a corner. Between sips Luke casually asked, “Have you been paying attention to your surroundings like you promised?”

  “Yes, sir. I have, sir.” Claire’s tone was a bit mocking, but she shifted a little and looked pensive. “Actually, I meant to mention earlier...em...I saw a man this morning. He was outside of our apartment building.”

  Luke straightened a bit and suddenly looked serious. “What did he look like?”

  “He was just a guy slouching against a window across the street from our building. It’s odd that I even spotted him because at any given time there must be dozens of men milling around the apartment. It’s a very busy area.”

  “What was it about that guy that made you notice him?”

  “I’m not sure.” She frowned slightly. “I imagine it’s just me being super paranoid since the attack. He didn’t do or say anything; he was probably just waiting for someone...”

  “Claire, what made you notice him?” Luke repeated.

  She stirred her coffee and continued to fiddle with her spoon. “He seemed to be watching me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know... I’m sure it’s nothing. I probably shouldn’t have mentioned it.” She knew she sounded a bit exasperated and cupped her hands around her coffee mug.

  But Luke was relentless. He reached across the table to hold her hands. “What do you mean that he seemed to be watching you?”

  “I felt that his eyes were following me. It was just an odd feeling; I guess maybe like a kind of intuition.”

  Claire bit her lip, remembering when similar bouts of intuition had proven to be accurate.

  “What did he look like?”

  “He was Korean,” Claire said. “Medium height, about one sixty, with black hair and brown eyes... Probably in his thirties... And I’ve just described about two million men in Seoul.”

 
Luke rubbed his eyes and sighed. “Did he follow you or anything?”

  “No. I took the subway this morning. I noticed him because he seemed to be watching me as I walked to the subway stop. I just— He made me nervous. I crossed the street and glanced back and he was still staring at me and kind of scowling, but he hadn’t moved. I just kept going and got on the subway. I didn’t see him again and honestly, I forgot about him until you asked.” She shook her head and gave a dismissive wave. “I’m sure it was nothing but my active imagination fueled by your suspicions.”

  Frowning, Luke rubbed her fingers with his thumb. “Honey, please do me a favor. Pay attention to your intuition and my suspicions.” His hand squeezed hers and he shook his head. “I just wish I had a clue why someone might be stalking you...” He thought a moment then inquired, “At work—you’re not involved in any drug trials, are you?”

  “Luke, no! And you’ve seen for yourself, the playroom is completely benign—well except for some video games rated PG-13. There’s nothing anyone could be angry about. There are no copyrights or products or ideas that have been stolen...”

  “Could it be related to Jessica and whatever it is she does at the university?”

  “No, that really is far-fetched. Jessica studies Korean culture—specifically the evolution of relationships between men and women. She focuses on courtship and gender roles—that sort of thing. She dates several different guys, none too seriously that I’m aware of. And she’s been here for several years. Besides, that has nothing to do with me.”

  He drummed his fingers on the table and tried another approach. “How about your ice skating? Did you trounce some poor Korean girl in a competition one time, and her father still carries a grudge?”

  Claire couldn’t hold back a snicker. “Luke, that’s ridiculous. I only competed internationally once. That was in Europe and I came in something like fifteenth. Plus, I haven’t skated in almost ten years!”

  He sighed audibly. “Okay, I give up for now. But please keep on the alert, and if you happen to see that guy again, try to get a picture.”