For the Love of Gina: The President's Girlfriend by Mallory Monroe Read Free Book Online Page A

to know if any of you think my
daughter has changed since her arrival at Hammersmith.”
    At
first, they all just stood there.  
    “Changed,
sir?” Cindy asked.
    “Yes.   Has she improved, in your estimation.   And I know you’re not doctors.   I don’t   mean that kind of technical improvement.   But all three of you are observant human beings.   I need your honest opinions.   And trust me,” Dutch added, “your jobs will
remain secure.   Won’t they, Dr. Forbes?”
    “Oh,
absolutely,” Forbes said honestly.   “There will be no retribution.   We
value opinions.   They know it.”
    “Good,”
Dutch said.   “So will each of you answer
my question?   Do you, Cindy, feel that my
daughter has changed for the better since she arrived at Hammersmith?”
    Cindy
hesitated, but then spoke the truth.   “No, sir,” she said.
    Dutch’s
heart sank.   “You don’t feel she’s
changed?”
    “She
act like she has.   When she’s around the
counselors and Dr. Forbes and them, she act like a little princess.   But she’s as mean and hateful as she was when
she first got here.   When nobody’s
around, she treats us worse than mangy dogs.”
    This
inwardly saddened Dutch, but he continued to listen.  
    Then
Richard, the only male of the three workers, spoke up too.   “I wouldn’t say she hasn’t changed at all,”
he said.   “I remember when she first got
here.   She’s not as crazy as she was when
she first got here, begging your pardon, sir.   But she sure is meaner.”
    “She’s
so mean,” Maggie chimed in, “that it makes you wonder where that’s coming
from.   There’s something got to be wrong
with her to be that mean and hateful.   And the way she smiles and act all innocent when the counselors come
around.”
    “Yeah,”
Richard agreed.   “It’s like she’s playing
a game.   And Maggie’s right.   To be that mean and hateful, there has to be
something wrong with her.   It has to be.”
    “So
you don’t think she’s ready to leave this place?”
    “I
wouldn’t trust her as far as I could throw her, sir,” Cindy said bluntly.   “There’s something bad inside of that
child.   I’m sorry, but it is.”
    After
the other two agreed with Cindy, Dutch let out an exhale.   Then he looked at them.   “Thank-you for your honesty,” he said.   “I really appreciate it.”
    “We
appreciate you, sir, and your presidency,” Cindy said.   “You did a lot of good for poor folks and
working folks like us.”
    “Thank-you,”
Dutch said.
    “And,
sir,” Richard chimed in, “please tell your wife we said hello.”
    Dutch
laughed, and so did the other staff.  
    “He’s
got a monster crush on the former First Lady, sir,” Cindy said.
    “You
have very good taste, young man,” Dutch said, and Richard smiled too.
    Forbes
warned them before they left.   “What you
discussed here, with the president, is completely confidential, and it will not
be discussed beyond these walls.   Understood?”
    They
all said that they did, and then they all were released to return to their
stations.
    Forbes
looked at Dutch.   “That doesn’t mean Dr.
Golan is incompetent.   Please understand
that.   The housekeepers probably see a
side of her that Dr. Golan never sees.”
    “That’s
the problem, isn’t it?” Dutch asked.
    Forbes
was puzzled.   “What do you mean, sir?”
    “The
side the housekeepers see, that side Dr. Golan doesn’t see, is really the only
side that matters.”
    Forbes
thought about it, and then nodded his head.   “You’re right, of course,” he said.   And they headed back upstairs, to the private waiting area.
    When
they walked back into the room, Jade and Sam both stood up, anxious to know
just what was going on.
    Jade
smiled, but her desperation was already showing.   “I can’t wait to get out of here, Daddy,” she
said.   “I can’t wait to get away for a
couple of days.”
    “I
think getting away from the hospital is a good