Love By The Book by Dara England Read Free Book Online Page A

but I refused to back down. “I’m going to check with a nurse first,” I said firmly.
    And that was how a few minutes later I found myself eating breakfast under the warm sunshine in the hospital courtyard with my nameless stranger.

Chapter 8

    A soft breeze made up for the humidity in the air and kept the beating sun from making me too warm, as I sat on a metal bench. My companion didn’t have to worry about any such problem. The hospital staff had found him some slippers and a pair of pants that looked like old scrubs, but he was still ridiculously underdressed for an outdoor picnic.
    We were the courtyard’s only inhabitants and as such had parked ourselves in the choicest spot directly beneath a pair of skinny trees backed by a circle of low shrubbery. I had felt a little weird pushing Mystery Man’s wheelchair down the pebbled path and situating him beneath the shade of the trees—evidently it was some sort of hospital policy that even healthy patients weren’t allowed to use their legs.
    This was the first time I’d been on what felt strangely like a date with a man who looked unsettlingly like a decrepit grandfather, sitting in a wheelchair with a blanket spread over his knees.
    But he seemed oblivious to my discomfort, clearly just enjoying this simple opportunity to be outdoors. Evidently the fine weather put him in a generous mood because his manner lightened considerably. Some of the formality between us fell away and by the time the doughnuts had been finished to the last crumb, he had me laughing with his ironic impersonations of a crotchety invalid.
    Over the coffee, however, conversation grew more serious. “I’m told I may be released tomorrow,” he said.
    “So soon?” I frowned. “I mean, I know you’re already up and around and all, but you’ve still been through a major accident. Isn’t that pretty serious?”
    He shrugged. “Maybe. But I feel fit enough now to outrun a steam engine.”
    I scalded my tongue on my coffee. “A what?”
    “A steam engine. You know, one of those new locomotives. Have you seen the things? Beautiful, aren’t they? A marvel of modern engineering.”
    I coughed. “Uh, I guess maybe they were a hundred years ago. Today we just take the subway. You know,” I joked, “those little trains that run underground?”
    “Underground? Really? How I would love to see such a thing.” For the first time since I had met him his eyes blazed with enthusiasm.
    That settles it. He’s not from Baltimore .
    Still, it was nice to see he was capable of putting his stiff manners aside once in a while. “You can catch a ride on the Baltimore Metro any time you want,” I said. “Just take a cab to the nearest station.”
    He said excitedly, “Why, that’s exactly what I’ll do as soon as I escape this place! And the moment I get my clothes back.”
    I laughed. “That would probably be best, yes. They’ve seen everything on the subway, but I don’t think a cab driver would let you into his car in that getup.”
    “Car?” he repeated.
    I snorted. “You’re not going to say you’ve never seen one of those? You were nearly pancaked by one two days ago.”
    For a split second he looked lost, and I wondered uneasily if he was going to claim some weird memory thing again. It was a relief when understanding dawned in his eyes. “Ah, of course. I’ll never forget that, will I?”
    I sobered. “Not while you’ve got that knot on your head anyway.” I indicated the small bandage on his forehead. “How’s it coming along?”
    “Well enough. I hardly feel it anymore.”
    I decided to test the waters. “And your memory? Are the holes filling in there too?”
    He didn’t appear uncomfortable discussing it. “Afraid not. I’m as adrift as a rowboat on the Serpentine. But it’s oddly refreshing, this sense of freedom. I have a vague impression of always being weighted down before, as if there were duties and obligations pressing in on me. Now,” he waved a hand,