Page 60 of Too Hot to Sleep
"Please."
She wet her lips, then inhaled and said, "Wendy, I'll be in exam room three."
Her voice was tight, and her body language closed as he followed her. Ken remembered the time he and Klone had entered an apartment building where an armed man had holed up after a bank robbery. What could it mean that he was more afraid now than he'd been then? And that the image of Georgia's tear-streaked face in the bus window had wounded him more than the lead he'd taken in the shoulder when they had rushed the criminal?
"Have a seat," she said, sweeping her arm toward a sterile chair. He recognized the room as the same one in which she'd bandaged Crash. Ken closed the door behind them, then lowered himself onto the small chair.
"Georgia—"
"Your arm, please," she said, holding out a blood pressure cuff.
He lifted his arm so she could fasten it tightly. She refused to look at him as she squeezed the plastic bulb that forced air into the cuff around his arm. When the pressure bordered on pain, she released the air, watching the gauge.
"It's still a little on the high side, but within normal range for a man of your size." She peeled off the device with a rip of Velcro.
"Okay, thanks." He stood slowly. "Georgia, I'm so sorry for what I did."
"So you said in your phone message."
"I wanted to tell you in person."
She nodded, then pressed her lips together. "Ken, this whole situation has thrown me for a bit of a loop. I'm still trying to sift through how I feel about it… and how I feel about you. I need to take a beat."
When he began to feel light-headed, he realized he'd been holding his breath. It was a fair response from his body considering the revelation that had arrested his brain:He loved her.
He'd never felt more helpless in all his life. He was the biggest fool in Birmingham, maybe in the entire southeastern United States. A woman like Georgia Adams came along once in a lifetime—maybe. How ironic that he'd spent most of his adult life trying to figure out how to stay out of a relationship, and just when he was thinking about the possibility of maybe sort of trying to picture himself with one woman, she'd slipped through his fingers.
No—he'd pushed her away with his games of deceit and manipulation.
"Thanks for not hating me," he murmured.
She closed her eyes briefly. "I don't like you right now, but I couldn't hate you, Ken."
It was something. While he had a thread of hope to hang onto, he turned and strode out of the room as fast as his long legs would take him. He had jammed his hat on his head and was nearly out the door when he heard a man calling, "Officer Medlock!"
He turned and conjured up a pleasant expression. The little man looked like a Poindexter, but he had an excellent reputation in the city. "Hello, Dr. Story. What can I do for you?"
The man gave him a flat smile. "I wanted to let you know that after our conversation Saturday morning, I decided to remove the reprimand from Nurse Adams's file."
"Thank you," he said, truly relieved at the one bit of good news.
"From your explanation, I realize she did her best to circumvent the situation."
But as usual, Ken thought, he'd pushed until he'd gotten his way, and in the process, had jeopardized the woman's job. What a selfish bastard he'd become. Never opening himself to other people, never considering how his actions might affect others, never putting his own emotions on the line.
"My wife runs the city blood bank," Dr. Story continued. "I heard about you rallying your fellow officers to build the reserves. We're indebted to you, Officer Medlock. If there's ever anything I can do for you, just ask."
Ken started to shake his head, then recalled his emotions after the church incident. He'd acknowledged that he could almost identify with the madman because if he were about to lose Georgia, he'd never wield a weapon buthe'd be mighty tempted to make a fool of himself somehow.
Georgia said she wanted an honest man. Well, he'd blown it up to this point, but he could at least be honest about how he felt about her, whether it changed her mind about him or not.
Turning a smile toward the good doctor, he said, "As a matter of fact, Doc, thereissomething you can do for me."
* * *
GEORGIA LEANEDon the exam table, trying to collect herself.
"Hey, are you okay?"
