Page 61 of Too Hot to Sleep
She looked up to see that Toni had poked her head into the room. Georgia sighed and nodded. "What are you doing down here?"
"I had a break and I thought maybe you could use one, too."
"Could I ever." Georgia averted her gaze from her friend's quizzical look as they headed toward the break room.
"Well, I thought you'd be glad to know that I just told Dr. Baxter that my name isn't Terri."
She managed a smile. "Good for you. What did he say?"
Toni grinned. "He said the only way he could remember the name Toni was to think of Italian food—you know, like rigatoni. Oh, and would I like to have dinner with him?"
Despite her own recent romantic disasters, Georgia was happy for her friend. "I knew you'd get your man."
Toni's smile dimmed. "Okay, Georgia, 'fess up. What's wrong?"
Georgia glanced around, then said, "Ken stopped by."
"No kidding? What did he say?"
She grunted. "Same thing—that he was sorry."
"Maybe he is."
"Well, that's not good enough."
"Georgia, what do you want him to say?"
She frowned. "I don't know. All I know is I feel like a complete fool for having feelings for him." She fed coins into a soda machine. "He was probably laughing at me the entire time."
"I doubt that. I'm not taking up for the guy, but anyone can make a mistake."
"Toni, a mistake is adding two numbers wrong. The man has a fundamental character flaw—he doesn't care about other people." She blinked back a wall of sudden tears. "He certainly doesn't care about me."
Toni reached forward to squeeze her arm sympathetically.
A voice Georgia recognized as Dr. Story's came over the intercom. "Please stand by for an important message."
She winced. She'd forgotten to stop by for her personal copy of her official reprimand. What a fun errandthatwould be.
"Georgia, this is Ken."
She missed her mouth and spilled her soda down the front of her scrubs.
Toni stared at her wide-eyed. "He's on the intercom."
"I love you," he said, his voice strong and resonating. "I don't expect this to change your mind, I just wanted you to know."
Georgia dropped the can and allowed Toni to scramble for it while she processed Ken's revelation. She heard muted applause in the halls, and several people walked by the vending room, giving her the thumbs-up.
"What are you going to do?" Toni screeched, jumping up and down.
She shook her head. "He doesn't mean it."
"Are you crazy? The man told you he loved you over the intercom, for heaven's sake!"
"He's just trying to ease his conscience. Men like Ken Medlock will say anything when they're backed into a corner." She should know—she'd seen her father's sugary words and elaborate gifts melt her mother's resolve. Well, she'd rather be alone the rest of her life than give herself to a man on whom love would be wasted.
"You're simply going to ignore him?"
