Linc: Are you height shaming me Ms. Hart?
Sophie: How did you know my last name Mr. I’m Too Tall For My Own Good?
Linc: I asked Myra. I have a lot of other questions, I was hoping I could ask you directly. Maybe over coffee?
I froze.Is he asking me out? Why did I respond? What do I say now?Before I could fully spiral, heavy footsteps hit the hallway as Lou barreled toward my room. For such a small girl, she sure made a lot of noise. Bursting through the door, she jumped into bed, curling up next to me. Putting my phone away, I decided I could deal with Linc later.
This was my time with Lou. Whenever she woke up, she liked to cuddle in bed for a little while before getting ready for the day. I knew that soon, she would be too old for that and would want her space from me, so I soaked it in as much as I could. Pressing a kiss to her knotty hair, I shook my head. Lou slept like a windmill, rotating 360 degrees each night, and woke up with a bird’s nest at the back of her head.I should buy stock in detangler.
“How’d you sleep, Lulu?” I asked, looking down into her expressive face. Eloise’s features took after mine. We had the same thick hair, not quite blonde, but not quite brown either. Green eyes that matched. But her expressions were all Max. The way she scrunched her nose and furrowed her brow when she was thinking or angry reminded me so much of her father.
“Good. I wasn’t that tired, though. I could have stayed up for ice cream with Pops,” she told me, and I had to hold in a laugh.
“I’m sure you could have, but both Pops and I were too tired for ice cream. Next time, I’ll make sure we go early enough.” She wouldn’t forget my promise, so I knew I wasn’t going to hear the end of it until we indeed visited the ice cream parlor for dessert.
“Do you want oatmeal or eggs for breakfast?” I asked, switching the subject.
“Oatmeal. With cinnamon and brown sugar!” she yelled. Mygirl had my sweet tooth.
“Alright. Go get dressed, then bring your brush and spray down so I can take care of your hair,” I told her, and she rolled her eyes. She was a little teenager already.
“I can brush my hair, Mommy.”
“I know, but if you let me do it, I can braid it after. You can pick which type of braid,” I told her, and she hummed.
“Okay, deal.” She ran out of the room, any lethargy from before gone.
Once dressed and in the kitchen, I had breakfast ready for Lou, and was in the process of refilling my coffee cup. As she ate, I went about getting those knots out without tugging at her head, memories of my mother’s rough hands leaving phantom pains on my own scalp.
My mother wasn’t intentionally hurtful. There just wasn’t a lot of time for extra attention or frills. The animals had to be taken care of, so we got ready as fast as we could to get out and start working. Plus, I enjoyed those small moments with Lou.
Pigtail French braids, three backpack checks, and a last-minute sock change, and we were off for the day. The drive to school drop-off passed in a whirlwind of Lou’s excited chatter between singing along to K-Pop Demon Hunters. On repeat.
Around twenty minutes later, I pulled into the parking lot of Baptist Health Louisville. Grabbing my purse and phone, I hesitated. I’d never replied to Linc. I didn’t want to leave him hanging, but I genuinely wasn’t sure what to do.
My reaction to Linc was different, visceral. With Max, I’d had rose-colored glasses on. I felt like my head was in the clouds, starry-eyed. Not this all-consuming urge to drag him to the floor. Clouded by lust, my judgment felt impaired. Embarrassment washed through me at the lascivious turn my thoughts had taken. Putting my phone away, I told myself I would reply during my lunch break.
I entered the hospital and made my way to the lab, clocking in and collecting my assignments for the day. With my list of blood-draw orders in hand, I started my rounds. I pushed mycart through the maze of hallways, moving from room to room, meeting every kind of patient—screamers, fainters, the stoic, and the terrified alike. Over time, the pattern had become clear: needles were the great equalizer.
The day got away from me, and I never answered Linc’s text. Falling into bed, exhausted, I promised myself I would reply in the morning.
When I woke up, I was both excited and nervous to see a message.
Linc: Would you rather be able to teleport anywhere or be able to read minds?
The rest of the week went by in a similar fashion. Each morning, I found a similar text from Linc. He was determined to get to know me, and those ridiculous questions were more fun than I cared to admit. I barely knew the man, but I was reaching for my phone first thing when I awoke, anxiously checking to see if he had reached out.
It was a Friday, and the weekend couldn’t come soon enough. There was a local fair in town, and Lou was so excited. We went every year. She loved it. The rides, the games, and especially the junk food.
Naturally, time seemed to slow down for the day, and by the time my shift ended, I was exhausted. The hours had passed in a blur of patients, paperwork, and lab orders. Lunch was half a sandwich I shoveled into my mouth standing in the corner of the break room between patients.
My feet were sore, and I had a dull headache from all the paperwork I needed to finish before I left. All I wanted was a hot shower and to collapse into bed. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that easy. I had Lou to think about. We had a pretty strict nighttime routine that I could maybe shorten if I got takeout instead of trying to cook.
Leaving the building, I turned the corner to enter the parking lot and stopped short at the sight of Linc, looking sheepish as he hovered near the entrance.
“You’re…here?” It came out of my mouth as both a question and a statement. I was so tired that part of me thought I was hallucinating and had conjured him.
“Sorry. Are you meeting someone?” I winced.Why did I assume he is here for me?
