CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Seven hours later, after they ran every test known to man on her, at least that was how Maude felt about it, she settled into a huge, comfortable real bed in what looked like a five-star hotel suite.
It was on the top floor of the Saint Catherine Laboure hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.
It was gorgeous. And she had breakfast and lunch served to her there. She ate like a queen.
After eating lunch she showered again just because that water pressure was unbelievably strong, put on yet another brand new looking gown, and then began reviewing her notes once again on her phone.
Then the door opened and an older black woman in a maid’s uniform entered the room.
They spoke to each other, but Maude continued reviewing her notes while the maid began cleaning the bathroom first, and then she made her way into the main room, cleaning it too.
They kept the place, if Maude had to say so herself, immaculate.
Then the door opened again and Edmund, to her delight, walked in.
Although the maid said nothing, nor was she acknowledged by Edmund, she was shocked to see the chief of surgery visiting that particular patient.
She’d heard down below how that patient had no business being there because she was nowhere near any kind of dignitary.
But that maid wasn’t thinking about those arrogant nurses.
She was glad a sister got a chance to break the rules. She wasn’t mad at her at all.
Maude was thrilled to see Dr. Keating and didn’t hide her pleasure. “Hey Edmund!” she said in her joyful way, as if he was the most precious human being on earth to her.
When she smiled that smile that lit up the room, and spoke so affectionately to him, Edmund’s tired heart soared. “Hello there.”
He even smiled back at her, which was quite the feat for him. Then he walked over to the king-sized bed. “How are you?”
“I’m great.” Now that you’re here, I’m really great, she wanted to add, but didn’t.
“I’m in between surgeries,” he said, “so I can’t stay long.” He placed the back of his hand on her forehead, as if he was checking to see if she had a fever. Maude didn’t know why he did it. “Got everything you need?” he asked her.
“I do. And then some! Donnell even sent out for chicken. And I know it’s supposedly stereotypical behavior for black people to love chicken, but I love chicken.”
Edmund laughed.
“I’m sorry, but I do. I love it.”
“I’m pleased that Don made certain you got exactly what you wanted,” he said, nodding his head. “You can trust him.”
Maude nodded too. Funny how she felt that same way about Edmund.
“I got the results back from the tests you’ve already taken.”
This interested Maude. “And?”
“All good.”
She smiled a smile of relief. “Oh good!”
“But I’m ordering a few more tests to be on the safe side.”
That concerned Maude. “But is that necessary?”
“For me to feel that l left no stone unturned? Yes.”
Then a voice over the hospital intercom could be heard: “Dr. Keating, please report to the O.R. Dr. Keating, please report to the O.R.”
“They found me,” he said with another smile.
Those lines of age on the side of his eyes gave him a distinguished look that Maude thought was so sexy. When he gave her upper arm a squeeze, she thought it was even more than that. “I’ll be back later,” he said.
“God be with you and your patient,” Maude said.
Edmund glanced back at her as he headed for the exit.
Although it was normal for Maude to wish somebody well, it touched Edmund deeply for some reason.
He felt as if she actually cared about his wellbeing.
Which would be a first for him. All the ladies he’d ever known in his entire life, including family members, cared about their own wellbeing first and last. “Thank you,” he said, and then he left the room.
The black maid, who had been dusting the same lampshade from the moment Edmund walked into that room, looked at Maude when he left. “I don’t mean to pry,” she said, which made Maude know immediately that she very much meant to pry.
“Yes?”
“Dr. Keating your man?”
Maude looked at that woman with alarm on her face. Was she that obvious? “No. Of course not! Why would you even ask such a thing?”
“Because he’s so mean and ornery all the time. Because he’s never treated anybody with anything but disdain all the time. Except for you.”
Maude didn’t know how to take such a statement. She knew Edmund could be brutally blunt and she could see how people could take that the wrong way, but she never viewed him as mean and disdainful. “No,” she repeated. “He’s not my man.”
“Uh-hun,” said the sister.
She wasn’t buying it. Not for a second.