She—
“You ready to turn on the charm and get us visiting rights?” Vince asked, breaking her out of her reveries.
Lace snorted, regrouping. “I think the charm isyourdepartment. All I can be is a kindred sufferer, looking to commiserate with a fellow patient.”
“You’ll do fine,” he assured her.
“I hope so.”
Lace took the lead as they approached the nurse they’d talked to on Friday.
“Hi there,” the woman greeted, giving Lace a big smile. “You’re not hooked up today,” she noted.
“I’m not.” Lace returned her friendly vibe. “I actually get Friday’s off from my infusions, swapping to Tuesdays from now on, and I start up again a week from today.”
“I see.” The astute woman nodded, flaunting a grin as if she knew what was coming. “And the reason for that?” she asked.
“Well, Vince and I…” Lace wondered how she should frame this, and began again.
“We felt sorry for Inez last week, seeing she didn’t have any emotional support. So, I thought if you’d gotten approval from your higher ups, and I switched my infusions to Tuesdays, me and my bag of goodies could hang out with her—Uh, Vince too—while Inez undergoes her Sanctuary Therapy. Vince would still show up for her regular treatments on Friday’s,” she hurriedly added.
Lace continued without a pause, so the woman couldn’t immediately give her bad news.
“Myteam has approved the move, which means I’m now asking you. Will Vince and I be allowed to stay with Inez during her treatments?”
There was no hesitation, only joy.
“Absolutely. You’ve been given the green light, and without much fuss, I might add.” She grinned. “Visitorsareallowed, and since you’ll be here anyway, it was a no-brainer. And…Vince, is it?” The young nurse looked him over before continuing, clearly able to see past all the make-up to know that he was a smoke-show. “Vince has already been approved by the administrators toentertainthe kids, so he’s been given the okay to help distract Inez, too.”
“You’re awesome,” Lace gushed, overjoyed.
“Nope. Just making sure that nobody’s miserable if we can help it,” she assured them.
“Where will we find her, now?” Vince asked, shooting her his most charming smile, which looked even wider surrounded by his well-applied red paint.
Color instantly moved up into the nurse’s face.
Yup.Lace could relate.
“Room 210.” The answer came out a little throatily. “They just wheeled her in, so you’ll probably get there just before they start. I’ll call ahead and let them know you’re coming.”
She turned away from the pretty sight that was Vince with some reluctance, but was already picking up the phone.
“Thank you so much,” Lace said.
“No. Thankyou,” the nurse returned, pulling her professional cloak back around herself. “We’ve all been worried about Inez being alone. We take turns trying to cheer her up, but dressed in scrubs and looking very…medical, there’s not a lot of comfort we can give her that doesn’t still seem institutional.”
Lace could understand that.
“Now go,” the nurse shooed, pointing down the hallway. “Give that little cherub something to smile about.”
She began speaking to whomever she’d called, dismissing them as she turned away.
Lace and Vince didn’t linger.
They hoofed it to the designated room and slipped inside, giving the staff a nod. They weren’t denied access, so the nurse had come through.
Inez, who was being led to a flat, patient bed, noticed them almost instantly.