Luca's Dilemma Read Online Free PDF Page B

or co–workers with bad moods or personal drama. But now that she thought about it, April was no mere acquaintance. This was young, sweet, sometimes naïve, but candid April, the one person besides her neighbor, Janie, that she had grown fond of since moving to the cold–mannered North. This girl didn’t believe in too much laughter or that there was a wrong way to eat a salad.
    Images popped in her head of how April often sat with her legs and feet bent every which way on her chair, her hazel eyes bright as stars, and her upper body bobbing about animatedly as she entertained Sheila with the most elaborate tales of her caring, but crazy, family. On more than one occasion, Sheila had found herself virtually stuffing her fist in her mouth, trying desperately not to wake the patients with her loud laughter while hot tears streamed down her cheeks. Warmth washed over her as the depth of her gratitude toward the young woman grew deeper.
    “Thanks, April.”
    “No problem,” April said, spinning around and giving Sheila a gentle squeeze. “Your patient is already in her room.”
    ***
    “Those lying–ass Republicans!” the woman with spiky gray hair shouted at the television in front of her. Her agitation was palpable as she fidgeted in the small chair while Sheila stood behind her, trying her best to make measurements on the old woman’s head. Whipping her head around to face Sheila, the woman drew her cute little face into a frown, making the fissures earned by years of wisdom appear more pronounced. “Oh, excuse me, dear. But just listening to their nonsense drives me insane. I can't believe half the stuff that comes out of their mouths these days. And they wonder why no one likes them,” she ended, throwing her hands up in frustration.
    Sheila did her best not to laugh. Ever since Obama had won his first election, she'd been bombarded with people trying to bond with her on a political level, all assuming she had wanted him to be president. She tried not to take it personally, not hinting to them that despite the color of her skin she could very well be a Republican. God knows how close she almost came to marrying one. With a deep breath, she forced herself not to think about Ahmed and all the years she had wasted with him, replacing the urge to do so with images of what the upcoming election years potentially had in store for her.
    “Okay, Ms. Cote. I need to start applying the leads now,” Sheila warned her patient.
    Ms. Cote was already engrossed in the television again, and Sheila took the woman’s silence as permission to proceed. Grabbing one of the golden cupped wires, Sheila filled it with paste and proceeded to place it next to her patient’s left eye. She’d started to fill her second gold cup and place it next to the right eye when the doorbell to the lab sounded.
    “I got it!” April called out.
    Sheila paused in her ministrations to close the door to Ms. Cote’s room. Some people were a little more modest than others, while others were a little nosier than they should be. She had learned the hard way not to take chances.
    Returning to her task, she became lost in thought, allowing the tedious job to relax her. A tedious job it was indeed, but in the aftermath of Atlanta, it had been a lifesaver. The same could be said about her best friend, Tina. Good ol’ Tina had come through for her in her time of need. The look of utter shock on Tina's face when Sheila had arrived on her doorstep last fall was one not soon forgotten. At the time, Sheila couldn’t remember how she had gotten there, her emotions being in such turmoil and all. Apparently she had though, fleeing her once comfortable Atlanta suburban home and driving all the way to Buxton, Maine, without so much as a restroom stop.
    Tina had been more than understanding, putting Sheila up in a spare bedroom and alerting her about the job postings at the hospital. Tina was the Director of Nursing for the same hospital that ran the sleep lab and