What The Water Brings In

4

The elevator doors opened with a friendly ding, releasing me to the span of open space before the archway of the campus cafeteria. My sandals made no sound on the short pile carpet of the dining room. I found Mr. Johnny sitting at one of the tables, facing away from me. He gazed at a wall-mounted television screen that was tuned to a news channel covering the local flooding. His shoulders were hunched over, and when I leaned to the side, I could see a steaming cup of tea cradled in between his hands.

The poor man looked lonely despite me being in his company not even an hour prior. I wouldn't say he was a friend at that point, but I did have concerns for him and his situation. He performed quite the selfless act in bringing Ms. Brown, but he still wound up with the short end of the stick. I wanted to show him some hospitality to make up for his circumstances, and maybe he would not leave the situation feeling bitter.

"Mr. Johnny?" I called when I was almost directly behind him.

He yelped as he flung himself around, nearly tipping the chair he was sitting in over. I squeaked and leapt backward, squeezing the folded clothes tighter to my chest. Johnny's arms and legs flailed in circles to desperately gather his balance back to him before he fell to the floor.

I should have reached out and grabbed him to help, but I couldn't muster up the courage to touch someone. Only my boys were the exception.

Johnny managed to catch himself and clutched his chest right over his heart as he caught his breath. "Dad gum! You scared the tar out of me!"

A part of me wanted to giggle at his choice of expletives, but the bigger portion winced with shame. "I'm sorry." Maybe my habit to constantly tread lightly was a bad habit. To reinforce my apology, I held out the folded scrubs toward him as a peace offering.

Johnny blinked at the bundle a few times in a row to process the gesture.

I blushed, feeling awkward standing in the middle of an eatery with my arms held out as far as they could to a speechless man I had never met before today. "I... I'm sorry," I stuttered and quickly started trying to think up excuses and mindless rambles to chase away the shame and tension building in the silence. "I'm pretty sure these belong to Dr. Green. You're certainly taller than him, so they will probably be a little small for you. I can just go put them back if you don't want them..."

My elbows were just beginning to bend back to me when Johnny's mouth curled into a warm smile. "Thank you, Miss Sang. You're too kind. I'm touched." He stood up and pushed his chair in under the table before taking the bundle of clothing from me. I purposely prevented our hands from touching and was successful. He held the material away from his body so the dampness from his current outfit wouldn't ruin the dry set. "Even if they're a size short for me, I wouldn't mind walking around in highwater pants for a few hours. It's better than catching pneumonia from being wet as a dog and sitting in this freezing air conditioning."

My body shivered at the thought. The hospital cafeteria did always manage to keep the thermostat really low no matter the time of year. Maybe I should start keeping a sweater in the office.

Johnny asked me to keep an eye on his tea while he went off to the bathroom to change, so I took the seat on the opposite side from where he sat. After a few moments lost in my thoughts, I pulled my phone out of my bra and shot a text to Sean.

Sang: I should have asked permission first, but I gave the spare scrubs in the filing cabinet in your office to Mr. Galloway to wear.

Dr. Green: Permission granted.

Not even a moment passed when he texted me again.

Dr. Green: I have a moment free. Where are you?