The White Coated Man

46

I glanced at it again as we turned onto his road. We drove on it for a mile and a half before turning into his drive. I hopped out and helped Linda into her wheelchair again and walked beside her to the door. She leaned forward and knocked the big brass knocker.

"Should I stay in the car this time?" I asked. 

She shook her head "Not unless you want to,"

"Yes?" A tall man, who also had dark hair, came to the door. Immediately upon seeing Linda, he knelt down and hugged her tight. He looked like a very formal, very serious man from outlook, but watching him embrace his daughter gave me a good feeling about him.

I felt kind of awkward standing there. Linda noticed and asked her father, "Could we come in?"

"Of course! Of course," he stood up straight and wiped a tear from his eye as he led us into his large home and came to a stop in his living room. Across the walls were beautiful evenly spaced paintings, I noticed as I eased Linda onto the lovely sofa. I sat down next to her as Mr Eastman put tea on. He sat on the opposite side of her and started asking questions.

"How did this happen, Lin?" He frowned "And what exactly happened?"

He listened intently to every word she said as she explained as quickly as she could, telling him enough without boring him with useless details. He looked up when she got to the part about me and whispered to me from across the sofa. "Thank you,"

I smiled back reassuringly as the kettle whistled. He fetched it and came back with three cups, asking if I wanted any, already pouring the steaming liquid into all three cups.

~~~

Later on, we heard the noisy rumble of a car in the drive.

Mr Eastman frowned. "I'm not expecting anyone," he said as he stepped toward the window and peeked through the blinds. "Oh no," He muttered, turning to us. "You stay here, I'll be back in a minute,"