Free Sister Dear by Laura McNeill

reassuring.
    No wonder the residents liked him. There was something there, behind the nice face and features, that made her want to open up and confess everything.
    Caroline looked up at him. When Russell squeezed and let go, she felt a jolt down to her toes. After a moment, she regained her balance and stepped back. “Um, I have to check in with the nurses. It’s my first day, besides orientation. I’m here until seven tonight.”
    “Okay, so that’s about thirty minutes.” Russell checked his watch. “I have one more person to check on, and then I’m finished. That should work out about right. You have time for that ice cream?”
    “Okay.” Caroline ducked her head, unable to look at him square in the face. She had all of the time in the world, but she wasn’t certain she wanted to spend it talking about her screwed-up family. She’d said too much already. She needed to be paying attention to the residents, making sure she was doing her job.
    “Give me your number?”
    Caroline stopped. “Excuse me?”
    “So I can call you and tell you where I’m sitting,” he said, his eyes twinkling.
    “You won’t remember it.”
    “Try me.” Russell smiled broadly.
    Flattered, and against her better judgment, Caroline rattled off seven numbers. Fast. And blushed.
    “Nice. Meet you in the cafeteria then?” He jabbed his thumb at the elevator. “I have to run. A lovely ninety-year-old in room 307 is waiting for me.”
    Caroline nodded and let out the breath she’d been holding, relieved Russell was heading to another floor. It would give her time to decide what to do. Should she really meet him later?
    She blinked her eyes and turned one shoulder. One of the aides had drifted back to the nurses’ station, holding a chart in one hand. Caroline headed in her direction.
    “Hi,” Caroline said softly. “Is there anything else you need? Anything I can do? I’m here another half hour.”
    The aide looked up and pursed her lips. “Oh, you go on home, sugar. Thanks for your help. Just sign out on that sheet for me, all right?”
    Swallowing back a pang of regret, Caroline picked up the ballpoint pen and poised it over the volunteer sheet. She’d come here to hide, but they were already telling her to head home. Where was left? Where would she go? Caroline scribbled her name, pressing so hard the tip ripped the page. She took off her badge, hung it on the wall. “Good night,” she murmured.
    “Have a good evening,” the aide said with a smile, opening a drawer and searching.
    “Thank you.” Caroline turned and walked toward the exit, hugging her arms around her rib cage. She could go to the cafeteria and wait. But then, there would be questions. She pressed a hand to her chest. What if he found out about her mother?
    She heard the elevator doors chime and begin to open. She moved even faster, hoping it wasn’t Russell, done early. Six more steps. Toward the door, toward outside, where no one would look at her or ask questions, or pretend to care.
    Two more steps. The doors opened, and the space was full of carts and trays and people. No room for another body. Even if she squeezed.
    “I think I’ll take the stairs,” she called back to the nurses’ station.
    “Okay,” the woman replied. “I’ll buzz you out.”
    “Thank you.”
    Moments after Caroline reached the end of the hallway, the sensor flashed red and the lock clicked open. The door swung into a wide, yawning stairwell. It was dingy and gray and smelled of burnt rubber.
    At the bottom, below the Exit sign, she pushed hard on the door’s metal bar. Outside, despite the afternoon rainstorm, early evening had turned humid, almost suffocating. Steam rose from the pavement under barely glowing streetlights as the sky turned brilliant shades of poppy red and gold.
    Barely noticing any of it, Caroline drew a ragged breath and began to run. After weaving through the parking lot and dodging cars, she pushed her body harder, forcing her legs to move