Love Is Blind Read Free Page A

service.” 
    I hadn’t told many people and it felt weird to say the words aloud.  Those particular words said in that order didn’t seem like they should be coming out of my mouth.  It was almost laughable.
    I’d always been a good girl.  I’d always played by the rules.  Growing up, I was that nerdy bookworm who’d spent all her spare time at the library.  I wasn’t a troublemaker.  It still blew my mind that I’d found myself on the wrong side of the law.
    “Oh.”
    Chris sat back in his chair and picked his burger up again.  He took a big bite and chewed thoughtfully, as though contemplating his next question.  I braced myself for the inevitable.   I was certain he’d ask me why I had to do community service and I really didn’t want to go down that path.  I’d barely even accepted what I’d done myself…I wasn’t ready to say the words aloud to another person.
    But Chris surprised me with what he asked next.  “Will you be here tomorrow?”
    “Yeah, I’ll be at the hospital every weekday until the end of August,” I replied.  “Some weekends, too.”  Doing that was the only way I could cram in all my required hours without letting it interfere with college in the fall. 
    “Good,” he said, “Although I hope I won’t be here until the end of August.”
    I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, so I didn’t respond.  Just then a middle aged, heavyset nurse walked into the room.
    “Chris?” she said as she studied a chart clutched i n her hand.  “It’s time to change your bandages.”  She looked at me, her eyes lingering on my face before taking in my candy striper uniform.  “The maternity ward on the second floor could use some help.”
    “Oh, okay.”  I shot a look at Chris.
    “See you tomorrow, Michelle,” he said as though he could feel my eyes on him.  He waved a French fry at me before popping it into his mouth and shooting me a charming, dimpled grin.
    “Yeah…see you tomorrow, ” I replied, pleasantly surprised that he’d remembered my name.

Chapter 02
    I got in the habit of visiting Chris every evening after my shift was over.  He’d be waiting for me expectantly, his handsome face lighting up when he heard my footsteps at the door.  I’m not gonna lie:  it made me feel pretty important to be the reason he was smiling like that.
    Over the next few days, I learned that Chris was twenty-one, just a couple years older than me.  Until his life had taken an unexpected turn, he’d been a college student.  I still didn’t know what the unexpected turn was or how he’d come to be in the hospital with bandages on his eyes and, as far as I could tell, no visitors aside from me.
    He told me things about his life matter-of-factly, with no trace of self-pity or pent up rage.  His story seemed to be a sad one but he didn’t seem to expect or want my sympathy.  I found myself hanging on his every word, silently marveling at the way he managed to be so upbeat even when talking about everything he’d lost.
    I was desperate to ask him about what had happened.  I think curiosity is just human nature, you know?  But given my own experiences with intrusive questions and unwanted attention, I promised myself I wouldn’t broach the topic unless he brought it up first.  Frustratingly, he didn’t.
    My second Friday at the hospital was busy – weekends usually were .  One of the janitors had walked off the job and another one had called in sick, so the hospital was in a bind.  Guess who was expected to pick up the slack?  The head nurse was a real dictator and kept barking orders at me and the other candy stripers.
    A tiny voice in the back of my head wondered if she knew I was there for community service and was intentionally making my “punishment” as unpleasant as possible.  Of course, that was merely paranoid speculation on my part.  The administration knew about my community service, of course, I had no idea if the hospital staff knew about my