Chapter 19 Picture This
Night had fallen by the time Andrea and Case were ready to head back to her parents’ house. Grandpa had felt so much better, he’d wanted to chat all day. Andrea felt slightly exhausted herself after having gotten up so early, but she was so glad to have gotten a chance to speak to grandpa. She kissed him goodbye, and her mom said she’d be home later.
“Did you ever find that nurse?” Case asked as the elevator went down to the ground floor.
Shaking her head, Andrea said, “No. I checked for her a few times. I hope she’s here now. I brought a picture to sign for her.” She patted her bag.
The doors opened, and they stepped out. Andrea hastened her steps toward the nurses counter and was relieved to see a familiar face, even though the nurse scowled when she saw Andrea. The actress assumed she was having a bad day. “Oh, good! You’re here!” she exclaimed. “I’ve been looking for you, but I didn’t know your name to ask.”
“Me?” The nurse’s eyes widened. “You’ve been looking for me?”
“Sure. I felt so bad I didn’t stop to take that picture with you yesterday. I was just so tired from traveling and worrying about my grandpa. But I have something for you.” She opened her bag and pulled out the picture of herself she’d brought and a Sharpie marker. “I waited to sign it so I could personalize it. What’s your name?” She set the picture on the counter and waited.
The nurse continued to stammer. “You brought that for me? Oh, wow. Thanks.” She glanced toward the front doors and out the window nervously.
Andrea turned around and looked as well, not sure what was going on. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. Sure.” A smile spread across her face, but it looked fake. “My name is Tina.”
“Great.” Andrea signed the picture, “To Tina, Thanks for being such an awesome fan and for all of your work in nursing. You’re a true hero! Love, Andrea Sparks.” When she was done, she handed it over. “Here you go. Did you want to take a pic?”
“Y—yes,” Nurse Tina said. The other nurses began to gather around, all smiles.
“I’ll take it,” Case offered, and Tina handed him her phone before coming around the counter. Andrea put her arm around the nurse and smiled. Tina’s smile still looked off somehow.
When they were done, several other nurses and other staff members asked to have their picture taken, and Andrea agreed, but she wouldn’t let Case be in any of the pictures. “We really don’t want everyone to know we are here together,” she explained. “It might start some rumors, and we are just friends.”
Behind her, Tina made a choking sound.
After everyone was satisfied with their pictures and autographs, Andrea and Case headed toward the door. A wet floor sign warned her that it was slick, but she slipped anyway, just as the doors opened up and they were walking out. Case grabbed ahold of her to steady her on her feet, wrapping his arm around her waist. “Are you okay?”
She didn’t get a chance to answer before they were blinded by flashes of light. “What in the world...?” Andrea was not expecting there to be paparazzi outside of the hospital.
“Come on, let’s go!” Case said, letting go of her but hastening her toward the SUV.
With people calling her name and asking if she and Case were a couple now, Andrea put her head down and ran as fast as she could toward the vehicle. Case got there first and threw open her door before running around and getting behind the wheel. He threw the SUV into reverse and headed for the exit, showing why he was such a successful racecar driver.
“How did they know?” Andrea asked, glancing over her shoulder at the photographers who were following behind on foot. She hoped they wouldn’t try to follow them to her parents’ house. At least it was far away from the road where they’d have to trespass to invade her privacy.
“I’m not sure,” Case began, slowing the SUV down now that they were away from the paparazzi, “but I think that the nurse might’ve had something to do with it. Tina looked awfully guilty when you offered her that picture.”
Andrea had noticed her disposition as well. “Really? Why would someone do that?”
“I don’t know. It wasn’t very nice. We’ll have to talk about how to handle this.”
Taking a deep breath, Andrea said, “Maybe no one will recognize us. Maybe, since none of those people were big name photographers, no one will buy the pictures.”
Case chuckled. “Maybe winged pigs will swoop down and take all of their cameras away. That’s just as likely.”
Knowing he was right, Andrea shook her head and tried not to think about it. But if Sarah Lockton saw those photos, she’d come unhinged, and Andrea really didn’t want to put up with any more of that woman’s crap.
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