Recovery

Recovery - Ch 15

Recovery - Ch 15

It didn't take Lesley too long to figure out what Rick meant when he said he'd 'made sure of it' regarding her being okay. When she made it back to the hospital and was about to start her afternoon rounds, Mark Dante came up to her and asked if she'd go to dinner with him, "oh.... sure," Lesley replied, "thank you. That would be nice." Not that she didn't appreciate the invitation; she and Mark had been friends for years, but ...it was a little on the odd side given that as far as she could recall, he'd never extended a dinner invitation to her alone...coffee or lunch in the cafeteria sure, but ....

Then later that afternoon, Alan popped up beside her as she was going to head down to the cafeteria for a tea break, "can I walk with you?" he asked. "Uhh...sure..." Lesley answered and followed him into the elevator then down to the cafeteria.

Just as Mark and Lesley were about to leave for dinner, Alan appeared again and 'nonchalantly' said that he needed to run an errand first thing tomorrow morning and would be in Lesley's neighborhood so he could pick her up for work, "no sense in you driving if I'm going to be right there," he added when Lesley looked at him strangely.

"You just happen to have an errand in my neighborhood?" Lesley asked and then looked from one man to the other suspiciously. "What's going on with you two? Did Rick put you up to this?"

"Up to what?" they asked in unison.

"He did! Didn't he!?" Lesley rolled her eyes and then pointed at each of them in turn, "listen Mutt and Jeff, I will be fine. I do not need you two following me around like lost puppies. I've managed to get myself home then back to work again the next morning on many occasions and I don't need you two playing guard dogs."

Then she turned to Mark, "I will, however: still have dinner with you because I'm hungry and you're buying. As for needing a ride to work tomorrow," Lesley swiveled around to point at Alan again, "I can manage just fine."

Mark had chosen Dino's for dinner, "at least he's not going cheap" Lesley thought to herself, then looked at Mark with a sweet smile, "did Rick give you an allowance too?" she asked.

Mark laughed and took a sip of his scotch, "no, he didn't. This place was my idea. And besides, having a beautiful woman on my arm is good for my reputation." He studied Lesley for a minute to gauge her mood, to see if she was still piqued and, although he could definitely see the fine edge of temper still floating around her features, for the most part he thought he was safe and he lightly tapped his glass to hers 'Cheers."

This time Lesley's smile was genuine, after all, it wasn't Mark's fault that Rick was in protective mode, besides.... Dino's was her favorite restaurant and Mark was good company. "Cheers," she answered back with a nod then raised her glass to him.

Mark insisted on bringing her home versus taking her back to the hospital to pick up her own car, and Lesley was by no means blind to the fact that it meant she would need a ride to work in the morning, but dinner had been so pleasant and such a nice distraction that she decided to not make an issue out of it and graciously accept Mark's offer to stop by to get her in the morning. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing," she said with a smile when he walked her to the door, "and don't try to pull off that 'who me?' look ether," Lesley laughed as she pointed at him.

"We just want you to be safe Lesley," Mark replied as he helped her off with her coat.

"I know," Lesley answered, "and I do appreciate it. But.... tomorrow morning me, you and your sidekick are going to be discussing boundaries."

"Okay...Okay..." Mark laughed and held his hands up.

"And...." Lesley grinned, "since you're going to be picking me up for work, you might as well come a little early and have breakfast. I'll ask Alice to make those cheese and mushroom omelets that you like so much."