He was still waiting when the tired woman and her sick little girl walked back into the room. This time the mother didn’t avert her gaze or appear concerned about Joe. Instead she walked directly to him.
“Thank you for your help,” she gushed in a waterfall of words. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry. For earlier. I was just—I didn’t mean—”
“Don’t sweat it,” he told her.
He knew her concern. He’d be concerned, too, if someone who looked like him was talking to a little girl like Lily. The world was a sick place. Joe had met some really sick fellas.
“Everything okay with her?” he asked the mother.
“Yeah. A sinus infection. They gave us an antibiotic. Thankfully they had some samples to give us.”
Joe suspected she meant they didn’t have the money to pay for a prescription.
She looked around the mostly empty waiting room. Joe could tell her eyes went to the clock on the wall. It was past midnight.
“You okay?” he asked her.
She gave him a nod, her mind obviously thinking, her arms covering Lily as she stood behind her.
“You got a place to stay?”
“We’re fine. We’ve got a car.” Her words echoed the strain on her face.
“A car?”
“Shelter’s closed . . .” she said, by way of explanation.
The girl still looked pale and not well. Her eyes were tired now. She needed a comfortable place to sleep, and she needed it now.
Joe was still waiting to see the doctor, but this was more important. He tried to act nonchalant.
“If you don’t mind me saying so, I don’t think that’s such a good idea. She needs to stay warm.”
The mother gave him a nod, yet she seemed to be out of answers and not sure where to even look for them.
Wonder how long they’ve been on the road.
“Listen,” Joe said. “I know this is gonna sound crazy, but I only live a couple of blocks from here. If you want, you can spend the night there.”
The woman didn’t say anything. Joe understood. He got looks like that daily. Whenever he went somewhere, people looked at his outward appearance. He looked rough and couldn’t soften it up no matter how much he tried. God had built him this way. Some of the scars and the colors he carried around with him—well, he’d managed to get them himself and he couldn’t get rid of those, either. But few saw the new creature he was inside.
All he could offer was a friendly smile.
“I know what I look like. But that’s not who I am . . . Not anymore.”
The mother still didn’t say anything. Lily looked up at him with a weak but pretty smile.
“You can have the place to yourself,” Joe added. “I’ve got somewhere else to stay.”
“Look, I appreciate the offer,” the woman said, shaking her head. “I really do, but I don’t think—”
“It’s okay, Mommy. Joe wouldn’t hurt us. He’s our guardian angel. Aren’t you, Joe?”
He grinned and nodded, then waited for the mother’s answer.