Banner spent the next day feverishly waiting for the time to near. The bushes were perfect, the flowers in full bloom. Not a speck of dust to be found on any piece of furniture. He almost started cleaning the surgical equipment, as he swore he found a speck of dust on a scalpel. The doctor had to forcefully take him out and chew him out about his inexperience cleaning those sorts of tools.

Banner resorted eventually to cleaning and brushing the floors, as those would always be dirty no matter the situation. He cleaned them so thoroughly in fact, you could use them as a mirror and nary a man would notice the difference in the image. At that moment, with him kneeling against his mop, he finally saw them arrive. It wouldn’t have been the same had he given the book to her mother by himself. That would rob the young girl of the experience.

So it was with great pride that Banner walked towards both of them and presented the book. Listeny’s eyes widened as she read through it. They grew even wider after that. Listeny closed it and gave Banner a warm hug, one that he thoroughly appreciated. Her father patted him on the shoulder as well, thanking him.

“I need to show this to mom!” Listeny said excitedly. She almost ran into the room, only stopping because Banner had made the floor a bit too slippery. Her father followed afterwards and Banner didn’t stick around to hear anything more. Last time was an exception. This time, he knew for sure that they would be just fine without him.

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Banner only caught them at the end of the visit. He took a double take, glancing at the moon in the sky and back at Listeny and her father.

“You know, she’s really happy that you did this for her. Happiest she’s been in weeks in fact.”

“That’s all I needed to hear. Tell me if you ever need any help again, alright, Mr. Baroque?”

“I’ll be sure to, Banner.” He watched them leave the hospital with a spring in their step. Seeing as he himself had no reason to continue being there, Banner left as well. He went to his usual seat in the diner, hearing the joyful noise of the bells ringing once more. Lin waved him over. She had some dark bags under her eyes, but before Banner could ask, she spoke instead.

“How did it go?”

“Think I made the little girl’s day.”

“Well, good work like that deserves a reward, and I think I have just the thing in mind.” She then turned and pulled out a beautiful looking piece of cake. “Come on, eat up,” she gestured to him.

“Wait, I can’t…”

“Oh, stop being so modest, you deserve it!” Lin flashed him a smile and turned back to the kitchen to clean the dishes. Banner felt happy that day. No matter what he had been before, this is what he loved to do. Bringing smiles to the faces of others gave him a satisfaction like no other.

There was something to say about it being due to the self-satisfaction of having things go well in his life, something ultimately selfish. That wasn’t a fear that Banner possessed however. If it were selfish, then let it be. In the end, it meant that he would be able to help those who needed him.

Banner and Lin spent the night together in the diner. Lin kept it open a bit longer than was probably allowed, but considering this was the only day she was the only employee, she hoped her manager would overlook it.