Page 25 of Her Only Hero

“Is Vinny off?” I asked.

“No,” Edward said. “He’s giving our new recruit the tour.”

“Oh, great,” I said. Finally, some help was hired.

I headed to the refrigerator to get a glass flask of buffer solution. I turned and saw Vinny enter the lab with the new staff member. The shock of seeing the new hire drained the blood from my head and turned my legs into quivering gelatin.

“And this is June Harber,” Vinny said to the man beside him. “June, I’d like to introduce you to Dr. Hamid, our new pathologist.”

I gasped, and the flask I’d been holding smashed onto the floor.

Chapter Thirteen

Glass shards and buffer solution pooled on the floor around my feet. Without looking, I knew all eyes were on me, and lava heat burned my cheeks.

“Well, is everyone awake?” I added awkwardly to make light of my idiocy.

I heard chuckles, and Vinny bent down to help me collect chunks of glass.

“It happens to the best of us,” Vinny said and turned to Dr. Hamid. “Despite this slip up, Doctor, rest assured that June is definitely one of the best.”

“Thanks, Vin,” I said and glanced up at the doctor.

He smiled, and my heart thumped like a jackhammer.

“I have complete faith in everyone here, especially June.”

That deep voice with a rasp strummed familiar notes. I hadn’t heard it in two years, only in remnants of memories. Was he really here? I needed to focus on my task. My hands shook as I threw a few pieces of glass into the sharps discard.

“Thanks, Vinny. I’ll finish cleaning this up,” I said.

Vinny groaned and dropped a piece of glass. His palm dripped blood. He cupped his other hand underneath and leapt to the sink.

Dr. Hamid strode over to Vinny. “You okay there?”

“Yeah, just caught a sharp edge,” he said and held his hand under running water.

Lara retrieved the first aid kit and removed a bandage.

Disaster. I felt horrible. “Vinny, I’m so sorry you cut yourself.”

“It’s on me. I should have had the common sense to get a broom and dustpan, like Edward over there.”

Edward was already sweeping up the fragments. From a cupboard I grabbed absorbent cloths and wiped the floor. I blewa strand of hair from my face, stood up, and tossed the soaked wipes beside the trash can. Of course, I’d missed and drew more unwanted attention. I grabbed the rags from the floor and shoved them into the bin.

Dr. Hamid watched, and I trembled inside.

Lara finished taping Vinny’s hand and looked sideways at me. She missed nothing and had certainly noticed my agitation.

Dr. Hamid came over. “It’s a lovely surprise to see you, June. Have you been employed here for long?”

“Two years. I’ve been here for two years now,” I said, remembering all too clearly the circumstances that drove me to a job change. “I’m surprised to see you, Dr. Hamid. I thought you had moved out of state.” I surprised myself, too, at hearing the assertion in my voice.

Beside us, Vinny flexed his hand with the new patch job. “Wait, you two know each other?”

“Yes,” Dr. Hamid said. “We worked together at St. Eugene’s for several years.”

Edward Ying chuckled. “Small world.”

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