Page 35 of After You

Hannah gave everyone a small smile as she slid gratefully into one side of the booth. It made her feel less center stage. And it meant Kyle had to move his hand off of her. That simple touch, one he probably hadn’t thought about at all, made Hannah want to cry. She had felt that hand on her back hundreds of times. It had always felt caring and protective. Now it was clearly an automatic reflex. An indifferent gesture.

It was going to be a very long six weeks.

“Nice of people not to get sick until after you’ve had breakfast, huh, Doc?” Vi asked, bringing two cups and a carafe to the table.

Kyle gave her an easy smile. “Everyone here is just so considerate,” he agreed with anod.

“You don’t want to piss off the guy with the needles,” Frank called from the center table, blatantly nosing into the conversation as if it involved everyone in the diner.

And in all fairness, you didn’t have private conversations at Dottie’s. Everyone just knewthat.

Kyle poured Hannah and himself coffee and nodded. “You’re catching on,” he said without looking at Frank. “And it’s only taken four needles.”

“Slow learner,” Conrad, another of the men, said. “I figured it out afterone.”

Kyle smiled and lifted his cup. His gaze was on Hannah instead of the gathering ofmen.

“Those cortisone shots are bitches though,” another, Larry, said. “I got one too, and those are worth like three flu shots.”

Conrad looked over at Kyle. “You gave me a cortisone shot and the flushot.”

“Well, interestingly,” Kyle said. “Cortisone shots don’t actually prevent theflu.”

“And you bruised me!” Conradsaid.

Again, Kyle didn’t look at them as he lifted his shoulder. “You disparaged my golf swing.”

“Your golf swing is atrocious,” Conrad told him. “And I got the flu anyway.”

“You got a sinus infection,” Kyle said, sipping his coffee and smiling at Hannah. “Not theflu.”

That smile made her stomach flip. But not because it was flirtatious. It was full of pure amusement and affection.

“Felt like the flu,” Conrad toldhim.

“Sinus infection,” Kyle repeated. “I know because I also got the pleasure of swabbing your nostrils.”

“That was wholly unpleasant,” Conrad agreed.

“For us both,” Kylesaid.

“Hey, it’s better than other things he could swab,” Franksaid.

“I’m sure he’s swabbed it all,” Jerry, one of the newer additions to the group, said. “You have to practice swabbing stuff in med school, DocA?”

“Can we stop talking about infections and swabbing things?” Vi asked, returning to the table to take their orders.

“Oh, come on, Vi,” Larry piped up. “How many times have people puked in here? Stuff happens.”

Vi pointed her pen at him. “One more mention of infections or puke and I’m cutting off the coffee.”

They all groaned good-naturedly.

Hannah sighed, cradling her cup in her hands, thankful that there wasn’t a single place to input anything because she wasn’t sure she’d be able to get words out. It was just so…nice. They were talking about infections and puking and it was nice. Wow.

“All I’m saying,” Jerry said, “is that Doc A has probably seen a lot of very…interesting…things.”

“And disgusting,” Kyle said with a nod. “Farmers are the worst. They hate coming in, so stuff is bad by the time I see it. And they mess around in dirt and worse. Lots of potential for infec—” He cut himself off when Vi pointed her pen at him. “Sorry,” he said. Then waited a beat and said, “Lots of potential for…pus.”

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