Page 94 of The Exception

Frank leaned against the counter, silently sipping from his mug. Trav hadn’t seen him slip anything in besides the coffee, and he’d watched, so he counted that as a win.

He decided to push through the silence. “I’m asking you to do me a favor, if I’m honest. I need somewhere to hide from Nurse Pope when she’s on my ass.” The mistruth in that was almost comical, but Frank didn’t need to know that. “You know, they’ve got someone new in your room and he’s not as fond of my jokes. I flat out refuse to get him ice cream.”

Frank didn’t laugh, but his posture changed—Trav thought for the better. “All I can tell you is I’ll think about it,” he said.

“Then that’s all I’ll ask.”

Thirty-six

Sonya didn’t cry at work. She’d made a list of professional rules for herself as soon as she’d graduated nursing school and that was one of them—never let your emotion get the best of you because there’s always someone who will use it to diminish your expertise.

It wasn’t easy in her line of work. Good occasions were rare here, and these halls had seen a lot of pain. But today she fought back a different kind of emotion.

“You have no idea how happy I am to see that scowl, Frank.”

Her favorite patient—if she allowed herself to have such a thing—adjusted the recliner he’d claimed while she read through his chart. He’d checked himself back in that morning citing a renewed commitment to group therapy and detox, and his bloodwork determined that the two weeks he’d spent away hadn’t done too much damage.

“Yeah, well… I figured if I want my family back I should give this a real shot. They deserve that at least.”

Sonya’s eyes burned with the tears she refused to release. What would she and her mother have done to hear those words from her father when he’d been lost in his own head for so long that they barely recognized him?

She swallowed hard and nodded. “You deserve it too and if you’re all in, we’re going to do all we can to help you get there.”

Frank considered her quietly for a minute before clearing his throat.

“You’ve always been good to me, Nurse Pope. Thank you.”

“No need to thank me for doing my job.”

“Where’s the kid today?”

She found it amusing how he always referred to Trav asthe kid. Frank was only a little over a decade older, but she did understand those extra years, and his experiences, had aged him.

“Intern Travis is taking care of a task for me but I’ll tell him you’re back.”

Sonya really thought she was in the Twilight Zone when Frank’s lips tightened and one side lifted almost imperceptibly.

Is that… a smile?

She had to bite her lip to stop her own grin from taking over her face as she continued making notes on his chart.

Frank lifted the lever to take his chair into a full recline. “Let him know I decided to stop being a stubborn ass as he called it the other day.”

Her hand stilled and her smile faded as she processed Frank’s words.

“The other day?”

That couldn’t be right. Two weeks had passed since Frank had checked himself out, so any conversation with Trav couldn’t be described as taking place the other day.

Frank’s eyes widened for a split second before his face went completely neutral.

“Yeah. When I was here last.”

Frank’s obviously false answer felt like someone pulling the rug out from underneath her feet. Even in his state, he was protecting Trav, and Sonya didn’t want him to think he was betraying him. It could be bad for his recovery if Frank thought he was getting Trav in trouble for helping him. But it could also be bad for his recovery if Trav did something stupid.

It could be bad for all of them.

Sonya grinned and kept her voice as light as possible. “Frank, you know I’ve got a built-in lie detector.”

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