Page 38 of The Risks of Reuniting

"You heard."

His eyes flick down to my arm and he nods. "Holt has a big black eye, Cesar's lip is swollen and scabbed, and Emilia was telling everyone all about it." He pauses and the look he gives me is gentle when he says, "News travels fast in this small compound."

He knows there's more to the story. He's like part psychic or something, and I honestly believe him when he says his spine had tingled that morning. He has an eerie sense of things to come. His eyes are a dark brown that seems to swirl when you see them up close, but the laugh lines around them keep it from being creepy.

"Holt seemed . . . less vibrant this morning," Dr. J adds.

My shoulders sag. "Oh."

Rachelle leans toward him and comically whispers loudly, "Holt told her he's still in love with her."

He looks at me, tilting his head to the side as he purses his lips thoughtfully. "I can see it. A dental emergency will make today easier for you then. Nothing like a good distraction to keep a person from overthinking."

I shake my head with a grin. "I'm pretending to be stronger than that." I pause. "And Holt got caught up in the moment."

"I think Holt wants to have a few more of those moments," Rachelle teases, but it's kindly meant.

I roll my eyes and move to the dresser to gather fresh clothing. "He was comforting me after the attack."

"I personally support Chloe's efforts to avoid Holt," Dr. J pipes in.

I stop what I'm doing and look over my shoulder at him, and find Rachelle doing the same. "I'm not avoiding him."

"Too bad," he shrugs.

"What? Why is that too bad?" Rachelle asks.

"It would be a boring story if she fell right into his arms, don't you think?" he answers with a grin.

Rachelle laughs and I roll my eyes before going back to gathering clothing. "We'll be there in a minute," I toss over my shoulder.

Dr. J leaves and Rachelle closes the door behind her before joining me at the dresser and reaching up to the hanging items. Her scrubs are always freshly pressed, and I smile at the image of her biting her lip over the ironing board, getting those kittens perfectly smooth.

"You did not have to tell the doctor about Holt," I say. "It's embarrassing enough that it happened, but now he'll give me amused looks over patients' heads."

Rachelle bumps her shoulder against me. "No he won't. He's a good sport."

I take off my pajamas and slide into my dark green scrubs. "What do you think about what Holt said?" I ask with some hesitation, keeping my eyes down. "You know, that he'd have married me."

She pauses in tugging on her socks and I look up to see her staring sightlessly at the wall. "It was so raw, you know? Like, those wordswere pulled from a place so deep inside him that they couldn't be anything but true." The air feels heavier around us and I bite at my lips. Her gaze clears and she looks at me. "It was really heartbreaking in a way. So romantic, but so not the right way to go about it, you know?"

I nod. "Yeah, I know."

"Are you okay?"

I shrug. "That, I don't know yet."

We take turns using the bathroom and make our way to the clinic ten feet away from our front door. The commute doesn't get much better than this.

Dr. Joseph is already seated next to an exam chair with a patient, and nods at us as we enter. "Chloe, why don't you put a clean bandage over those stitches so no germs from the dental work get in there, and then come assist me. Queen Thing, please prep the second chair, I'm expecting another visitor before we're done here."

I take off the soiled bandage, wipe my arm down, and wrap a long strip of steri-wrap around my forearm twice until it's covered well. It's definitely tender this morning, but I do my best to keep from wincing. I don't want Dr. J to send me away. I want to work. I put on gloves and a mask and sit across from him, looking into the patient's mouth as he continues the exam. The poor guy has one heck of a rotten tooth and a bulging abscess around it. I can only imagine how much pain he's been in. It breaks my heart knowing he wouldn't have had help if this humanitarian center wasn't here, and I wonder how long he's lived with the pain. This type of thing doesn't happen overnight.

Dr. J asks the man a few questions in Spanish as I look to make sure everything is prepped, and then we get to work, with me handing the doctor tools and consulting a little on treatment. My mind wanders and I feel my own spine tingle thinking about how Holt instinctively jumpedin to protect me in a desperate moment, and how he held me close when the dust had settled. I don't care who you are, that's pretty swoony. My chest grows warm and sad at the same time.

"Tell me a story. Preferably the one about Holt and Chloe, and why he said he's still in love with you," Dr. J surprises me by saying. I look up in question, but his head is down and his hands are busy inside the patient's mouth as he works. I swallow and think about how to answer. Dr. J chuckles lightly at my hesitance. "Doesn't have to be a long one."

I let out a breath and smile as his eyes pop up to mine for a millisecond. "You're wrong about that. It is a long story."

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