Page 29 of Five Stolen Rings

“I do,” I say, nodding vigorously—it makes my head pound, so I stop. “I can admit it. I have a horrible pain tolerance. So can you be gentle?” But it’s a stupid question;being gentleisn’t a thing with medical staples, which I realize when Jack shoots me a look that plainly saysGet it together.

I sigh, straighten up, and resign myself to my fate.

“I’ve had little kids do better with this than you’re doing,” says Jack—excuse me,Doctor Piorra—fifteen minutes later as I squirm beneath the stapler he has pressed to the side of my head.

“I’msorry,”I say through gritted teeth. “But you’re digging metal into my head. I think I’m allowed to be nervous.”

He snorts, leaning closer—close enough that I can see little details like the stitches on the hem of his sleeve. I can even smell the faint scent of antiseptic that emanates from him.

And it’s official; I do not like Doctor Jack Piorra. He’s my type to a tee: utterly confident, capable, a little snarky, and more handsome than he needs to be. And it’s only a short jump fromDoctor Jack Piorrato plain old Jack—the last thing I need is to take a good hard look at my childhood friend and realize I like what I see.

Because I very much fear I might, and that way lies madness and heartbreak. Jack doesn’t like me; he’s tolerating me for a while.

“There’s nervous,” he says, pulling me out of my disconcerting thoughts, “and then there’s worked up.” One of his hands shifts gently in my hair, tilting my head to a better angle. “You’reworked up.”

“I am not,” I say too quickly. “What does that even mean? I’m not worked up?—”

“It means your heart is beating too fast,” he cuts me off, using his hand to turn my head so our eyes meet. “And you’re jumpy. You feel like your body is full of electricity.” He raises one brow at me. “Accurate?”

I can hear my pulse pounding in my ears.

“No,” I manage to get out. “Not at all.”

Another little tug at the corner of his lips, and his eyes drop down. “Still have that twitching jaw when you lie, Princess.”

“Just put the staples in,” I say, “before I—ow!”A jolt of pain to my head, followed by two more in rapid succession. “Ouch—ow!”

“There we go,” Jack says, wheeling the stool back and standing up. “All done.” He hands the staple gun to the nurse—Stephanie, I think her name was—and then peels his blue gloves off and tosses them into the trash can. Then he leans down and smirks at me.

“Just like with the little kids,” he says, his voice full of smug humor, “you have to distract the patient and then do it all at once.”

My gaze jumps to the nurse, whose eyes are probably wider than they’ve ever been in her life. She looks back and forth between Jack and me, and I swallow.

Jack seems to come to himself too, because his expression fades into something more neutral and businesslike.

“Give me a minute,” he says briskly, already turning on his heel. “And we can leave.”

“So,” the nurse says once Jack has left the room, her eyes still round. “How do you know Doctor Piorra?” She clears her throat. “I’ve never seen him in such a good mood before,” she adds, like it’s a secret and she doesn’t want to be overheard.

“We’re—” I begin, but I break off immediately, because whatarewe?Friendsseems generous, even though we said that’s what we would be. But it would be weird to say something likefrenemies.“We knew each other growing up,” I finally say. “That’s all.”

“Ah,” she says, glancing over her shoulder and nodding. She’s still a little skittish. “I see.”

“Thanks for your help today,” I say, and she nods again.

“Of course,” she says.

I clear my throat and try to sound casual. “So how long has Jack—I mean, how long has Doctor Piorra worked here?” No harm in doing some recon.

“Oh, a while,” she says as she bustles around the room, collecting supplies and wiping things down. “He did his residency here.”

This means nothing to me, because I do not know how med school and doctor training work, but I nod anyway.

“The patients love him, especially the kids,” she goes on. “He—” But she breaks off when Jack sticks his head back in the room.

“Stephanie,” he says, his voice sharp. “Don’t gossip about the doctors, please.”

“Sorry, Doctor Piorra,” she says quickly, giving him alittle bob of her head. Then she hurries out of the room, past Jack, who steps inside.

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