Page 2 of Mara
“I should just quit. Dr. Hyde hates me. I’d say no harm, no foul, but…”
I shook my head and turned Alex’s face toward mine. Their short, cropped hair was still speckled with blood, along with their paper-white scrubs and the gloves on their hands.
“Do you like ice cream?” I said, expertly taking off both our gloves without touching any of the blood or bacteria presented.
Alex stared at me like I belonged in the asylum cells.
“Uh…yes,” they said hesitantly.
“Good.” I smiled. “You and I are going to go eat some ice cream with my little sister and her boyfriend that she won’t shut up about, okay?”
Gigi had bothered me incessantly about this stupid meet-up, and I was about to cancel on her for the hundredth time, but dragging Alex along with me could be the perfect way not to be a third wheel, enjoy some frozen treats, and give Alex the much-needed break.
“Uh…okay?”
Not giving them a second to decline my offer, I waved Kimmie down from the lab and yanked the yellow gown off, which was protecting my scrubs from the various ‘ick’ that lived in a place like this.
“Kimmie, Alex here needs a break, so I am taking them out for some ice cream.”
Kimmie raised a brow and gave me a knowing grin. “Oh, you mean the date you promised you wouldn’t cancel on Gianna again?”
I ignored her with a forced laugh and pulled Alex over to the locker room area.
I pushed Alex toward the showers so they could get the blood out of their hair while I changed out of my scrubs and into my Nirvana crop top and jeans.
I had found going out even to lunch in scrubs had people randomly coming up to me asking me about their mysterious warts, Dr. Google searches that made them think they were dying, and even people asking if their partners could smell another’s come on them. There was never a dull morning in the asylum. I didn’t need to meet the nutballs outside it.
“Is this really a sister day for you? I don’t want to impose…”
Alex was grabbing the motorcycle jacket from the hook, looking hesitantly back over to the wing where they had lost Dubi.
“You bet your ass it is,” I said, not bothering to lie. I lightly tapped their shoulder. “Which is why I need you. My kindness is more about saving my own ass than being a good person, I promise.”
Alex laughed, and I liked seeing that shine back in their brown eyes.
“See, my little sister, Gianna, has been hounding me for months to meet her new boyfriend,” I admitted. “Don’t get me wrong…I adore Gigi, but she can be a bit overzealous. She falls in love with anything. If it has tattoos and a smirking smile, she’s buying wedding dresses before the second date.”
Alex laughed. “So you are afraid that your sister is asking you to be in her wedding after only knowing this guy for a few months?”
Alex was smart.
“Bingo.” I laughed. “Honestly, you coming along is self-preservation, because the last guy she made me meet ‘accidentally’ tripped into the waitress’s massive rack of tits, and my sister made me miss a week of work to cry in a classic jug of ice cream and watch scary movies.”
Alex looked sympathetic. “Maybe this guy will be a keeper?”
I snorted. “Knowing Gigi, who knows, but I can say that he will probably be nice to look at.”
Alex full-on belly laughed. “I will take your word for it. Consider this as payment number one for tricking me into hating Wellard less.”
I smiled. My plan wasn’t a complete fail. Alex’s face didn’t look colorless and clammy anymore.
“Fair enough,” I said, chuckling. “Just don’t back out on me when you meet my sister. She can be similar to the asylum patients some days.”
Alex looked thoughtfully at the glass doors of the entrance as we left. Nearly under their breath, I heard a small whisper.
“Don’t we all?”
Arriving at the small cafe in town, I parked my car. It was a bad parallel parking job, but I was running late to this silly meet-up. Gigi was probably dressed in clothing that would make me pale in comparison, but that’s what she gets for wanting to meet on a workday.
