Page 27 of Wrench

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appointment.

¡°I didn¡¯t want to hurt you,¡± he argued back. ¡°I didn¡¯t know if there was anything real

between Gina and I.¡±

I pulled into my designated parking stall, a few spaces away from the lone blue truck,

and pulled the keys from the ignition. ¡°And?¡±

¡°And what?¡±

¡°And¡­ did you figure out if what you felt was real?¡±

Silence was on the other end of the line, and I opened my car door and shifted my

phone to my shoulder. As I walked past the truck, I kept my head down, avoiding eye

contact with my future patient. ¡°Really? Nothing?¡±

¡°I¡¯m confused, Sam,¡± Travis whined as I unlocked the door and nodded at Kelly, the

receptionist. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on¡­¡±

Then, I heard a squeaky girl¡¯s voice on his end. ¡°Hey, Trav, can we stop for coffees?¡±

I froze in the middle of the clinic¡¯s lobby and shrieked, ¡°Is she with you?¡±

¡°Damnit, Gi¡ªI mean, no¡ª¡±

Gasping, I said, ¡°Fuck you,¡± before hanging up. I stared at my phone for a moment

before I looked up at Kelly, who appeared horrified. With a deep breath, I suppressed my

urge to scream more and said, ¡°Morning, Kelly.¡±

¡°M-morning, Samantha¡­¡±

I marched down the halls, fuming at Travis¡¯ nerve. How dare he call me at work while

his internet girlfriend was with him?

Quickly, I changed into my scrubs, forced to start the day regardless of whether or not

I was ready. I tried to shove Travis and Gina to the back of my mind and picked up the

client file sitting on my desk. First-time patient, a German Shepherd named Buddy under

the owner of Isaac McIntyre. Buddy was twelve years old, no previous medical concerns,

currently unable to keep food down¡­

There was a knock on my door and my eyes bolted to my clock. It wasn¡¯t even nine yet!

And I usually had at least ten minutes while Kelly took the animal to the back to weigh

them. Why would they let him in so early? I set down the file on Buddy and opened the

door, thankful to only see Ellen and Lizzie.

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