I nod again, only half listening.
“J.”
“Huh?” I look up distractedly.
His eyes fasten on me, and he opens his mouth, but then he looks at Bailey and says nothing.
Bailey approaches me, her eyes darting around my room. “Hi, J. You okay, girl? You look like you haven’t slept in a while.”
“I’m fine,” I answer. Since when was Bailey assigned up here? I thought she was in the general ward.
“A little birdie told me that you had visitors last night.”
I stiffen. “What birdie?”
Bailey winks.
Grandma used to say “play stupid games, win stupid prizes.” Rather than engage with Bailey and her stupid conversation, I turn my face away and offer my arm for her to draw my blood. At this point, it’s so routine that I barely even feel the prick of the needle.
“I’m done, Dr. Kenji,” Bailey says, lingering around my bed. “Is there anything I can do for you, J?”
“No, Bailey.”
“You sure?”
I frown at the pretty nurse. I’m thinking it was a mistake to give her that job to push Shawn into the elevator.
Dr. Kenji lifts a brow and, in a polite but firm voice, he says, “Bailey, I’d like to speak with J for a moment.”
“No problem at all. I’ll take these to the lab. Bye, J.” Bailey waves at me.
As soon as the door closes, Dr. Kenji approaches my bed. “J, I’ve been meaning to ask if everything’s all right with you. Your charts have been very unsteady lately.”
“Everything is fine,” I mumble.
Except for the fact that two ninjas who fought off men with guns andwonare now hanging around my hospital room and stealing my candy.
Dr. Kenji steps closer to the bed, his voice low and urgent. “If something happens, you can talk to me about it. I’ve been your doctor for a long time now, and while it may be overstepping, I think of you as a dear patient. If there’s anything I can do to help you, I will. To the best of my ability.”
That much I believe. Dr. Kenji is one of the few doctors who actually treat me like a human being. He even came back from a day off to celebrate my birthday with me so I didn’t have to be alone.
I sit up straighter. “Doctor…”
“Yes?” He leans forward.
“Imagine your friend—” Finn doesnotcount as my friend, but I’ll refer to him as such for the sake of my example—“got involved with some really mysterious people. Possiblyreallybad people. But those people didn’t hurt him. They’re protecting him… I think.”
“I see.”
“Is my friend in danger?”
Dr. Kenji’s eyes shine with fear behind his glasses. “Do you have any idea what kind of people he’s gotten involved with? ‘Mysterious’ and ‘possibly bad’ could be referring to a lot of things.”
I shrug. “I honestly don’t know more than that.”
“Without more details, I can’t say for sure. It may be that your friend is voluntarily working with those people. Or theymay have something over him, and he has no choice in the matter.”
If that’s the case, should I get more involved? What if I make it worse for Finn by poking my nose in?
