"Too good." Kellen took another sip of his coffee. "What's in them?"
"Chocolate chips. Brown butter. Love."
Kellen stared at me. "Love."
"It's a secret ingredient."
"Right." He stood up slowly, like his joints hurt. "Dalton,I've been doing this job since you were in elementary school. In that time, I've seen nurses come and go, burn out, flame out, and occasionally spontaneously combust in the break room. But you... you're different tonight."
"Good different or bad different?"
"Aggressively cheerful different. Disturbingly optimistic different." He paused. "Are you on drugs? Too much Zyn and Celcius?"
"I'm high on life, Kellen."
"That's worse." He started to walk away, then turned back. "Whatever it is, bottle it. The rest of us could use some."
As he disappeared into the medication room, Chloe shook her head. "I think that's the most I've ever heard Kellen say at once."
"He's a man of few words."
"He's a man ofnowords. Usually he just grunts and points." She leaned closer. "Seriously, Jimmy. What's going on? And don't say 'nothing' because you've been grinning like an idiot for six hours."
I looked at her, this young nurse who I'd been mentoring for months, and realized I wanted to tell someone. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops.
"I met someone," I said quietly.
"Ahhhh, I knew it!" Chloe practically bounced in her chair. "Tell me everything. What's her name? What does she do? How did you meet?"
"Her name is Izzy. She's a firefighter. And it's... it's good, Chloe.Reallygood."
"A firefighter?" Chloe's eyes went wide. "That's so cool. Is she tough?"
I thought about Izzy holding me while I fell apart, about her showing up at my apartment because she'd known something was wrong, about the way she'd taken charge in my kitchen and my bedroom with equal confidence.
"Yeah," I said, unable to keep the dopey smile off my face. "She's tough."
"And she makes you happy."
"Ridiculously happy."
"Good." Chloe patted my arm. "You deserve it. You take care of everyone else all the time. It's nice to see someone taking care of you."
My phone buzzed again.
Izzy
Shift's quiet. Thinking about you.
Same here. Can't wait to see you tomorrow.
Izzy
Me too. Sweet dreams when you get home.
I was still staring at my phone when Kellen reappeared, refilled coffee cup in hand.
"Dalton."
