Past the base. Past the turn-off. Straight to the clinic where Linda is already waiting with coffee and a look that says she knows exactly where I just came from.
"Busy day today," she says, handing me the mug. "You okay?"
"Fine."
"Liar." But she says it kindly.
A cat with a urinary infection. A dog with a torn nail. A rabbit who ate something it shouldn't have.
Normal. Routine. I can do normal.
At noon, Linda pokes her head into the exam room. "You have a visitor."
My heart stops. "Who?"
"Sophie. She's got lunch." Linda's expression is carefully neutral. "And she says she's not leaving until you eat."
Not Dean. Of course not Dean.
What was I even hoping for?
Sophie's in the waiting room with Thai takeout and a determined expression. "Eat. Talk. In that order."
We eat in my office. The food is good. The conversation is careful. Neither of us mentions Dean until the containers are empty and there's nothing left to do but address the elephant in the room.
"His deadline was yesterday morning," Sophie says quietly. "Maggie heard from Javi that Top gave him an extension to Thursday."
Yesterday morning.
"Do you know what he decided?" I ask.
"No one knows. He hasn't told anyone." Sophie's voice is gentle. "Have you heard from him?"
"No."
"Are you going to reach out?"
"I don't know." I lean back in my chair. "What would I even say?"
"How about the truth?" Sophie starts cleaning up the containers. "That you're scared. That you want him. That you need him to ask you again, properly this time, like you're an actual partner in the decision."
"What if he doesn't?"
"What if he does?" She meets my eyes. "What if he's been sitting at that base for three days trying to figure out exactly that---how to ask you properly? How to make this about both of you instead of just him?"
I grip my coffee mug tighter.
"I drove past the base this morning," I admit. "Almost turned in."
"Why didn't you?"
"Because I don't know what I want to say."
Sophie's quiet for a long moment. Then: "Maybe start with 'I'm sorry I sent you away.' And go from there."
She leaves me with that thought and an empty Thai food container.
Two more appointments, both routine. I finish early, close up the clinic, and sit in my car in the parking lot staring at my phone.
