Chapter 41
“All clear! Watch out, Flamingo Cove.”
-Aaron
Four weeks later
There’s an extra pep in my step this morning as we enter the Flamingo Cove Hospital. I clutch Camellia’s hand tighter in mine as we head to the same floor we recovered from our bout with radiation.
“Sparky,” Camellia yanks on my hand. “You’re crushing my fingers.”
I wince. “Sorry, love. I’m a little extra protective of you in here.”
She laughs, leans on her tiptoes, and kisses my cheek. “And I love you for it. But, I might need the use of my hands later.”
I pause to look at her. She’s wiggling her eyebrows. That makes me laugh. We both have an appointment with Dr. Binford today. Hopefully, she’ll clear us for morestrenuousactivities.
The ever-present antiseptic smell hits me when we arrive on Dr. Binford’s floor. It’s quiet for a Friday, and I realize by even thinking the “q-word,” I’m jinxing the hospital professionals for later.
But I don’t care.
I’m walking on air.
“Good to see you again, Chief Pearce and Ms. Saber,” Dr. Binford is waiting for us at the department’s reception desk. “The nurse will draw some blood. We’ll do a couple of MRIs to check things out, then regroup in my office. Sound good?”
Camellia and I kiss, then go our separate ways for the tests.
It’s the first time we’ve been apart in the last four weeks. I meant what I said to her about forever. But, I understood where she was coming from about my trust issues starting before Sabine. I can’t believe I never noticed it before. But then again, when you’re in the middle of it, you have difficulty seeing it.
“Good to see you, Chief Pearce. How are you feeling today?” the Nun Nurse raises an eyebrow as she wraps a tourniquet around my arm.
“Fine. Thank you.”
“Good. We’ll get this blood, quick as a flash,” she jabs the needle into my vein.
“She’s pretty good about that,” a familiar voice calls out to me.
I turn my head and spot Virgil Troutwine lounging in a beefed-up recliner. He has an I.V. drip going with several bags of medicine attached.
“Virgil! How are you feeling?”
He shrugs. “I’m a little perturbed that they took my experiments.”
Theyare the HAZMAT teams that combed over his cracker cabins. Yes. Virgil had more than one. There were radioactive materials in cabins all over the state forest.
“Isn’t the University going to sponsor new experiments for you, though?” I raise an eyebrow.
He shrugs again. “New, schmew. I have to start all over. Square one. Do not pass go. Do not collect ten million dollars.”
I shake my head. Virgil hasn’t changed, but the mad scientist thing works for him.
“You’re all done,” the nurse slaps a bandage over my vein, then lifts my arm above my head. “Don’t bend your elbow.”
I smile at her. I might know a thing or two about that, but I bite my tongue.
“Will you see your lady love today?” Virgil wiggles in his recliner.
“I will. We have big plans this afternoon,” I point to his medicine. “How much longer will you need treatment?”
