“And how did you do?”
She scowls and lifts her chin. “I did well. Why?”
Is she ever going to stop antagonizing me?
“It’s just that I figured, that’s all.” I drum my fingers on the table. The scent of her coffee stirs my nostrils as she lifts the lid from her cup. “So, what’s your thing, then?”
“My thing?” She narrows her eyes as though she suspects me of mocking her.
“Yeah, like your passion. The frosting.” I gesture toward the papers. “I know it’s not ortho. You mentioned women’s health, maybe?”
“Oh.” She sucks her lip between her teeth again. “Yeah. I’ve tried a few settings to get different experiences and see what I like the most. I’m not, like, flaky or anything. I just wanted to know what’s out there. So far, I’m interested in helping fix the problems with maternal outcomes in the US.” She smiles, and it softens her face, smooths the angry lines between her brows. “Kinda silly, huh? Thinking I can help in any way with something so big?”
“No. That’s not silly at all.”
She stares at me again. “I wish you weren’t trying to be nice. It makes this difficult.”
“You know I don’t know what you’re talking about, right?”
She shrugs, but the slow spread of her grin makes it clear she’s kind of enjoying my discomfort. Is this whole thing just her messing with me?
My gaze tracks the edge of her profile. She does seem a little familiar. I thought it was just the accent at first, but maybe not. The idea nudges at my brain. Nothing breaks through. I don’t recognize her name, and I honestly think I’ve been nothing but cordial to this woman.
Something Adam said comes back to me. I snap my fingers. “Did you go to Pine County?”
A startled laugh leaves her. “What?”
“I dated a girl from there. It ended really badly, and she swore she would hate me forever. You were friends with her, I guess?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
My heart skips. “Pine County High School. It’s the county bordering my home county, back in Blacksburg.” My shoulders slump. “I thought maybe you knew her. The girl I went out with.”
“I know where it is. But no, I didn’t go there.”
“Damn it. I thought I had it.”
“Keep trying. I like seeing your wheels spinning,” she says.
I knock my fist against the table a few times. “I would remember datingyou,though. Even if it was only one time.”
She laughs in delight. My hands clench. She’s infuriating. I don’t know how she keeps pulling me in like this, only to piss me off again. At my expression, she rakes the papers toward her.
“Never mind. We need to get started with our day, anyway,” she says.
“Fine,” I say. I stand quickly and walk toward the door, hoping to rattle her, but when I look back, she’s taking a sip of her coffee with a distant expression on her face.
6
KENDALL
On our next clinic day, I take a call from Margaret, one of the physical therapists in the outpatient clinic downstairs. Her voice pitches high and thin.
“I’m concerned about Ms. Lopez,” she says. “Her left leg is really swollen. Like, way more than normal. And her calf’s warm and tender. I’m worried about a DVT.”
I pull up Ms. Lopez’s chart. She’s seventy-three and had a hip replacement last week, but no complications at that time.
“Who’s she with?” I message Grant on our interoffice system as I’m talking. He’s not the only resident here today, but he was in on Ms. Lopez’s case.
