But I also want to toss him out of my safe space. He doesn’t belong behind my walls. With him there, that mystery pain has taken up permanent residence in my chest, tugging, tugging, tugging. All the staring into his eyes and suffering the wonder of his skin against mine makes the pain worse.
I think Ali’s right. I’ve caught feelings, and I need a cure. Fast. They aren’t worth the risk.
I retreat to the lonely hill in my mind, searching for serenity. It doesn’t work. My phone provides little distraction, but I try anyway. The hospital has sentanothermass email to all physicians regarding optional Dragon training. This is, what? Email number forty-seven?
Whatexactlyis the point of this?
“If I wanted it, I would have let you know by now,” I mutter to the empty room. I start to delete it, then pausewhen a familiar name catches my eye. Asher has Reply All-ed to the email.
Two very quick questions:
Will the dragons be provided by the hospital?
What kind of dragons will we be training?
If they are provided, I would like to train the following kind—
A picture of Toothless fromHow to Train Your Dragonis attached in the body of the message. He closes the email with a professional,Thanks, Asher Foley, MD.
I amdying.
He sent this to the entire medical staff? I snap a screenshot and send it in a group text to Asher, Geoff and Yayoi.
??
Asher:I know
Asher:But listen
Asher:I’m so sick of Dragon training emails
Asher:I got desperate
Yayoi:omg who all is CC’ed on that?
Geoff:Basically the whole hospital
Yayoi:Haha. You trying to get fired?
Asher:I’m trying to improve my wellness.
Titty
I sigh at the last one. I don’t know why my phone still does that, but at this point, my friends know it’s a typo.
Asher:Titties? Where??
Very funny
Still giggling, I turn my attention to the TV. Halfway into a rerun ofHouse Hunters, a red light on the ceiling distracts me.
I sit up and stare at it. The device is small. Round. Black. The red light gleams, pointing right at me.
Is that... a camera?
My mind blanks. How long has that been there? In my call room? Where I binge trash TV?
I scramble out of bed and hightail it down the hallway. The break room oozes the scent of hazelnut coffee, and a couple of nurses eat snacks at the large center table. They look up at my entrance, eyes going wide at my likely frazzled appearance. Luckily, I recognize them.
