“Here we go, hopefully everything is right and accounted for. If not, well, it’s my first day, go easy on me.” A tiny pink-haired woman bounces on her toes in front of us, hanging back to make sure we’re all satisfied.
“Perfect!” She smiles, then turns her big blue eyes on me. “I met Maria earlier and unfortunately have had the displeasure of meeting these two over here before.” She hooks her thumb to Markand Billy. “But we haven’t met before. I’m Rory.” She places the tray under her arm as she reaches out her tiny hand to shake mine.
Being careful not to crush her hand, we shake, but when I try to pull away, she holds on with a strength I’m not expecting and steps forward.
“And you are?”
“Levi.”
“Right,” she says slowly, like she’s thinking all while chasing a thought. “Do you happen to have a dog, Levi?”
Brows turning down, I sharpen my gaze. “Yes?”
“I thought so.” She smiles but gives no explanation for her random question before skipping back behind the counter.
I look between Mark and Billy for answers, but they both just shrug, paninis half hanging out of their mouth, not a care in the world. That is, until Ainsley walks by and offers Billy a napkin for the mess on his face.
“You eat like a child,” Mark teases. “A big man child.”
“My bad,” he says, smearing sauce across his face, making it much worse. “In most of the foster homes I bounced around growing up, if you didn’t shove it in, you didn’t eat. Some habits are hard to break.”
“In that case,” Maria pipes in. “I’m getting you a bib.”
I do my best to eat what’s on my plate, but with thoughts from earlier still fresh in my mind, it tastes like sand and scrapes painfully down my constricting throat. Trying to keep my focus off Tris, I don’t realize she’s approaching our table until she’s standing directly in front of me. I look past her to see that Ainsley is busy taking orders for some late lunch stragglers, and Rory is cleaning.
“Does anyone need anything else, or can I leave this here?” She pulls out the bill and looks past me, purposefully, to Billy, Mark, and Maria.
“I’ve got it.” I reach for the bill but catch her hand with it, and she flinches.
Fucking. Flinches.
Before anyone can react, a call comes over our radios for an ALOC, a person with an altered level of consciousness. Since we’re the fastest responders with medical training and manpower in case of difficult rescues or if special tools are needed, we get calls like this multiple times a shift. Sometimes it’s a whole lot of nothing serious, but other times it’s our effectiveness that allows the patient to get into the ambulance and arrive quickly, sometimes saving their life. We never know what we’re walking into, so we take every call as seriously as the last.
I radio back that the call has been received, and we all start to move. Tris leaves with my credit card. When she comes stomping back, I sign my receipt but pause when she reaches for it.
“I need that.”
The words land clipped and final, like she’s already decided this conversation is over. Her foot starts tapping against the floor, quick and relentless, each strike a quiet warning. Her jaw tightens, eyes narrowing just enough to let me know her patience is on a short leash. As usual, when it comes to me. I swear, it’s impressive the way she wields her attitude, like a weapon she knows exactly how to use.
Fortunately for me, I know where her guard slips. One soft spot she never bothers hiding. It’s convenient, really. A way to smooth over the rough edges without having to look too closely at why they’re there in the first place. If it works, maybe she’ll stop looking at me like I’m the scum of the earth. Maybe if I can stop feeling bad about what I said, I’ll be able to stop thinking about her.
And if Ellie happens to be the buffer between us?
Well. I can live with that.
“Listen,” I say, her brow rising instantly. “I was going to stop home and let Ellie out after this and feed her, but I’m out of time.Do you think you could do that for me after your shift? I won’t be able to get back there until tomorrow.”
She blows out a sharp breath, her shoulders rising and falling with a restrained sigh.
“For Ellie?” I add. It’s a long shot, but it’s the only one I have.
“For Ellie.” She presses her lips together and looks down before looking back at me. “Fine.”
I fight the urge to smile and instead fish my keys from my pocket and remove the spare.
“Thank you,” I say, handing it to her. “Her food is in the kitchen.” As she takes the key, something else occurs to me. “She could stay with you tonight if you want.”
“What?” she snaps, head jerking back.
