Colson began flipping through a colorful stack of Belize dollars, trying to look casual.
“Better to be safe than sorry,” I shrugged.
“I know. And it’s the only reason I risked bringing you here.”
He did his usual scan, finishing up by checking the door for the umpteenth time. Satisfied we were alone in the shop, he sighed.
“Why’d you really quit?” he asked. “The hospital, I mean.”
“I already told you. Donovan made me.”
Those steel-gray eyes weren’t convinced. Maybe because I wasn’t all that convincing.
“I’ve seen Donovan sway you in a lot of directions,” he said evenly. “But that man could never ‘make’ you do anything. We both know that.”
My eyes shifted downward, suddenly busying themselves with counting crumbling floor tiles. They were much dirtier than a supposedly sterile pharmacy had any right to be.
As far as distractions went, it was a shitty one.
“Alright fine,” I breathed. “You want the truth?”
“Only if you want to tell it.”
I looked up again, searching his eyes for even a shred of judgment. There was none.
“I’ve always been naturally smart,” I began. “School came easy. Grades, even easier. I ran full speed toward a medical career, because I convinced myself I wanted to help people. I didn’t look up again until I was a trauma nurse, assisting in a busy emergency room.”
“That sort of thing just happens to smart people?” he attempted a smile.
“I guess.”
Colson could sense the rising tension in my voice. He stepped closer, and slid his palm into mine.
“On my last day, there was a terrible accident. This guy ran into the triage, blowing past security, with injuries so horrificit put half the staff into shock. But it wasn’t the blood,” I shook my head. “It wasn’t the injuries that got me.”
I took a deep, shuddering breath.
“It was the way he wasscreaming,” I breathed. “It—It didn’t sound human. It was just like… like…”
Like an dying animal.
Colson squeezed my hand reassuringly, as a shudder ripped through me. Something familiar in those eyes told me I didn’t have to elaborate.
Something told me he knew.
“I’d just never heard anything even remotely like that,” I choked. “I ran to him, and he grabbed me, pleading with me frantically. Begging me not to let him die.”
My throat closed, as I fought back the recurring sense of dread. There were no words.
“And he died,” Colson said gently.
“Yes,” I murmured, my voice barely above a whisper. “I just held onto him, as tightly as I could. I didn’t even try to save him. Because… because…”
“Because there was no saving him,” Colson finished for me.
I shook my head, crying. “No. There wasn’t.”
“You comforted him. You did what you could.”
