Page 41 of Saving Wyatt

What was I doing? What was wrong with me?

Pull yourself together, Ari. You're better than this.

"Uhm, yeah. Yeah. Why?" I asked.

"You haven't said anything in a while. Are you feeling a bit funny again?"

Oh, you have no idea.

"No. I'm okay. But thank you for checking. This food is delicious," I pointed to the boil, and Wyatt nodded. "You were saying?"

Wyatt pressed his lips together into a small smile and sat back a little. "Just asking what made you want to be a doctor?"

I put my silverware down and wiped my mouth before I answered. "I always liked helping people. I'm a natural problem solver, and I was always good at school, so it seemed like the path of least resistance, to be a doctor and problem solve the most important aspect of people's lives."

He nodded his head and studied my face for a moment. Goosebumps tickled on the back of my neck, an effect of close, intimate attention.

"And do you like it?"

"I love it," I said. "I just wish I could do more. I always feel like I could do more. Especially here. It drives me crazy knowing there's no universal healthcare and people die in pain because they don't want to go into debt. It's not how things should work."

He sighed and put his elbows on the table, crossing his hands in front him. "No. It shouldn't be, should it?" he said.

"And you? What made you want to go into the Navy?"

He shrugged. "The same as you. Only I wasn't as smart."

I laughed. "I'm sure that's not true."

"Well, not book smart anyway. But I was good with my hands, and I wanted to serve my country. Protect people."

"I can tell," I said. "You've done so much to keep this island safe."

"And look where that got me," he huffed.

"That's not your fault. The intention was there. It's not your fault these people have no morals or limits. You don't see anyone else doing anything about the situation here."

And it was the truth. How was it possible the feds or the local authorities weren't doing squat about all the crime happening in Mayberry Holm. From the little I'd been informed, either by Dare, Warren, or my patients, there had been a deluge of shit going down here for far too long, from drug trafficking to protection rackets and abductions. And no one but Wyatt and his men were doing anything about it. There was no way no one else, least of all the local police, didn't know any of this. Unless they'd also been bought by the new mayor.

"That's only put everyone in more danger. And I still have no way to bring this man down. No evidence. No proof. He's untouchable."

I shook my head and reached for my spoon. "No one's untouchable," I said.

"It feels like it," he answered.

As he said that, a couple walked past us to take the table in the corner, and they stared Wyatt down as soon as they noticed him.

Wyatt shrunk into himself and hunched his shoulders over his food.

"That doesn't help either. He's turned everyone against me."

I instinctively reached for his hand before I could think about it. An electric current sizzled through me on impact, and my throat tightened, making it hard to breathe or swallow, but only for a moment.

"Not everyone. I'm on your side," I said.

Wyatt stared at my fingers on his hand as if frozen in place, and it was only when I managed to pry them away from him that he spoke.

"You...you are," he said.