Page 33 of Offside

She stopped with one band looped over her fingers. "For today?"

"Permanent transfer. I want you to take the whole case."

Across the room, Eriksson looked at the ceiling. Declan's hands remained steady where they were.

Zoe set the band down. "Tell me why. I need enough to accept the handoff."

"There's a personal conflict. Pryce and I will disclose it together. I want the care transferred before anything happens."

Declan closed his eyes once. Vicki came out of her office before Zoe answered. She'd heard enough.

"Both of you," she said. "Zoe, keep the station clear. Bishop waits." She glanced at Declan. "Pryce finishes the session. Then we're going upstairs."

I looked at him.

"Eriksson has six minutes left," he said.

"Five," Eriksson said. "You lost count while they were talking."

"The full six," Declan pushed back firmly.

Vicki checked the clock. "Finish your session."

Nobody whispered. Nobody acted as if the room had caught fire. Vicki took control and made a plan, and we followed it. At the end of Eriksson's six minutes, Declan documented the response and released him. He put his tablet on Vicki's desk and joined me at the door.

"You went to Zoe first," he said. "I thought we were explaining together."

"Those nineteen appointments were mine, Declan. I'm not letting you carry that."

Park's conference room had one long table and glass along the corridor side. He closed the blinds after we all arrived. Zoe took the chair at the end with Bishop's current plan open on a tablet; Vicki sat beside Reyes.

Declan sat across from them, and I pulled my chair beside his. Park remained standing.

"Vicki gave me the basics," he said. "I need the two of you to confirm, then medical tells us how care continues. Nobody in this room needs private details beyond the existence of a professional conflict."

"We're interested in pursuing a personal relationship," Declan said. "I'm currently Bishop's treating physical therapist. We have not kissed or had sexual contact," he said for the record. "Last night I stopped a personal interaction before anything occurred and told him our provider relationship had to end first."

Park looked at me.

I nodded. "I requested the transfer this morning."

"Has any treatment decision been affected by this personal interest?"

"No," Declan said firmly. "When I identified a pattern of private scheduling that could create a concern, I restored appointments to times others would be in the room."

"I requested the private hours," I said. "I didn't even realize I was doing it at first. Nineteen changes over the care history. He found them and moved the remaining sessions."

Vicki scanned through the records and nodded. "The schedule trail supports that."

Park sat down. "Good. That's the kind of thing we document."

Reyes turned to Zoe. "Can you assume primary care today without interruption?"

"Yes. I've been there for the weekly measurements since October twenty-ninth. I have the current active program and response history. I can run today's session."

"Any information you need from Pryce that isn't already in the chart?"

Zoe glanced at the screen. "No. His notes are complete. If anything needs clarification, it goes through you or Vicki, not through him."