Page 140 of Nocere

"'First, do no harm,'" answered Sam. "In Latin. It's a medical term and sometimes paired with a caduceus."

"Oh." My brow furrowed as I looked between them. "You think this is harming me?"

"It could," answered Anita, and I noticed the way she gripped the hem of her pencil skirt as if holding on for dear life. "I'm sorry."

My brow furrowed and a ball of anxiety rumbled in my stomach. "I don't feel harmed by knowing you're a human, too."

"How do you feel about it?" asked Marita, beating Anita to the punch. The look Anita tossed her could've cut steel. Marita smirked, brushing her knuckles over Anita's cheek in such a delicate caress that it could've melted the steel before the lasers hit it. Anita simultaneously leaned into it and tensed.

"Surprised, but certainly not harmed," I answered, my tone firmer than intended. "Happy to know that my doctor is also in a relationship with a woman. It isn't the worst thing."

"How about the awkward part?" Marita gestured between herself and Sam.

"Marita, honestly. Please just—" Anita lost her cool, with a narrowed brow and broad shoulders, but I interrupted her this time.

"I'm pretty sure all four of us land somewhere on Jordan's Mermaid Chart." I smirked when I said it. "And that isn't our only connection. You remember statistics and analytics are literally my job, Anita?"

"I do remember your job, yes." Her gaze fell on me again and she let out a soft breath.

"So...I get it. It doesn't make me feel awkward," I admitted, though the gnawing in my gut continued.

"What's making you nervous?" asked Sam, her fingers in my hair when she kissed my temple. I leaned into her and ceased wringing my hands together in my lap.

"That Anita will stop being my doctor." I returned my attention to Anita. "Will you?"

"Not in the immediacy," she answered, her expression cooling off for now. "But it will be something we'll need to discuss together. Our girlfriends are friends." Her statement was the first time she acknowledged Marita as such and right away, Marita smiled.

"The awkward part is Anita knowing all the dirty details about Sam's sex life. Not so much yours, Rosie," teased Marita and it made most of us laugh.

"Ri, you're not helping one bit." Anita looked up at her, her lips curling into the faintest frown.

"Easy, Pix." She leaned down and smooched her right between the eyes. "We're all okay."

"I'm inclined to be concerned for Rosie," she said, though she crumbled under the affection and shifted to cross her legs in the opposite direction.

"Right now, I'm okay," I said, leaning my head on Sam's shoulder when she put her arms around me. "What does Pix mean?"

"Nickname," answered Marita, seeming to tread lighter on the situation now.

"She calls her Pixie instead of Anita," answered Sam instead. "Which is probably why I didn't even think to connect the dots in this situation. I'm sorry, Rosie. Had I known, I would've warned you. Or done something different. I'm not sure what though."

Anita tossed daggers at Sam this time, but only for a fleeting second. She seemed to crumble to the notion that this situation wasn't going to go away. We had to deal with what presented itself to us.

"Everyone, honestly. I feel okay with this. I'm happy to know that someone I trusted understands me on a deeper level." I held my hands up to them. "You don't all have to protect me."

"To be fair, I'm not trying to protect you at all," said Marita, a playful smile tossed in my direction. "I think you can handle the amount of queerness in this room."

I chuckled and Anita just covered her face.

"Thank you, Marita. It's nice to meet you, by the way. I probably would never have known you existed in Anita's life if it weren't for this situation." I gave Sam's hand a squeeze. "And thank you for caring about my girlfriend. We wouldn't be here if she hadn't trusted you."

Marita's smile softened and her gentle gaze fell on Sam while she rubbed Anita's back. "Sami is worth caring about. She has a beautiful heart that she keeps anesthetized out of sheer fear of pain. Don't let her get away with that."

Marita's words struck so hard that Sam and I looked at each other at the same time. "I won't," I pledged, nodding to her. Sam's eyes welled up, but she blinked away the tears before they fell. "I promise."

A gentle lull fell over the room and Anita cleared her throat after a moment. "Well, Rosie. I think that's it for today."

I laughed as I returned my attention to her. "I'll say."

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