Page 25 of French Kiss

10

Right?

Year Three - May

San Francisco

We’d gone backto losing at Ultimate Frisbee. Order had been restored to the universe. Our Friday night gatherings, however, hadn’t picked up their former steam. Everyone seemed acutely aware that we’d be going our separate ways in a month and that hanging out like a pile of kittens felt more sad than fun. We’d broken into smaller groups of two and three, Heidi and Karim practically disappearing when they weren’t at the hospital or playing Ultimate.

Maddox was over the moon for a woman he’d met at a poke restaurant. She worked there three nights a week and saw him the other four. He called it the perfect amount of commitment without commitment. And that meant he was flirting with me again.

He’d taken his girlfriend—Rea, Rosie, Rhetta?—out for sushi after her poke shift, which seemed like overkill to me, but I didn’t want a lecture about the subtle differences in Asian cuisines, so I kept my mouth shut. Josh and I had made another round of pico de gallo. He mainly chopped and cooked, and I mainly talked and snacked.

Maddox walked in and shoved the leftovers from his dinner into the fridge. “What’d you guys cook?”

“Chips and guac and pico,” I said.

“That’s not a meal.”

“I told her that,” Josh said. “I had chicken, but this one—I dunno. She still subsists on snack food.” Josh flopped down on the couch and his cat, a fluffy orange rescue named Ricardo, climbed up his shirt. Josh put the cat on top of his head and it walked down his face and settled between his shoulder and the couch. The cat purred so loudly it sounded like it had a motor.

“All the time you spent learning about the body, shouldn’t you treat yours like a temple?” Maddox asked.

“I’m too busy worrying about all the patients. I can be a temple when I have more free time. I eat what makes me feel better at the end of the day.”

“Understood, but I don’t want you showing up in my office someday, suffering from scurvy or something.”

“Do people still get scurvy?” Josh asked. “I don’t hear a lot about scurvy these days.”

“Pirates get it,” I said.

“Ah, I forgot about all the time you spend on the high seas,” Josh said.

“Take a supplement is all I’m saying,” Maddox told me, pointing a finger.

I was used to being given a hard time about my diet. But I rarely got sick, and other than adding a few extra pounds, the crap I ate hadn’t done much damage. So I ignored the comments.

“Well, if you’re still hungry, Hannah, there’s kung pao in the fridge,” Maddox said.

“I thought you were going for sushi,” I said.

“She wanted Chinese, and I didn’t care, so here we are.”

Josh yawned for about the third time in twenty minutes. “I’m sorry, guys. I’d love to hang, but I’m post call, and I need to sleep.”

“No apologies. Thanks for cooking,” I said.

Unable to articulate anything else, Josh waved at us and staggered toward his bedroom. Maddox, on the other hand, looked wide-awake and went into the kitchen to make coffee. “Want some?”

“Thanks, but I’d be up all night.”

“Wimp. I can do decaf.”

“Nah, I’m good.” I hopped up on the counter to hang with him in the kitchen while he waited for his coffee to brew. “So, how was your date?”

“Eh. I’m not sure it’s going anywhere,” he said.

I’d met her once, but I could tell that she was gaga over him. I almost felt sorry for her. “She’s sweet, and I can see why you like being around her. She looks at you like you walk on water.”

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