Page 21 of All of Me

Her face paled, and she glanced back at the mall cop.

I could smell his onion breath before he leaned down. “Not a good decision, son. You go wait outside until I come get you.”

I waited until he’d straightened and turned, clocking that he’d already unsnapped his gun holster.

“One, I’m not your son, and two, you might want to check and see if the coffee place sells breath mints.” I turned back.

“Why you little—”

“I really wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

I glanced over at Drake in exasperation, trying to hate his guts, even though I wasn’t surprised he was here. His green eyes glittering as they locked with mine, before he yanked his gaze back to the guard. “Mr. Turner has done nothing except turn up early for an appointment with Dr. Brown. This hospital’s anti-discrimination policy is enforced by the Office of Civil Rights, and as such, you are about to commit an offense that would result in you losing your job.” He shot the desk clerk a disapproving look as well before continuing.

“I’m fully aware that this clinic is private and not subject to certain legal restrictions. You should also know that I have a concealed carry permit and served as a Marine for over twenty years. I’m a million-percent sure I could get to my weapon before you even thought about twitching your finger in that direction. So be a very good boy and fasten your holster, or I will be forced to bring the real cops down here to arrest your ass.”

Okay, so I had to admit I enjoyed that. I’d seen Drake do plenty of physical takedowns—Pink had access to their training videos and had let me watch—but never a verbal one. I wanted to crow, but that would bring me down to this ignorant fuck’s level.

Drake turned away from the guard in dismissal and smiled at the receptionist. “I believe I heard you mention a coffee bar?

“Shae Turner?”

We both looked over to where a nurse stood holding a clipboard. “Dr. Brown has asked if you could get your testing done before your appointment. Thank you for coming in early.”

Drake stepped up close. She smiled at us both, assuming we were together. “If you’d both like to come in?”

This was the time. This was the time to go tell Drake to fuck himself, and I turned to say exactly that but caught his expression.Regret.Shame.Even if he didn’t speak the apology, I saw it. Should I allow it?

For an interminable moment I was silent, then I turned and followed the nurse, knowing because I hadn’t said a word that Drake would be a step behind me. I assumed Diesel or Danny had called the doc and said I was here.Should have turned my phone off.I remembered Danny telling me when I moved fast, it wouldn’t register my location until I stopped.

An hour later, after I completed every test it seemed they could think of to give me, we walked into Doc Brown’s office and sat down. He nodded to us both, already knowing Drake as he’d been by my bed every second after I’d gotten out of the jail.

Or, if I was honest, after Drake had gotten me out. The doc had told me I was moments away from my heart giving out completely.

“I went over the data from your tests last week along with the originals, and I’m looking at the ones we just did. I’m cautiously optimistic.” My head shot up. I’d been expecting…well, I’d been expecting him to tell me I’d fucked my heart up even more.

“Meaning?” Drake pressed.

“Meaning,” Doc Brown carried on, “that some of your scar tissue has repaired itself.” He put up both hands in a surrendergesture as I gaped. “I know. I’ve never seen this before and I’m assuming this is a DNA enhancement.”

“But you said that was impossible,” Drake argued.

“Outside of a research lab, certainly. As I told you, there have been some preclinical studies in rats that show a single injection of Tropoelastin into the heart a few days following a heart attack could turn back the clock, but this research isn’t anywhere near being allowed on humans.”

“That’s the stuff that means I can stretch, right?”

Doc Brown beamed at me. “Absolutely. It’s the protein that gives human tissue its elasticity, which scar tissue doesn’t have. And I have absolutely no idea why this would kick in now, but liquid chromatography is—” he stopped, looking a little sheepish as he registered he was getting a little carried away. “Sorry, not the time to go into the science and we cannot do a simple blood test to determine it, but at a guess you are producing higher than normal levels of this protein. Whatever is happening with your body is, truthfully, absolutely fascinating, especially as it wasn’t happening up to even two months ago, which is the last time I saw you.”

I thought about that. “I remember you telling me that enhanced heal better.”

He leaned forward. “Absolutely, but I’m talking about simple injuries. You don’t get the common cold, for example, and because each individual enhanced is different, it’s impossible to predict. There isn’t any recorded instance of someone recovering from major surgery in a day, or something like that, but minor injuries heal within hours, and we studied you for weeks. I have no idea why your tests should suddenly be so different.”

I met his gaze. “The only thing that’s changed is using my ability.”

“But one time?” he said incredulously.

I sighed and didn’t dare look at Drake. “I’ve used it three times in emergencies.” Well, I supposed four including running here.

His eyes widened, and I was pretty sure I was the only one who heard the noise from Drake. It sounded like a growl, but I’d been reading too many of his books. Humans didn’t growl.

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