Page 65 of All of Me

“Sounds fine to me,” I agreed quietly and glanced at Diesel. “Thank you,” I said, and meant it for a bunch of other things aswell. He stood and slapped me on the back a little too forcefully. Then with a wave at Shae, he left.

Shae’s treadmill was slowing, and I could hear the tech telling him to shake his arms out and breathe as it slowed.

It was the final test before Dr. Brown saw him, and despite Shae looking relaxed, I could see the tension lines around his mouth and knew the smiles were a little forced. He got off and was offered a shower. I knew he’d accept, but I grabbed his hand and yanked him down over my lap, ignoring the twinge in my chest.

“Drake,” Shae squirmed. Fuck, I was so hard. He made me so hard, even though I couldn’t do anything yet, and the moment he sat on me, I knew he’d felt it as his eyes widened. I took his mouth. I didn’t care about the technicians or the nurses. All I felt was Shae.

I heard a giggle from Masie. “Maybe we needed to do a stress test of a different variety?”

Then I heard a snort and knew who it was. Nurse fucking Harwood, who ruled the team downstairs. She had very differing opinions than mine on what I could or could not do. What I could or could not eat. When I should sleep. And when Jay visited me with a bottle of Planteray Single Cask Jamaica 2017, she thought because I took a bullet, it would stop me having a couple of fingers’ worth.

She was wrong.

But she’d made me suffer for it ever since.

I narrowed my eyes at her. She didn’t work up here, so her intimidation tactics didn’t work. She sent me a challenging look back but then left.

“She’s so sweet.” Shae’s eyes followed her.

Sweet?The fuck?

Then Dr. Brown came in and asked for everyone to leave the room. I frowned and glanced at Shae, but he grinned. Doc Brownshrugged his shoulders. “You said you have something for my eyes only?”

And I hissed in a breath. We had no idea how Shae could walk through walls. He’d blurred running on the specially adapted treadmill but he hadn’tvanishedwhich was smart in front of witnesses. I had no idea he’d decided to trust the doc.

“What’s on your office desk right now I won’t find anywhere else?”

Doc Brown studied Shae, but all he said was, “A picture of my wife and daughter.”

I blinked and Shae was standing there holding it.

Doc Brown gaped. “I—you were so fast I didn’t even see the door open and close.”

“Because it didn’t,” Shae said. “The bullet hit Drake because I was going so fast it passed through me but didn’t even make a hole, or do any damage. How is that even possible?”

The doc reached out for a chair and sank into it as if his legs weren’t supporting him. not that I blamed him.

“This is confidential,” I cautioned, and both Shae and the doc sent me a disapproving look.

He leaned back in his chair and I could tell the doc was thinking. “I did a lot of research on enhanced when I became your cardiologist, but both the problem and the fascination is that each of you are vastly different, and as far as I am aware there aren’t any other enhanced with your ability. Many with your regenerative powers but even in that you are unusual. You heal by using your power which is definitely evolutionary, certainly for you.”

“He paused. “So this is completely theoretical even by scientific standards.” He gazed at us both and we nodded. “According to the theory of relativity only massless particles—like photons or light particles—can travel at the speed of light. The massless particles can therefore pass through solid objects.It’s why light can pass through glass for example.” He chuckled and waved a hand. “I’m no physicist, but if you’re reaching that speed then I would guess that’s the explanation, on a very unscientific rudimentary level,” he added.

“You mean I become massless?” Shae asked.

Doc Brown looked at us both. “You have two choices. You can submit yourself for scientific research or you can go home and enjoy your life.” He stood. “Pretty sure I know which you’ll choose.” I grinned. “Come on,” the Doc said and stood. “Let’s go look at your other results.”

I could see the immediate change in Shae, the worry, even with what he’d just demonstrated and I was desperate to soothe him. Shae took hold of the chair and steered me to Dr. Brown’s office. He parked me next to another chair, and I grabbed Shae’s hand before he got any idea we weren’t in this together.

Dr. Brown was looking at slides on the wall. A little like x-rays, but I knew they weren’t. He turned and smiled. “Firstly, I told you I normally take time to analyze the data from these sorts of tests, so I haven’t had time to do anything other than gather a first impression.”

“Which is?” I asked, because I’d felt Shae almost shrink at my side, expecting bad news.

He met Shae’s eyes, and went to sit down. “The repairs to the scarring on your heart are nothing short of exceptional.” Shae’s fingers tightened around my hand. “I’ve never seen this sort of recovery in all my years as a cardiologist.” Dr. Brown leaned back in his chair. “Your body is healing itself in real time.”

Shae leaned into me and deflated like a cushion. I knew he was stressed, but hadn’t realized how much until he let it go. He glanced at me and then back at the doctor. “So, you think my ability is evolving?” he grinned. The nurse was in the room and hadn’t just witnessed what we had.

Dr. Brown smiled indulgently. “I think that’s a safe bet, yes.”

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