Page 66 of Connected

“Well, okay then…” he sighs loudly, “let’s make a start, shall we. If you want to strip down and get comfortable, I have to go rearrange my next appointment, and then I’ll be back.”

“Riley… Thank you. I know this is a lot to ask, and it means a lot that you would help me.”

“Sure… Okay, I’ll be right back.”

Kat sighs as she looks around the stark clinical-white of the room. Unzipping her jeans, she pulls them down and takes off her underwear. Laying back on the plastic-covered couch, she stares up at the bright lights above her head and takes a deep breath. Closing her eyes, a huge tear rolls down her cheeks and she swallows nervously.

“Oh, get a fuckin grip, Kat. This is your own damn fault.” She berates herself as Luna howls mournfully—snapping in a loud yapping frenzy inside her head. Kat can tell She’s angry about her plan and it takes all her concentration to stop the wolf from forcing a shift.

“Will you just shut the fuck up,” Kat snaps at her. “I know what you’re thinking and… I’ll let you do it—one day. I’m sorry, it’s just not the right time. I can’t go through with this so please, shut the hell up.”

***

From where he’s positioned between Kat’s thighs, Riley pushes the wheeled stool back. Snapping the latex gloves, he takes them off and drops them in the trash behind, then lifting her legs from the stirrups he helps her sit up.

“Okay, so we’re all finished up. You can get dressed now,” he says with a brusk tone as he avoids her gaze. “I’ll let you finish dressing and be right back.”

Kat sits up, her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, and swiftly covers herself with the folded sheet before grabbing her jeans from the chair at the side of the room.

“I am all right though? I mean, down there, everything is okay. Only you seem a little… off.”

“Um… yeah, yeah everything’s fine. Oh, you have a small tear, but nothing that won’t heal in a couple of days. Might be a little sore for a while, so just keep things extra clean and probably best to avoid penetrative sex until it feels better.”

“Okay, I got it. But there was nothing untoward? It’s just it… well, it hurts—a lot.”

“Yeah, I can imagine, well actually I can’t but you know what I mean,” he smiles.

“Um-hm. Riley, I know this feels a little awkward—understatement—right? But I wanted to say thank you.”

“It’s fine.” He takes a deep breath. “So, we’re all done, now are you sure you still want to go through with—this?”

“Um-hm. Yeah, I’m sure.”

“All right well then I’ll go find Quinn. I’ll get him to fill the prescription—that way there won’t be any questions and no, come back on me.”

“Wait… You’re not going to tell it’s for me though, right? Please, Riley, you can’t tell him that.”

“Kat… as you well know, this is a regulated drug and I can’t just dole it out like that. There are hospital protocols that I need to circumvent and my brother can do that. Oh, yeah, he thinks I don’t know what he does; that I’m some kinda doofus—oblivious to what goes on, but I know he deals hospital meds; provides pharma to the dealers at the clubs.”

“Oh wow… Sorry, I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah, well, sometimes I wish I didn’t know either, then I wouldn’t have to turn a blind eye. I mean, I can’t report my own brother, right? So, I have to stay quiet. But trust me, I don’t like it—any of it.”

“And now I’m asking you to turn a blind eye too. Riley, I’m so sorry for involving you in this.”

“I know, but like you said, there’s no one else.”

“Yeah, I guess. Thank you, for being so understanding.” She takes a hold of his hand and smiles, “Hey, should we go for some dinner, later?”

“Uh… you know what, I think I’ll pass. I have a backlog of reports to catch up on and some other stuff I need to take care of.”

“Oh, okay sure… I get it.”

“You get it? Kat, what’s with the tone? You get what?”

“I get you don’t agree with this—with what I’m doing. You don’t think I should do it, do you?”

“It’s not my decision, but I told you I would help you to do it safely, and I will. Mostly because I think you’ll do it anyway, and I don’t want anything to happen to you. But if we’re being honest here, then no, no I don’t agree with it. But there are lots of things I don’t agree with, but I do them because they’re in my patient’s best interests. And like you said—your body, your decision. I do have one thing to add. One thing I really don’t agree with, I think you should’ve talked to Digby before you did this—I think he has a right to know. You should tell him, explain why, and give him a chance to be there for you. Because that’s the right thing to do. And from personal experience, he deserves to be part of this decision.”

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