Page 62 of Last Chance Love

“Huh, I guess I never really thought of how much freedom you have there. Like being able to take pills out of the clinic.”

“And being able to treat and diagnose people. Which isn’t something I should do, so one of the actual doctors has to sign off as if it were their own. The only one left who even bothers to question or double-check my work is…well, obvious.”

I snorted. “It’s so rare to hear you bitch about someone. So it’s funny how much of a hate boner you have for him.”

“It’s him with the hate boner,” Reed said, closing his book after marking the page. “Probably the only boner the old bastard has had in years.”

“What a lovely, kind thought,” I said with a grin.

“No kinder than he deserves,” Reed huffed. “And I should point out that you have a lot of freedom yourself.”

“Oh yeah. Chained to my ex-boyfriend, who monitors me like my personal health machine, I am living the dream.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I can leave you unsupervised soon. After tonight, I can go back to my cabin and sleep in my own bed, and you can be free.”

“And I’m sure you would love to sleep on something better than the cot on the floor,” I said with a snort. Reed hadn’t complained, but I knew that thing couldn’t be comfortable. It was basically a glorified pillow. Not that trying to cram both of us into my bed would have been all that comfortable. Well, it could have been if we made an effort to give each other space, but that came with…difficulties, namely the kind that involved a lot of physical contact.

We had been behaving ourselves since that first kiss, which continued to live free of charge in my head. We were both careful not to let touches linger and quickly pulled our gazes away if they lingered too long. Yet that kiss was always sitting between us, keeping me primed for something more. Even when he was the perfect professional gentleman, examining me without any subtext, I could still feel a humming energy beneath my skin as he checked my pulse, tested my mobility, and any other poking and prodding he had to do.

Despite what he’d just said, a strong song of disappointment sang in my head at the thought of him returning to his cabin. Once upon a time, I had been overjoyed tofinallyhave space, a cabin where I could decompress without someone else’s presence. Yet having Reed around wasn’t the same as ‘someone else.’ It was Reed.

It was odd having him around all the time, like time hadn’t passed despite knowing it had…at first. The time it had taken for me to adjust and grow used to his presence had been almost frightening in how fast it had been. Now, it had gone beyond that, and I was disappointed he would be moving out of my cabin.

“Did you tell Mona I was upgraded to trusted status?” I asked him with a snort.

“If she’s going to put me in charge of making sure you’re okay, then she can accept when I make the medical decision that you’re fine to be on your own,” he said with a shake of his head. “And if she can’t, she probably shouldn’t have put me in charge in the first place.”

Sometimes, that sheer confidence he carried around with him could be annoying, but it was mostly enviable. It wasn’t often he questioned his decisions, and it was downright rare for him to regret it. Maybe I would have been the same if I’d grown up responsible for only me and my life instead of two others, or maybe I would always worry about whether I was doing the right thing because that’s just who I was.

“Well, the one thing you can confidently say about Mona is if she’s not happy with something, she’ll let you know,” I said with a little laugh.

“That’s very true,” he said, squinting at the sky. “It’s about dinner time, isn’t it?”

“That it is,” I said.

“So, are you feeling up to eating with everyone else, or do you want to dine in with me again?” he asked, glancing at me.

It was asked so casually, but there was a hint of something in his voice. I didn’t quite want to call it hope, but it was very close. The question was what did he hope I would decide, which was far trickier to answer.

“Your last night with me, huh?” I asked.

“Sure, you seem strong enough to get around on your own. Hell, after I make you sit down for a couple of hours, get food into you, and one of those pills, you’ll probably be back to your baseline for the rest of the night,” he said with a shrug. “You might not be a teenager anymore, but you’re still young enough to bounce back, and you’re in good shape and eat well, which is a big player in recovery. In another week, you’ll probably only have faded bruises and some minor aches.”

At the very least, it was nice to have my head cleared of the stabbing agony that had followed me around for the first few days. The pills he gave me were good enough to take the edge off the pain, which I was going to need tonight since I’d decided to exert myself. The pills hadn’t touched the damn migraine, but it was blissfully gone, leaving me alone in my head.

“I want to stay here and relax for a while,” I said, knowing I needed it before I got to my cabin and also to please him. “The bell won’t be for another twenty minutes or so.”

“Alright, you can head back on your own,” he said with a smile, setting the book in his lap. “I’ll get us some food. Then come back, and we can chow down. I’m sure you’re hungry.”

I was ravenous, but that wasn’t important. “Sure, we can have our last supper.”

“Mmm, would that make us Jesus and Judas?”

“That would involve touching someone’s feet. I’m good.”

* * *

“Ahhh,”I groaned as the wonderfully hot water gushed down my body, soothing the ache in my muscles. I returned to the cabin and sat around for almost fifteen minutes, wondering what was taking Reed so long before deciding to shower.

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