Page 45 of Black Heart

He shrugged. “I’m an asshole, plain and simple.”

“That doesn’t seem to bother you.”

Tristan pursed his lips, thinking it over. “It’s a character flaw.”

“I see,” Dr. Bryne said and Tristan could tell the man was struggling not to smile.

“I’m glad that you do,” Tristan murmured, gesturing for him to get on with it.

“You know, I’ve been meaning to ask you about something, but since you’ve been skipping our sessions lately, I haven’t had the chance.”

Tristan rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, well, I’ve been busy with the voices in my head and all. Plus, those damn pink bunnies are really demanding.”

Dr. Bryne glared at him but continued. “I wanted to ask how things were working out with Marty. I know that the two of you used to be childhood friends and drifted apart for a while there. It must be nice catching up after all this time.”

Well, that was unexpected. “It’s fine,” Tristan bit out evenly.

He didn’t come here to talk about Marty. Hell, he’d spent most of the night working and trying to forget about her. Not that it actually worked, but at least he managed to get through most of the files.

“Is there something in particular that you wanted to talk about, Tristan?”

“I need you to sign off on my sheet so that I can be released from medical leave.”

Dr. Bryne frowned. “From what I’ve been told, you’re already working as though you’re off medical leave. You’re driving, responding to calls, and making arrests. Why do you suddenly care about a piece of paper?”

“Careful, lad. He’s a tricky bastard,” Shayne said from his spot behind Dr. Bryne’s desk. Tristan’s gaze automatically shot to Shayne. Dr. Bryne followed the movement and frowned.

“Is something wrong?” Dr. Bryne asked.

“No,” Tristan said as he turned his attention back to the doctor. “Now, about that signature. You’re right. I’ve been working, however, as long as I have that medical restriction hanging over my head, I have to bring Marty along and that’s putting her in danger.”

“So, don’t do anything dangerous.”

Tristan barely stopped himself from cursing. He took a calming breath before he continued. “I don’t really have a choice, Doc.”

“I see.”

Tristan sure as hell hoped that he did. If he could get off medical, he would only have to worry about dealing with Marty in their office. He’d stick around until she got serious with another guy. Then, he’d leave and never look back.

“Were you able to get your doctor to sign off on your shoulder?”

“They signed off last week.” Mostly because they wanted to make sure that they never had to see him again. The terms may have been something along the lines of him never returning there even if he was dying. It had been an easy promise to make. So, what if he now had to drive two hours to the nearest office if he needed an exam? It was worth it.

“Then, let’s talk about the shooting. How does it make you feel now?”

His gaze shot to Shayne. He had to tread carefully and with Shayne reading through his file behind the good doctor’s back, he had the upper hand. He hadn’t missed Shayne’s soft chuckles over the past couple of minutes either.

“Well, that’s…that’s just not right,” Shayne muttered with atskthat had Tristan glaring at the bastard.

He forced himself to stay where he was when all he wanted to do was to walk over there and tear the file away from Shayne so that he could read it. No doubt the man was just fucking with his head.

“Tristan?” Dr. Bryne said, drawing his attention.

Oh, that’s right.

He cleared his throat pointedly. “You wanted to know how I feel about the shooting?” Tristan asked, hoping Shayne would stop laughing his ass off and give him the information that he needed.

“He has no problem with yer outlook on the shooting, lad. He has other concerns about ye, so just answer honestly,” Shayne said without looking up from the file.

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