Page 15 of Brax

“No, honey. Does she think that?” Brax nodded. “Huh, what do you know? Our genius doesn’t know everything. I’ll speak with her, but the embryo obviously develops into a clone, which is genetically identical to the donor.”

“So, if her donor is still out there, in theory, like Michelle, she’ll be identical to Stephanie in every way.”

“God, this is so scary to me,” said Brax.

“Imagine how she feels,” said Riley. “She’s walking the street one day and runs into herself. Pretty scary.”

“She was told that her donor was dead,” said Brax.

“Did it ever occur to any of you that there is more than one?” said Riley. The shocked expression on their faces told her that they had not even given that a second thought.

“Look. There was an original donor, and that donor could very well be alive or dead. But what if they tried several before they got Stephanie? What if the only problem with her was that she wasn’t compliant and couldn’t be easily manipulated?”

“Damn. We have to find all the versions of the woman I love.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

“Alright, young lady,” smiled Gabi. “You are officially discharged to return to your cottage, but I have a few rules.”

“Our cottage,” smiled Brax. Gabi laughed at him, nodding her head.

“Right, sorry. Your cottage, together. No sudden movements, no jostling, no alcohol, no physical activity of any kind right now. Including sex.”

“It’s okay, Gabi. That can wait,” smiled Brax.

“Says you,” smirked Stephanie. They both chuckled, and Brax kissed her sweetly.

“If you get any headaches, sudden neck or back pain, call us immediately. Bleeding from anywhere, blood in your urine or stool, we need to know about it.”

“I get it,” nodded Stephanie. “Basically, sit still until told otherwise.”

“Exactly. You can take short walks either early in the morning or later in the evening when it’s cooler, but preferably with a partner, just in case.”

“I can do that,” she smiled. “I’m just ready to get out of here. Not that I haven’t appreciated all of your amazing care and, of course, the delightfully handsome nursing staff, but I’m ready. Should I visit the pond?”

“You definitely can,” said Gabi. “You don’t have any glaring injuries that it will heal, but it could help with the dizziness.”

“Wait, can we return to the delightfully handsome nursing staff?” frowned Braxton.

“Oh, come on,” giggled Stephanie. “You’re telling me that you’ve never noticed that Doc, Wilson, and Cruz look like the new Vegas show of naughty nurses?”

“Alright,” he said, tossing up his hands. “I do not want to hear about anyone thinking of those three as ‘naughty nurses,’ let alone handsome. I get it. They’re all nice-looking men. But they’re all old enough to be your grandfather.”

“Relax,” smiled Stephanie. “I didn’t say I wanted to date them. Just look at them.”

“I agree,” smiled Gabi. “We all joke about it around here, but we have the best-looking nursing staff, male and female, of any hospital I’ve ever been a part of.”

“See,” smiled Stephanie. “Even the doctor agrees.”

“Agrees with what?” asked Doc.

“They’re talking about you, Wilson, and Cruz being the best-looking male nursing staff around,” frowned Brax. Doc smirked, nodding his head.

“Well, while we all appreciate the compliments, we sincerely hope that you appreciated the great care, not the great-looking care.”

“Obviously,” smiled Stephanie. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“You didn’t embarrass me, honey. We’ve been dealing with women for a long, long time, and we can all tell stories of the very handsy experiences with female patients. In fairness, so can Riley, Gabi, Kennedy, Ajei, Lena, and Kelsey. Hell, even Virginia, Lucinda, and Khloe. I thought Irish was gonna lose his shit the other day when a concussion patient tried to kiss her.”

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