Herold nods.
“Click it twice.”
Herold double taps his mouse.
“Now you’re going to see all their information pop up, from their address, birth date, insurance information, and more. On the left-hand side there will be a series of tabs. I’m assuming you’re trying to access someone’s x-rays, so . . . did we do it here, or did the hospital send it in?”
“Hospital,” Herold answers me lowly, craning his neck to get closer to the screen.
“Tap on the upload button then, because it’s something I would’ve uploaded into our system.”
“You mean the old system?” Herold questions.
“Yes, but when it transferred it would’ve gone to the upload section.”
“Stupid,” He grumbles, showing he’s not pleased.
“Smart,” I retort back, sticking my tongue out at him.
“Don’t you have work to be doing? We have our new patient who will be here any minute now.” Herold tells me, so I take the hint and leave him alone, walking to the front. Once I’m there I take my jacket off, put my coffee down behind my receptionist desk, and set the bag down next to my coffee. I turn the phones off voicemail mode and go to unlock the door, then come back over to the desk.
Every morning I sort through the patient files before we open while I eat whatever I’m having for breakfast. I take a couple sips of coffee and grab a giant bite of my burrito when the door to the clinic opens. It must be the new patient.
“Hi. How’re you today?” I ask, while chewing like a starved cow. Once I swallow, I look up and see him.
“Good morning.” He smiles brightly, flashing his pearly whites.
I raise my brows, a bit taken aback. “Morning. Um, thank you for the breakfast. You didn’t have to do that but thank you.”
“It was my pleasure. Looked like you had a rough mornin’, then Chas’ told me you’re a single mom of three girls and I figured you could use a little pick me up.”
“Chas’?” I question, never hearing this nickname before.
“Yeah.”
“You know her, on a personal level?” I wonder if they’ve been sleeping together and she’s kept it from me. The last time I remember she was seeing a guy . . . God, what was his name?
“Sorta. She was datin’ one of my brothers, Turmoil. Told her she was too good for him, though.” The man before me chuckles.
Turmoil? I thought she was joking when she told me that was his name . . . Lord, people name their kids some weird stuff around here. “It was probably true. She’s a real sweetheart.”
“Yeah, she sure is. So, am I supposed to give you my name or something?”
I nod like an idiot, completely forgetting I’m at work. “Yes, sorry.”
He smiles again. “Grim Braxton.”
Like I said, weird names up here. “Ah, you’re our new patient.” I say, realizing this is the guy whose chart I was reading over yesterday. The one who was lucky as can be. He could’ve died from his motorcycle accident.
“That would be me. Y’all come highly recommended.”
“Am I hearin’ things or did I just hear Grim Braxton?” Herold comes walking down the hallway and comes to the front.
“Shit, Mr. Her?” Grim sounds happy as can be.
Mr. Her? What in the world . . .
“Natalie, why didn’t you tell me who I was seeing today?!”
I blink a couple of times. “I don’t know, maybe because I never do. You see the patients when they get here. It’s your rule.”
“Well, this is Grim.” Herold smiles brightly, smacking Grim on the back.
“I know,” I mutter, getting a bit annoyed. Though, I notice as he smacks Grim on the back he grimaces in pain.
“Grim here helped me out ages ago when I got a flat on a snowy day. I think that was the first winter you came here, what, ten, fifteen years ago?”
“Give or take,” Grim chuckles.
“Anyway, Grim and his brother Axel helped me out. Those two became part of our family really quick, helped us out with stuff on the farm while we were waiting to hire some help.”
“It was our pleasure. You gave us a place to stay while we were looking to get settled up here. Say, you heard from Wrath lately?” Grim asks, letting go of the older man.
“Wrath!?” I question, not understanding the names they use up this way.
“My son, Walter. He joined the Reapers MC for a while before he went nomad. His road name is Wrath.”
“I didn’t even know you had a son,” I’ve been working for Herold for almost a year and I’m just now finding this out.
“Yep, and to answer your question, Grim, I haven’t heard from him in a bit. I know he was spending some time up in New York. You know that lady Prez up in Queens. He went to help her out with something.”
“Ah, Boss. I gotchu.” Grim says, sounding like he doesn’t like what he’s heard.
“Let’s take you in the back, shall we?” Herold says.
Grim nods and he takes him in the back to his exam room. Meanwhile, I chow down the rest of my burrito, ready the rest of the patients’ charts for the day, and answer the phone. We’ve had a couple of cancellations, but that typically happens. I’m betting within an hour we’ll be fully booked again. Herold is the best chiropractor around from what everyone says. He’s even worked on my neck when I’ve had some bad pain. I hold a good amount of my stress in my neck and shoulders. Lucky for me, Herold doesn’t make me pay for adjustments.
I walk around the desk and turn left, heading back through the area we have reserved for when patients need to be iced down, or need to use the TENS units to reduce some pain and tension.
I walk straight into Grim, my coffee splashing over the both of us. It’s warm, warmer than I thought it would be. Shite! “Fuck, I’m so sorry.”
“And here I was just complainin’ it was cold.” He lets out a chortle.
I don’t realize what I’ve done, but my hand is right below his stomach, almost on his cock as I’m patting the wetness. I rip it away, feeling the heat flush through my cheeks. “Goodness, I’m so sorry. God.”
“Wanna make it up to me?” He asks, causing me to look up at him.
“Yes, I’m terribly sorry. I’m normally not so clumsy.”
“Coffee on Thursday. My treat. See you then, Java.”
He walks past me, heading toward the door. “My name is Natalie,” I say, getting a smile back in response as he leaves the building.
Herold comes walking up to the front, “Please tell me he not only booked his next appointments, but got a TENS unit, some Biofreeze, and a back brace?”
“I’m not going to lie to you, boss.”
“You’re gonna leave thirty minutes early and take it all over to him. I don’t want him hurting that much. Poor guy.” Herold shakes his head.
“Herold, I . . . we don’t take things to patients like that.”
“We do now. I’ll give you his address and everything. Leave an hour early with pay if you want.”
An hour early . . . with pay? Don’t mind if I do. Making this one delivery probably won’t be that bad.