“You could stand a few feet away,” Doc told him with a glare.
Linc crossed his arms over his chest and took one step back. Doc started muttering under his breath about overbearing cowboys.
“Let’s take your temperature now that you’re no longer roasting under ten layers of clothing.”
Linc just snorted.
Doc used an ear thermometer. It beeped and he looked at it. “It’s good. You ever had your temperature taken with a rectal thermometer, Linc?”
“No,” Linc growled.
Doc turned and grinned at him. “Something to look forward to then.”
She gasped. But then Doc turned back to her and gave her a wink. She dropped her head to hide her smile.
“I usually only use them with sick Littles, but I think from now on whenever someone is late, they’ll get them at their next check-up.”
“If you think that scares me, you don’t know me that well,” Linc replied.
Doc finished up the rest of the exam. “Right, Marisol, everything looks good. But I want to take some blood. Okay?”
“All right.”
Even though she was used to needles and pricking herself, she just hated having blood drawn. It was something about seeing the blood squirt into the tube.
“Hey, you’ve gone all pale,” Linc crooned. “Want to sit on my lap while Doc takes your blood?”
She nodded.
Linc helped her down then led her to the chairs. He sat with her on his lap. Maybe she should have felt silly, being in this position. But as he guided her to bury her face in his neck, she just felt protected.
“That’s it, teeny. Doc’s just going to take a small bit of blood and then you’ll get a Band-Aid.”
“I’ve got different Band-Aids for each of my girls,” Doc told her. Each of his girls? Did he mean all the Littles?
“Let me see, there’s bumblebee ones for Caley. Bears for Ellie. Rabbit ones for Abby. Charlie has mermaid ones. Daisies for Daisy. Eden just likes pale blue ones and Ari has these pretty gold, glittery ones. We tried to find koala ones for Gigi, but that proved a bit hard. So she likes the princess ones. Want any of those?”
“I’d like the princess one please.”
“Good. That’s all done. Linc, hold that there for me and apply pressure.”
She moved her face away from Linc’s neck and looked down at her arm in amazement. “It’s done? I didn’t even feel it.”
“All done.”
Linc removed his hand as Doc put the Band-Aid on. She looked down at the princess Band-Aid with a smile. Doc moved back around his desk and sat.
“When are you going to come into the twenty-first century and use technology?” Linc teased Doc who wrote on a pad.
“Bite me,” Doc replied.
“Now, Doc, I thought you’d never ask.”
Doc shook his head. “All I get around here is insolence. I need to ask Kent for a raise. Anything else you want to mention, Marisol?”
“Umm, no, I don’t think so.”
“Linc, can you go get us some cookies from the kitchen?”
Linc sighed. “Why am I fetching cookies?”
“Don’t you want any?” Doc replied.
“What flavor are they? They’re not bran and raisin or something like that, are they?” Linc asked suspiciously.
“Chocolate chip. Go.”
Linc turned to her. “That okay with you?”
She nodded. “It’s fine.”
“I’ll bring her to you safe and sound in a few minutes.” Doc waited until Linc deposited her in her own chair then got up and left, closing the door behind him.
“Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite,” she said sadly.
“There aren’t any.”
“What?”
“There aren’t any cookies. Well, not where he’ll find them anyway. But I figured it would keep him busy for a few minutes. Wanted to talk to you alone.”
“Oh. What about?”
“Just wanted to check there wasn’t anything you wanted to talk to me about that you couldn’t say in front of Linc. I know that you were attacked recently.”
She swallowed heavily. Right. That’s what he wanted to talk about.
“I noticed the bruises on your neck.”
She raised her hand. “They’re much better.”
“Linc said he strangled you. Threatened you. He do anything else?” There was a softness to his face even if his words sounded abrupt.
“No.”
He watched her for a long moment. “You wouldn’t lie to me?”
She shook her head. “I’m not. Really. He didn’t assault me or anything. He didn’t get that chance.”
“But he threatened to. That can be terrifying.”
“It was.”
“If you want someone to talk to, I know a passably good therapist.”
“You’re recommending a passably good therapist?” she asked with surprise.
“It’s my brother. I can’t give him too much praise. His head is big enough as it is and I have to live with him. For some reason, Caley loves him.”
She had to bite back a grin. “Can I think about it?”
He gave an abrupt nod. “You’re happy staying with Linc? I don’t think he’d pressure you into anything . . .”
“He hasn’t,” she said quickly. “He’d never do that.”
“Good,” he said softly. “Is there anything else?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Are you on birth control? Would you like to talk about options?”
“I’m not . . . I haven’t . . . yes, maybe,” she changed direction quickly, thinking it over. It would be the sensible thing to do.
“Do you notice that your blood sugars fluctuate more around your period?”
She nodded.
“Let’s talk through your options then you can have a think about it. All right?”
They spent the next ten minutes discussing everything.
“Any more questions?” Doc asked her.
“No. Thank you.”
“Good. We’re finished here,” Doc said abruptly. He stood. “Let’s go find Linc. Think he’s gotten lost looking for imaginary cookies.”
Oh, he was terrible.
He strode from the office but she took a bit longer and by the time she stepped out of the waiting room and into the hallway, he had disappeared.
“Urgh! This is so annoying!”
Marisol watched in shock as a gorgeous, blonde-haired woman stomped into the hallway. Recognizing her instantly, she froze.
CJ Bennett.
Okay, so she’d already met her. But she hadn’t known who she was. This was her favorite author. Her idol. And she currently had her forehead pressed to the wall of the hallway, her fists slamming against the walls.
“It’s a terrible story, with a horrible plot. Everyone is going to hate it! This is going to be the end of my career.”
“I’m sure it’s not,” Marisol said quietly. She felt like she had to say something. How could Caley think her book would be terrible when Marisol devoured every word she wrote as though they were water drops and she was dying of thirst?
“What?” Caley whirled, her feet stumbling over nothing as her arms wind-milled in the air. “Ohh.”