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Only, around that time, someone stepped in through the door with official-looking papers in his hand.
I frowned.
“Memphis Downy?” he rumbled.
She held up her finger at him. “One moment.”
The man didn’t look like the type of man that was used to waiting. Not at all.
But Memphis didn’t give him the option.
“Perform the scan,” she said, sounding sad. “Then, when you’re done, tell them to go see their doctor. Reiterate that it’s important. Don’t allude to anything that’s wrong. I know it’s hard, but sadly we’re not allowed to give any medical advice at all.”
With that, she squeezed my shoulders.
My eyes met Lock’s over his mother’s head, and I saw the devastation and worry in them…for me.
I swallowed hard, then turned around to do my job.
***
I walked out of the office later that day with much less pep in my step than when I’d walked in.
When I’d closed, Memphis had left to attend to some business after ensuring I was okay. She’d thrust a key into my hand, given me a hug, then left without another word.
I saw two more patients after the lovely couple that just had their worlds rocked, and I was still just as sad as when I’d left them.
I just stepped out and locked the door when I heard a bike pull up and come to a stop.
I looked up to find Lock kicking the stand down on his bike and pulling off his helmet.
He still had his Ray-Bans on that were hiding his eyes, but I knew they were soft and trained solely on me.
He was at my side six strides later and was staring down at me with the sweetest expression on his face that I’d ever seen.
“Hey,” he said.
A soft ‘hey’ left my lips.
“Can I do anything to put a smile on your face?” he said, trailing his fingers down the length of my cheek.
No.
I was devastated.
The day had been hard.
So fucking hard.
I’d, of course, known that there was always the possibility of that happening. It was, sadly, a common occurrence. Not something that happened every day, but it was definitely something that I’d encountered a few times while I was going to school.
But those times I’d always had someone there to help.
Today, I hadn’t.
I’d had to perform the task, then send the lady on her way with the recommendation that she go see her doctor.
I’d given her a CD full of images of her deceased baby.
A baby that had likely only perished hours or days ago since he still looked so perfect and healthy.
They’d been so happy…
“No,” I admitted. “I’m okay.”
Lies.
Total lies.
And he seemed to see that, too.
But he didn’t say a word.
Instead, he led me to his bike.
“My car…”
He squeezed my hand and then pulled me deeper into his tall frame, taking my bag from me when we got to his bike and gesturing for me to get on.
I did, then took the helmet he also held out to me and shoved it unceremoniously onto my head, then held my hand out for my bag.
He handed it to me and waited until I was situated before he got on the bike in front of me.
But he didn’t start it up, and I didn’t say a word.
Instead, I leaned my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes.
“Baby, talk to me.”
I blinked, staring up at Lock, who was half-turned to look at me, with surprise evident on my face.
“We’re going to get something to eat,” he said once my eyes met his.
Then he started his bike up and pulled out of the parking spot. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I wasn’t hungry.
He was being so sweet.
And I smiled inwardly when he took me to one of my favorite places in the world.
We didn’t get off, though. Instead, he went through the drive-through and I was so fucking happy I couldn’t express how much. I couldn’t get out. I just wasn’t up to dealing with people.
Over the last couple of weeks, Lock had really come to know me.
I was now sharing a house with him—and a bed—thanks to the damage that’d been done to the roof.
Damage that was, in fact, way worse than we’d originally thought.
There was going to be a major rehaul of the place that was going to be much more extensive than just getting a new roof put on like we’d originally thought.
So now, at two weeks of officially knowing Lock Downy, I was living with him.
Not only was I living with him, but I was sleeping in his bed every night. Sleeping with him every night, if you caught my drift.
We ate dinner together when he and I both got home on time.
We watched movies.
We dated…without actually categorizing ourselves as ‘dating.’
It was incredibly weird…and I liked it.
I only wished we could put an actual label on it if only to make my mind be able to more properly handle the situation.
