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Eventually, Danielle had to answer her phone as her mother was calling. She said she had to leave, and I was left alone in the booth.
I was tempted to go into the security trailer, but I wasn’t sure anyone was in there, and within the view of others right now was probably the best option for the situation.
I tested my neck and other spots on my body. I was sore all over. I’d huddled up in the booth for so long, trying to hide.
It seemed ages before Dr. Green finally appeared. I’d almost fallen asleep leaning against the wall. He slid into the booth next to me, reaching around to grab a menu. “I’m starving,” he said.
I blinked, rubbing at my eyes. He was in jeans and a T-shirt, his hair was combed back. His green eyes glanced over the menu.
I coughed once. “What’s going on?”
“What’s going on is I’m going to order something.” He looked over at me and smiled, though he looked tired. “And we are going to go to the trailer so you can get some sleep.” He paused. “Are you hungry or tired?”
I wasn’t sure I could eat. I was tired, but I was so worked up, and worried. But since he wasn’t answering, perhaps he wouldn’t talk here. “I don’t need anything.”
He glanced around and then leaned into me close. “You sure?” he whispered.
I tried to smile for him. “I’m just tired. And worried.”
He kept looking at me, over my face. I wasn’t sure if he was waiting for me to say something more, or if he was the one wanting to say something.
He reached under the table, gently touching at my leg. I imagined he didn’t really want anyone else to notice this. “You’re enchanting when you’re sleepy.”
I warmed inside, although I couldn’t put together what to say to him. His sweet nature could make me, for a moment, feel like everything was just fine.
He put the menu down and slid out of the booth, reaching out for my hand. “I can order at the bar. What’s the fastest thing for them to make?”
It was a good idea to get out of here. Exhausted and overwhelmed, sitting up in a booth was making my body ache. “Salad,” I said. I tried to recall what food was usually pre-prepared and the chef didn’t have to bother with much to put together. “And pie. Wait...maybe biscuits and gravy.”
“All delicious,” he said.
I walked with him to the counter, where he ordered two of all I’d suggested: salad, peach pie because that was what they had at the moment, and the biscuits. It was only a few minutes before the waitress came out with two takeaway containers filled with all of it. He dropped two twenties onto the counter for her and left without asking for any change.
The air outside the diner was damp and cool. The quiet disturbed me. Perhaps because I knew that just a few houses down, there might still be a cop car. Or Hendricks. The fight before I ran off, the noise and fear, it should have been awakening the entire street. With only a couple of dark cars parked in the lot, and the streets quiet, it felt strange.
Footsteps approached, breaking the quiet around us. I bumped into Dr. Green, keeping close. My paranoia was at maximum. He clutched the food containers and took a step in front of me, not going too far from the door to where we could retreat.
Kota appeared around the side of the diner. He had on a green hoodie, and he looked up as he approached.
Dr. Green turned to him, holding the containers. “Oh, it’s just you,” he said. “I almost threw this at you. Wait, I thought I was taking her.”
“I’d like to bring her back with me,” he said. “If that’s okay.”
“Well,” Dr. Green said, appearing to study Kota for a moment before turning his attention to me. “I guess. That okay with you?”
Part of me was rattled through with the idea of returning to the house. Not because I didn’t trust Kota or anything like that. It was returning to the scene of what happened. However, the concerned face Kota had told me he needed me with him. “What did you tell Erica?”
“I told her we’d talk to her in the morning,” he said. “She took the day off for it. But, I kind of want you there. If that’s okay. She may have a few questions. But I made her promise to let us sleep first. Give us a chance to calm down after all this.”
“So this is it,” Dr. Green said. “We’re telling her? How much?”
Kota shrugged. “I’m going to play it by ear. She’ll want to know about why they were after Sang. After that...I might tell her about Nathan.”
“You should,” I said. I crossed my arms across my stomach, bracing against the cool air outside. “After everything Nathan has done for all of us this week, he doesn’t deserve the reputation he’s built up...and he did it to protect us.”
“You don’t know what he’s been up to,” Dr. Green said, looking down at his feet.
Puzzled, I waited for an explanation, and when he didn’t come up with one, I turned to Kota. “What is he talking about?”
“I don’t know,” Kota said, an eyebrow cocked. “What are you talking about?”
“We heard about Nathan asking you to visit Lily,” Dr. Green said. He picked his head up, his expression grim. “He’s on my naughty list at the moment.”
I shared a look with Kota as we tried to figure out if he was talking about something else other than what we already knew. “You mean when Kota went to ask Lily about me?” I asked.
Dr. Green reeled his head back in surprise. “What? You know?”
“I knew a week ago,” I said. “Kota told me.”
“Yeah,” Kota said. “Wait, is that why the others were kind of off this week? And Nathan’s been keeping to himself? They found out about that?”
Were they off about Nathan? Mad at him about it? And maybe with Kota, too?
“I didn’t know she knew.” He turned to me. “Look, we didn’t like that he went behind our backs and basically asked her to break us up.”
“He didn’t ask that,” Kota said. “He asked to be sure...she was into it.” He turned to me and I nodded in confirmation. “We didn’t do it with the intention to break anyone up.”
Dr. Green juggled the containers so he could hold them under one arm. “Maybe we were more tired and angry about other things and we took it out on him. I might have hit him a few times...”
“Doc!” Kota sputtered.
“With a notebook. He could take it.”
Kota pushed a palm into his face and held. “My god...”
Dr. Green looked Kota’s way sheepishly. “I was only trying to get him to understand we don’t like feeling like you all are looking for reasons not to even try without giving it your all first. I’m all in. And I guess those of us who are in don’t understand why you’re not all in, too.”
“You can’t ask people just to be in on it,” Kota said. “Feelings don’t work like that. Not everyone is the same.” He motioned to him. “You should go see her. Nathan and I were considering long term. Future plans...”
“I was, too,” Dr. Green said.
“Maybe,” Kota said. “Not everyone was. But we didn’t understand what you all were asking us to do. I had to go see it for myself, get a grasp of what I was facing. I never knew anything about relationships like this. I had to figure it out.”
“I didn’t know what we were doing,” I said. I hated to see them struggle like this. “I’m still getting u
sed to the idea.”
“Which is why we didn’t want Nathan prodding Lily to get to you,” Dr. Green said.
“She’s not discouraging us,” I said. “I’ve already talked to her. I’d like to go see her again. You know, when we’re not busy.” I waved a hand shortly to refocus and put us back on the main point. “But Nathan didn’t ask to break us up, he asked to make sure we were doing the right thing, that I’d be happy with it. He doesn’t deserve any of you all making him feel bad when he’s risked himself so many times trying to maintain what we have. He stepped up for us and used himself as the bad guy to protect us. Erica and Jessica had him ostracized for this long because he was willing to lie to protect every one of us from exposure.”
Dr. Green lowered his head and toed the gravel below us. “You make a good point. Once I was mad at him, I was being stubborn about it. He scared a lot of us with what he was doing.”
“Maybe you should apologize to him,” Kota said. “It’s hard enough to want to be included in any group if people are shunning you.”
“We didn’t mean it like that,” he said. “We gave him space...but after yelling at him, I guess it looked like that.” He sighed and looked up. “Fine. I’ll be in the dog house now.” He pouted at me. “Can I please have a hug?”
I checked with Kota. He nodded to me shortly but then turned away from us, looking at the road.
I kept the hug tight, but short. Dr. Green could only put one arm around me since he was holding food containers.
“I’m sorry,” he said in my ear.
“Me, too,” I said.
“What are you sorry for?”
“That I’m going to Kota’s and can’t stay with you. I don’t get to see you enough.”
He chuckled and when I pulled back, his eyes were bright and his face was beaming. “I keep saying that. We need a schedule.”
“You need off your doctor schedule to have a proper schedule,” Kota said, turning back around. He looked at me. “Are we ready?”
I wasn’t totally sure I was, but after talking about Nathan, I realized I did need to be there with Kota. Nathan had been through enough. It was time to get him out of this mess.
