Page 89 of The Love Operation

She crosses her arms. “And you know it wore off because you tried to revisit the material we’ve been reviewing, right? Not . . . anything else?”

“Delenn.” I exhale. “How many times do I have to tell you?”

My armpits prickle with sweat. I have no right to be annoyed, but with Benedict reappearing, Isaac dropping the L-bomb, my brain playing jump rope with reality, and all the other things, I’m not exactly at my best.

“Just making sure.” Her smile is flat.

I shift in my seat. “I’m later than I meant to be. Want to go ahead and do the meds and current now, and testing later?”

She checks the clock, grimacing. “Shouldn’t you be in the OR?”

“I changed OR-block times this week with Lambert. I hated to accommodate that cheating bastard, but it actually worked better for me anyway. I have clinic today.”

“Eight o’clock start time, though, right? That means we only have twenty minutes. Better to wait on the full treatment. But I can do a quick memory test.”

I nod in agreement, so I don’t appear too eager.

Delenn folds her arms, watching me closely. “You okay?”

I shrug. I don’t want to mention the headache that’s still hanging out at the base of my skull. It’s mild and from stress and lack of sleep. I don’t want her making it a thing.

She removes her glasses and rounds the desk, perching on the edge. “What’s up? And don’t say ‘nothing.’ I know it’s something.”

I smile because I love her, then swallow down the small, sour feeling of betrayal and try to separate Delenn my best friend from Delenn the scientist.

“Guess who showed up in my clinic the past two days.”

She squints, like she’s trying to read Benedict Calder straight out of my neural folds.

I don’t actually make her guess. “Benedict Calder.”

Her mouth drops open. “Whaaaat? As a patient?”

“No.” I pause. “His dad needs surgery.”

Delenn’s expression morphs from shock to pure, unfiltered intrigue. “And how was seeing him again?”

“Weird.”

“Of course it was weird, but did he say anything? Or was it all business? I have so many questions.”

I open my mouth to answer, but my phone rings.

Kim. My surgery scheduler.

I hold up a finger to Delenn. She waves for me to take it.

“Hey, Kim.”

She doesn’t waste time. I love this about her. “Ms. Wolfe, your big case for tomorrow? The anesthesiologist caught a murmur in her preadmission testing. He’s requesting cardiac clearance before surgery.”

I close my eyes. “Is this on us? Did we miss something?”

“Nope. Fluke.”

I blow out a breath. “Okay. That was one of two tomorrow, right? Could we move up the laminectomy and open clinic?”

“We could. But I just called Mr. Calder. He’s already on his way in for pre-op testing. If Anesthesia clears him, we could fit him in instead.”