Page 36 of The Doctors Will See You Now

She is your weakness, my mind whispered. Shut up, I told it.

Not that it would have mattered if she’d looked up. What was I going to do? Mouth what the fuck is going on?

No. As much merit as the idea held in theory, I didn’t think feigning invisibility—or at the very least, discretion—would work in practice. Mel had the right idea by ignoring everything.

I tried my best to follow her lead.

Grabbing Jamie Abrams’s chart from the counter, I pulled it in front of me and focused on the words as hard as I could. “So it says there that you came in today for a suspected urinary tract infection?”

“Oh,” she mumbled. “I thought maybe I did, but all of the symptoms seem to have cleared up.”

I looked over my shoulder at her urine sample on the counter and studied the test strip on top of the cup. All clear.

“Well, you didn’t test like you have one either, so I think we can rule that out. But let’s talk about those symptoms a little more. Get to the bottom of what’s going on.”

She was young, twenty-one according to her chart, and unverified symptoms of a urinary tract infection without an actual cause were concerning. So I wasn’t about to write this off as nothing, even though something smelled like fish.

And no, it wasn’t bacterial vaginosis. She was just as fresh and clear as the crystals glued to her.

“They really weren’t that bad.”

I looked back down at her folder.

“Your chart says it was urgent.”

Her cheeks flushed bright red, but I had to hand it to her, she looked me directly in the eye and swallowed any and all shame. I didn’t think I would have had the balls at her age. And maybe, therein that very anatomy, lay the problem.

“Okay, so I lied. I’m sorry, Dr. Cummings. I just wanted to meet you. I’ve been watching the show—”

She must have noticed the corners of my mouth turn down because she switched tactics pretty quickly.

“And I’ve heard you are an incredible doctor, but your waiting list for new patients goes out a while.”

One of the crystals caught the light and subsequently my eye. Shit. Reaching forward, I pulled the paper blanket back down to cover all of her skin completely, being careful not to touch her or even come close in the process.

“All right, Jamie. I appreciate your honesty here, so here’s how we’ll handle it. When you leave, go ahead and schedule your annual appointment for next year. I see that you’ve just had this year’s in your records.”

She nodded sheepishly.

“But I appreciate your enthusiasm about our practice.”

I smiled and moved toward the door and a rather wide-eyed-with-amusement Melody when Jamie called me back.

“Dr. Cummings?”

“Yes?”

“What about the date?”

So close.

I didn’t really understand why the guy on my show—unfortunately, me—was so appealing, but I was conscious enough to be sensitive to her feelings. I dropped my voice, trying to soften the rejection around the edges.

“Sorry, Jamie. I have a strict rule against dating patients, and it seems you just signed on for the long run, right?”

Her mouth opened and closed, gulping air like a fish out of water for a few seconds before a hint of a grin pulled her lips closed.

The expert player has been played.