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I rolled down the window. “What do you want?”

“You’ve been sitting here forever.” His grin widened. “Staring at her car.”

“I’m not doing anything like that.”

“You are.” He leaned against the door, crossing his arms on his chest. “It’s pathetic, Kedish. Really pathetic.”

“Fuck off, Veskar.”

“I can’t. This is too entertaining.” He glanced toward the building, then back at me. “You know she’s going to see you sitting out here like a creep, right?”

“I’m not a creep.”

“Then go inside. I mean, she turned Mikael down, but that doesn’t mean she’ll do the same to you.”

“It’s not about that.”

“Isn’t it?”

I didn’t move.

Veskar’s grin softened, looking almost sympathetic. “She’s not going to give up on you. She’s too stubborn for that.”

“You don’t know that.” She’d implied she would yesterday.

“I do, actually. I’ve seen the way she looks at you when you’re not paying attention.” He pushed away from the truck. “Get out of the vehicle and go prove you’re worth the effort.”

He walked away, disappearing through the side entrance.

I sat for a bit longer before I forced myself to move.

The hallway outside the treatment room felt too quiet. Every footstep sounded like a drumbeat.

I stopped outside the door and knocked. A first time for that.

“Come in,” she called from inside.

She sat at the desk, her hair pulled back in that same tight bun, wearing a blazer that screamed don’t mess with me. Her tablet sat in front of her, the screen lit up with what looked like my MRI results.

She glanced up when I walked in, and her expression softened for a second before her face tightened.

“You’re early,” she said.

“I wanted to make sure I understood the assignment this time.”

I held up the instruction sheet. The paper felt soft under my fingers, like old fabric.

Her gaze dropped to it, then returned to my face. “Are you going to laminate that?”

“Should I?”

“I was joking.”

“I wasn’t.” I stepped closer. “Do you have a laminator?”

Her mouth did that thing where it wanted to curve up, but she wouldn’t let it, like she was mad at herself for finding me even slightly amusing. “Brashe.”

“Ellie.” I mimicked her serious tone.