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Probably why I savored victory so much. It was one of the few times I could be almost guaranteed agreement. Even if it was from a judge regarding my argument.
The rap was rhythmic, almost musical, while also carrying a sense of professionalism. So much from a few seconds of collision with a door. It was clear they knew what they were doing, an assertion supported by the white coat and stethoscope ensemble.
I assumed she was wearing other things too, though none of them made themselves immediately apparent. To be fair, the coat looked to be about two sizes too big.
“Hello, I’m Dr. Nina Harlow,” she said, just as I was beginning to suspect another stripper-gram. It wouldn’t be the first time. Some of my friends, as well as enemies, had a pretty weird sense of humor.
“Niles Veek. Please forgive me if I don’t shake your hand.”
“Oh, I quite understand, particularly with a little one about.”
Dr. Nina waved to Lily who waved back, despite her slight confusion as to the mask the good doctor was wearing. She hadn’t really been out a lot since the pandemic had hit, mostly because of my own initiative, or lack thereof.
Not that she was exactly begging to go out anyway. A trait which made her far more equipped to handle the pandemic crisis than a lot of adults I knew.
“She doesn’t quite get the masks. More accurately, she knows what the masks are, but doesn’t quite get why we have to wear them.”
‘Understandable,” Dr. Nina said, snapping on a pair of latex gloves.
Lily was a little trooper once again, keeping absolutely still as Dr. Nina did the test. It probably helped that she was on my lap at the time, but most of the credit went to her.
All I had to say was the test had to be done, so we could go on vacation. Lily had never been on vacation before, still a bit too young for school, and was quite excited by the idea.
She’d excitedly looked up the meaning in her pocket dictionary she kept in the front pocket of her overalls. A brainwave of Cora’s during Lily’s inquisitive phase. The beginning of it, anyway. By all accounts she had yet to grow out of it. Maybe she never would, if she followed my example and kept learning for the fun of it.
“And done,” Dr. Nina announced finishing my sample.
There were several minutes of slightly awkward silence, the fear, however slight, that either of us might have COVID, breathing down my neck like the reaper. Likely an overreaction but I was never really given to subtlety when it came to my little girl.
“You’re both good to go,” Dr. Nina announced, looking over the results.
“Vacation?” Lily asked excitedly.
I forced a smile, trying to keep things easy on her. “Yes, ma’am!”
Dr. Nina smiled at us both. “A car will be by soon to take you to the resort.”
As Dr. Nina packed up her equipment, I wondered for a moment if I ought to ask for her number. I nearly did in fact, opening my mouth to say something cool and slick, to make her putty in my hands, only to be stopped by two thoughts.
First, Lily was right there, and I had no great desire to explain things to her. Particularly after discovering that she remembered her mother very well, in fact. The second thought was of Emilie.
People could be far too dismissive of dreams, seeing them as mere whimsy or baseless fictions. In my experience, dreams rarely happened without someone trying to tell you something. A small part of me hoped we had been paired with Emilie, for the co-op, although the strange words of her dream self still left me feeling confused and uneasy.
“Wow,” Lily marveled at the sight of the stretched limo outside the house.
I tended to agree. We hardly lived in poverty, but such luxury was well above my pay grade.
“Sir, ma’am,” the driver said, bowing to each of us in turn.
Leaving the back door open to enter at our leisure, the driver went to get our few bags from the front hall, loading into the amazing vehicles spacious trunk. Buckling Lily into the booster seat provided, though she was nearly tall enough not to need it, I passed the driver on my way back to lock the door, as she transported the last of the cases to the cozy dark.
“Ready?” I asked closing the limo door behind me.
“Yes!” Lily enthused.
Part of the reason for my hope in terms of roommates, aside from my own dreams and desires, was I’d had it, on fairly good authority, that Lily and Emilie’s daughter, Gen, were getting to be friends. The other girl was a little younger, but any opportunity she had to interact with people close to her age could only be a good thing. Particularly if she actually liked them.
