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Piper
“I’ve been dying to try this place,” I said around a mouthful of the fluffiest pancakes ever made.
Smith nodded enthusiastically, his mouth stuffed with bacon. He chewed quickly and swallowed. “Hampton and I were here last week and the moment I tried their omelet, I just knew I had to bring you here.”
I pointed my fork at him and laughed as syrup dripped from the tines. “You, my friend, were not wrong. I didn’t realize how much I needed a day to forget about the real world until this plate of pancakes was placed before me.”
His face grew serious. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
I picked up my champagne flute, taking a sip of my luscious mimosa, and shrugged. “I don’t mind talking about it. I’ve recently been told by a therapist that talking is actually good for me.” I lifted the glass in the air toward him. “Besides, with this drink, we could talk about anything and I wouldn’t care.”
He grinned and lifted his Bloody Mary. “Cheers to that.” We clinked drinks and each took another sip before he asked, “So, the board hearing. That decision was final?”
Sadness washed over me, but I pushed it away. “So it seems.”
He frowned and clasped my hand in his. “But not forever, right?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t know. There’s always the chance I can have my license reinstated. The board is making me jump through so many hoops, though. Classes. Fines. Mandatory drug tests.”
His mouth fell open. “Drug tests?”
I scoffed. “I know. Like I was taking those pills myself. I mean, I guess a lot of doctors do that, but Christ.”
“So, you can’t write prescriptions at all anymore?” His face was so full of sadness it made my heart hurt.
“I can’t do anything anymore. I’m no longer a licensed physician.”
His frown deepened and he squeezed my hand, his eyes distant as he murmured, “Well, that’s too bad.”
I squeezed his fingers back. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m going to be okay. Don’t worry about me.”
“Oh, yeah. I know. You’ll come out on top, I’m sure.”
“Exactly. Let’s just enjoy the rest of our day.” I snapped a piece of crispy bacon in half and put it in my mouth, moaning as the smoky flavor hit my taste buds. “You really are the best. Hampton is a lucky man.”
He cut his gaze over my shoulder. “Right. Yeah. Lucky.”
Lawson
“You know I would do anything for Piper, but I can’t help you,” Hampton said, slurping on a jumbo-sized soda. The sound was like nails on a chalkboard and it was a feat in restraint that I didn’t knock the damn cup out of his hands.
“C’mon, man. You have to know where these guys could have gotten a prescription pad from.” Pieters took a pull of his own drink, also slurping.
He and my brother were cut from the same cloth. I was beginning to wonder if I was allergic to the fabric of said cloth, because those two seemed to grate on my nerves more than any other humans on the planet.
“You two think you could quit making so much damn noise? Maybe get a refill?”
We’d met Hampton at a café just outside the hospital during his lunch break and while I’d been too wound up to eat anything, they’d had no problems scarfing down monstrous sandwiches and chips.
“Man, who pissed in your cornflakes this morning?” Hampton sniped before pointedly taking one final drink from his straw.
I was just about to kick him under the table when his phone rang. He looked at the ID and declared, “Looks like lunch break’s over.”
I groaned when he put the phone to his ear and looked at Pieters. “Well, that got us nowhere.”
“It was worth a shot,” he replied.
“You’re shitting me,” Hampton snapped, surging to his feet. His sudden movement shook the table and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I smiled triumphantly as I watched his cup topple over. The victorious smile on my face died as I heard the words that came out of my brother’s mouth. “The DEA is currently raiding my office at the hospital.”
