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“Alright. You know where to find me.”
“Hey, Arch!” Just before the call ends, Fletch leans closer to my phone. “You there, Arch?”
Silence hangs for a beat. Worry. Fear. Brotherhood.
“Yeah.”
“Let Delicious know we’re thinking of her. I hope she feels better soon.”
“You know I’m not gonna tell her that,” Arch… well, he doesn’t chuckle. But his tone lightens fractionally. “To tell her so would mean I betrayed her trust and told you she wasn’t feeling well.”
“At least you didn’t tell us about her hemophilia.” Studying the screen in front of me, I remind myself of details I skimmed in medical school, while on Arch’s side of the call, silence hangs like icicles in winter, threatening and dangerous. “You did good not to tell us her personal details.”
“Wh-what do you… What…” For the first time since meeting him, I’m witness to Archer Malone stuttering. “What?”
“Go snuggle with your girlfriend while she’s feeling mellow. Everything’s gonna be okay.” Snagging my phone, I hang up and smile for Fletch. “He’s seriously hooked on her.”
“There’s a first for everything. What’s hemophilia? And how’d you know?”
“Bruises on her skin,” I answer easily. “I saw them this morning. Needles and a biowaste tub. Plus, she stores her medications in the fridge. I found them when I went looking for sustenance this morning after I offered to cook her breakfast.”
Turning my head to study the screen, I remind myself of things I long ago forgot. Details I pushed aside for more relevant information, textbooks I read and cast to the ether in favor of my specialty.
“I went to medical school, Fletch.” I flick between pages, discerning the differences between hemophilia A and hemophilia B. “I wasn’t there to learn how to keep people alive,” I murmur, “but that doesn’t mean we didn’t study a lot of the same core subjects in those first four years.”
Stopping and glancing up, I smile for him. “Poor Arch just doesn’t know how to handle things being out of his control.”
“Ya think?” His partner pushes up from the visitor chair and walks across the office. “He’s about to wrap her in blankets and lock her in her apartment for safekeeping.”
“Not ideal,” I snigger. “I wanna see her, and we kinda need him out here doing his job.”
“Shit just got serious.” Spinning back, Fletch throws his hands up. “Shit just got deadly.”
