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“Okay,“ she says, putting her notepad down on her lap. “So, after this is done, you’ll be sent to a psychological intake evaluation. You won’t be by yourself at any point except when you go to the bathroom. The showers are shared. After the seventy-two hours is over, you’ll be released under your own care, if you’re deemed fit. Do you understand?“
“Yes.“
“Do you have any questions for me?“
I shake my head. “No,“ I say. “Thank you.“
She smiles at me. “For what it’s worth, it does get better,“ she says. “You just have to listen carefully to your care team and you’ll be out of here before you know it.“
“Thank you, uh…“
I really want to ask her name, but before I can, I hear the click of a lock. She looks up and her smile falters for a second. “I’ll leave you in his capable hands,“ she says, standing up and moving toward the door. My gaze followers her until the door is opened and my eyes widen as my heartbeat quickens.
What the fuck? This can’t be real. This can’t be happening.
Malon O’Mara is standing in front of me, wearing dark brown slacks and a tight-fitting button up peach shirt, his red hair slicked back and his green eyes shining.
I blink. Maybe I am going insane, since I’m clearly having hallucinations.
“Trine,“ he says, and he sounds just as startled as I feel. “You’re…“
I blink. “What the fuck,“ I say under my breath.
“This is a coincidence,“ he says, as if he can read my mind. “I’m a floater, and this facility has found itself short staffed lately. They asked me to come up…“
He trails off at that, then shakes his head, leaning against the wooden door. The intake nurse, who is still in the room, is watching both of us curiously.
“I can ask for someone else to be in charge of your care,“ he says. “Forgive my language, but this is fucking weird.“
There is some comfort in the fact that he finds this just as weird as I do. But I don’t want him going anywhere. I want him to stay here. I don’t think I’ll be able to trust anyone else. Maybe this is destiny. It feels a little silly to think about that, but then, it’s absolutely ridiculous that he’s here.
So I just end up shaking my head. “No, I don’t think that’s necessary,“ I say. “You’re already here. And you believe me.“
Mal looks at the nurse, whose eyes narrow. “I’m going to leave you guys be,“ she says. “Good luck, Catherine.“
I resist the urge to roll my eyes. I’m pretty sure I’ve already asked her to call me Trine, but I don’t think it matters much. I don’t think I’ll see her much after she leaves the room, closing the door softly behind her.
He puts his hand on the back of the door, pushing it fully closed.
“So,“ he says as he approaches me. I notice that he has a notebook in his hand, but he puts it down on a wooden desk before he sits in front of me. He rests his ankle on his knee, his long fingers draped over his calf as he inches toward me. “What happened?“
“What do you mean?“ I ask.
“I assume you wouldn’t have ended up under a medical hold if something hadn’t happened,“ he says. “And I can see the bruising on your face.“
I grimace. “Yikes. I thought my face was mostly unscathed.“
“It is. I’m just paying attention. Do you want to see yourself?“
I shrug. “I don’t think I’m allowed a mirror in here.“
“I wasn’t offering you a mirror,“ he says. “So do you?“
I close my eyes. The last time I looked at my own reflection, I was still coming out of the fog of the accident, and that feels like forever ago. “Yes,“ I say.
He fishes his phone out of his pocket and turns the front-facing camera on before he holds it right in front of me. I take a second to look at myself, and the reflection is jarring. My hair is a mess, my eyes look watery, there are shadows under my eyes and my skin looks awful. There is a bruise on my forehead, right below my hairline. There’s a cut between my brows, too, which is now scabbing over.
“I wasn’t really looking at your face, though,“ he says, his free hand on his throat. He tilts his phone down so he can show me my throat. The cut that the seatbelt made is large, a long bloody line with a yellow and green bruise around it. “Does that hurt?“
