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Most of the people they dealt with at the clinic presented with the day-to-day minor stuff. Checkups. Patients needing requisitions for tests or x-rays at the lab down the street. For anything more serious, patients were referred to a doctor in Coeur d’Alene.
Around four, her phone vibrated in her pocket, but Janessa was taking Misha’s next patient to a room, so she had to wait until she’d gotten them settled before checking it.
Will:What do you think? We’re talking about teens, after all. Things had finally settled down from the Marissa stuff. It’s like these kids need something to talk about, and I’m their favorite subject.
Oh boy. Sorry you had to deal with that. Hope it wasn’t too bad.
Will:I learned a long time ago that no reaction is the best way to deal with stuff like that. The more you react, the more they press. I answered the question once, then didn’t acknowledge it again.
See, that’s why you’re the teacher. They would have been able to goad me into reacting every time, for sure.
Will:I survived, so we’ll see if they continue tomorrow.
Janessa leaned against the wall in the storage room where she’d come to get some supplies to restock the rooms before she left that day.Do you have any plans for tonight?
Will:Going to watch Jay’s practice for a bit, supper, and a workout at the gym. Then I’ll finish off the day with the exciting task of grading papers.
You’re still going to the gym?
Will:Yep. I’ve been going two or three times a week. Since my Monday evenings have been tied up, I’ve started to go on Tuesday instead.
Well, I hope you have fun! I won’t be seeing you there.
Will:Not too surprised to hear that. Hopefully your evening includes something you enjoy.
Janessa hadn’t thought too much about it, but she considered it for a moment.
Supper, then working on my Bible study lesson for the week. Probably about all. Definitely no gym or grading papers.
Will:You don’t know what you’re missing.
I definitely do know that I’m not missing much at the gym.
Will:I guess you do.
He followed that up with three laughing emojis, which made Janessa smile.
“Door’s locked,” Aria said as she came into the storage room. “What do the exam rooms need?”
Janessa slipped her phone into her pocket, then worked with Aria to re-stock the exam rooms. They had hired someone to clean the clinic after hours, but they didn’t do any of the re-stocking.
“Who were you on the phone with?” Aria asked.
“I wasn’t talking to anyone.”
“Oh?” She looked skeptical. “You were smiling at your phone.”
“Is that illegal?” Janessa realized in that moment that she’d passed the point of no return. By not giving Aria a straight answer right off the bat, she’d roused her curiosity about what she’d been doing. Now how was she going to extricate herself without making it seem like she was trying to hide that she was talking to Will?
“Noooo.” The way Aria dragged the word out made it seem like perhaps it should be illegal.
With a dismissive flick of her hand, Janessa said, “I was just reminding Will that I don’t do the gym.”
“Was he trying to convince you that you should?”
“Not really. He just mentioned he was going to the gym tonight, then asked me what I was doing. It’s like now that he’s going to the gym, all of us should also go.”
“So he contacted you to ask you to go to the gym with him?” Aria asked as she left the last exam room, shutting off the light behind her.
