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“Dr. Mercer? Can I please kiss you?”
In answer, he closes the distance between us, and I feel every nerve in my body expand, starting with my lips. His mouth is warm and soft, but as soon as I pull his head closer, the kiss grows more powerful. I swear, I can feel it in my hair. My fingertips. My toes. One of his hands still grips the side of my hip, like he’s afraid I’m going to get away. Oh, there is no chance I’m going anywhere. And why, I wonder as his other hand moves up my back, am I still sitting in this chair? I hold his face close as I maneuver myself onto his lap.
Should I be worried I’ll stumble? I never even flinch. He’s holding me so close, I’m not going to fall.
I have never enjoyed a visit to the clinic quite so much.
Best appointment ever.
22
GRAYSON
After a very surprising clinic visit from Sage, the rest of the day goes beautifully. I have a couple of open appointment slots, and during one of them, I call Wanda.
When she answers, I can hear how much stronger she sounds than when she was here.
“Have you been doing the oxygen treatments?” I ask her.
“Morning and night. You’ve given me a little miracle. I feel like a teenager. I have so much more energy, and my brain is working better. I’m so grateful. Thank you for checking up on me again.”
“I’m glad it’s helping.” She should probably stay connected to the cannula during the day, but I’ll let her specialist have that conversation with her. Improvement is improvement, and Wanda is well. It’s all I can ask for.
“I need to tell you a story,” I say. “And then I’ll need you to tell me how to proceed.”
Wanda makes a sound of excitement. “Is it about a certain woman with sparkling eyes and red hair?”
Seriously, how does she know everything that goes on around here?
“Actually, no. The story I need to tell you is not quite so good.”
“Well, that’s disappointing, but I’m listening.”
I hear her settle, and I’m glad she’s sitting. This is a difficult conversation to happen over the phone, but I don’t want to wait any longer to report what needs to be reported.
I begin at the beginning. “You know about the tunnels beneath campus, I assume?”
She laughs. “Of course. Back in my day, I explored what seemed like miles of them.”
Good. She’ll be lenient. And also, of course she’s been there. She must know every secret this campus has ever held.
I imagine it’s been a while since she was underground. “Well, mostly they’re closed off now.”
She makes atsksound. “Obviously my explorations were long before the cave-ins and the explicit signs that tell students to keep away from locked doors.”
Even Wanda can justify her bouts of breaking and entering.
I stretch in my chair, reaching my arms out and then up. “Yeah, well, the signs and the locks aren’t deterring all the students.”
“Hmm. I understand. I suppose a message like that might feel like an invitation to a kid who was looking for an adventure.”
“Right,” I say. “And I saw a couple of students last night who got a little more than they expected from their visit to the tunnels.”
“Injuries?” Her voice changes from conversational to clipped. It’s not story time with Wanda anymore. Now there’s a legal concern.
“A touch of carbon monoxide poisoning. I treated them, and they slept it off. I did a tele-visit with each of them this morning before class, and they seem to be feeling much better.”
I would rather have had them in the clinic, but they both felt well enough to attend class, so I didn’t push.
