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“Everything will be on schedule. You need to stop worrying.”
“I’m not worried, I’m in full planning mode now. Everyone is waiting for me to break, so I’ve got a daily list of things to do, and your name is at the top.”
“I like being on top,” she cracks a joke, and I burst out laughing, startling everyone in the room.
“Me too, sister. Me too.” I scrunch my nose back at Grace.
There’s a muffling sound on her end of the line. “I’ve got to go, but we will talk soon.”
“Gotcha! It’s time to torment others.”
I hang up, toss my phone on the end of the hospital bed, and check the next item on my list. “Rocket, what do you think of chocolate cupcakes with raspberry filling?”
He groans dramatically, glancing at the ceiling and dragging his hands through his hair. “I think I’m going to hurl if you keep this up.”
Ina laughs loudly, patting his hand. “You reap what you sow. You’ve been asking her to visit.”
“I didn’t know we’d be stuck doing girly things,” he protests.
“You’re right. These things can wait until I get home.” I toss the notebook in my purse. “Mathis will be back soon anyway.”
“I’m surprised he’s let you out of his sight for this long.”
“It’s only because there’s an armed guard at your door, and he knows Grace is babysitting me.”
“Hey! That’s not true. I’m not babysitting. I’m your companion today,” she argues.
I do an exaggerated eye roll at the term companion. For three days, Mathis has barely left my side, only leaving me for two hours a day to visit Carlos. When he’s gone, someone is always with me, including the police guard still assigned to us. He’s set up a home office, working with his team virtually. Every doctor in our department has taken over patient appointments and rounds; even Dr. Andrews has jumped in. The only patient Mathis is personally overseeing is Carlos. It’s an unusual situation, but Dr. Andrews has been extremely accommodating to us.
“Babysitter, companion… same thing.” I shrug.
“Do you have any idea when you’ll come back to work?” Ina asks.
“Hopefully, after my psyche evaluation tomorrow.”
“You’ll never pass… As a fairy, they will never understand you,” Carlos jokes.
“Let’s hope I can fool them.”
He swipes the cards from his bedside table and shuffles them. “Let’s play poker.”
“Oh, I love poker,” Grace chirps, grabbing her wallet. “Let me see what kind of change I have.”
“Save your quarters, Prego. We play for bragging rights. Get ready to be humiliated.” Ina slaps his arm playfully, and I snort at his reference to her. He’s definitely picked up on my nicknames.
The door opens, and Mathis walks in with Dr. Cross, both grinning.
“How’s it going, Rocket?” Mathis addresses Carlos but comes to my side, kissing my temple.
“It’s awful! All these women want to do is talk about wedding planning.” He waves the cards in the air. “It’s time for my revenge. I’m going to cream them in poker.”
“Poker, huh? Are you any good?”
“The best, my brother taught me to play. We played a few times last week…” Carlos’ voice trails off, and his face falls, his eyes drifting to me.
I tense, expecting Mathis to do the same at the mention of Stefan and our time in seclusion. Instead, he laughs, his arm going around my shoulders, and tugs me to him. “My big brother taught me to play when I was your age. I was unbeatable.”
Carlos’ dark eyes light up with excitement. “Maybe you could play with us.”
