Chapter 4 #3
"Take this to the pharmacy, but honestly, the biggest treatment is rest, fluids, and staying away from everybody until you're not contagious."
"I can probably manage two out of three."
She looks up at me. "You can manage all three, unless you want to get the entire club sick."
Ooooo Mason would be so pissed at me. Before I can come up with another excuse, somebody knocks lightly on the door.
"Come in," Sophie calls.
The door swings open, and Scarlett pokes her head inside. The second she sees me sprawled across the exam table, she grins. "Well, there he is," she says as she walks into the room. "How's my favorite giant?"
I lift one hand and point accusingly at Sophie. "She keeps calling me dramatic."
Scarlett laughs as she comes to stand beside the table. "Because you are."
"I have influenza."
"You'll live," she says with a snort. "Unfortunately for the rest of us."
I sigh because nobody around here appreciates a man fighting for his life. "So..." I say after a second.
Scarlett immediately narrows her eyes. "So?" she asks.
"The girl out front."
"What girl?"
I clear my throat. "The receptionist."
Recognition flashes across her face, and then the biggest grin I've ever seen spreads across it. "Lucy?"
I nod. "Yeah."
She folds her arms. "What about her?"
I shrug one shoulder and try to sound like I'm just making conversation. "She seems... nice."
Scarlett stares at me for a long second before she starts smiling even harder. "Is that what we're calling it?"
"What?" I ask.
"You've known her for maybe ten minutes."
"So?" I rub the back of my neck. "I had a fever."
She points at me. "You still have a fever."
"Exactly."
Scarlett turns toward Sophie. "Do you see this?"
Sophie closes my chart and smiles. "I absolutely do."
I look between the two of them. "What?"
Scarlett looks back at me, and her smile somehow gets even bigger. "Oh my God."
"What?"
"I know that look."
"I don't have a look."
She laughs. "You absolutely have a look."
"I have the flu."
"You have the flu and a crush."
"Pffft, I do not."
Scarlett laughs so hard she has to grab the doorframe. "Oh, you're gone."
I blink at her. "Gone?"
She nods. "Gone."
"I met her like five minutes ago."
"Exactly."
I look over at Sophie. "What am I missing?"
Scarlett points at me. "You know who Lucy is?"
I shake my head. "No."
"She was my pick for your blind date."
I stare at her. "...What?"
"The one I was trying to set you up with."
My brain completely stalls. "Wait."
Scarlett nods. "She was the one I wanted you to meet. I hadn't even talked to her about it yet because I was still trying to figure out how to make it happen."
Tiny stares at her for a second before a slow smile spreads across his face. "So you're telling me..."
Scarlett laughs. "You beat me to it."
I can't stop the smile that spreads across my face, even though I still feel like absolute garbage. "The contest...It's over."
She laughs. "You haven't even taken her on a date yet to know if you two even get along."
"I don't need to take her out to know."
"You absolutely do."
I shake my head again. "I've talked to her enough."
Sophie folds her arms across her chest. "You're running a hundred-and-two-degree fever, your judgment is questionable."
I meet her eyes without hesitating. "My judgment has never been clearer."
Scarlett points a finger at me. "You’re not taking Lucy on a date until you're healthy."
I grin. "I was going to wait until I stopped looking like I crawled out of a grave."
"Good."
"And until I wasn't contagious."
"Better."
"And until I stopped carrying tissues around in my nose."
Scarlett wrinkles her nose. "Definitely wait for that."
I smile to myself. "I already know she's worth waiting for."
Scarlett's teasing fades, and she glances over at Sophie before looking back at me. "I've never seen him like this."
Sophie nods. "Neither have I."
Scarlett studies me for another second. "You really like her."
I don't have to think about it. "I do."
A softer smile settles on Scarlett's face. "Then get healthy so you can ask her out."
I’m curled up on the couch feeling like absolute garbage, but happier than I’ve been in months.
Me: Date number four is canceled.
The replies flood in.
Scarlett: She back out?
Erica: That’s rough, brother.
Tessa: You scare another one away?
Hadley: Wait what happened??
I grin despite feeling like absolute trash.
Me: Nope. Already found her.
The chat goes dead silent. Then the notifications explode.
Scarlett: ??????????
Erica: WAIT. WHAT?
Tessa: WHO???
Hadley: YOU CAN’T JUST DROP THAT AND LEAVE.
Erica: IS IT LUCY?
Me: Maybe.
Typing bubbles pop up from all of them at once. Then Scarlett drops the final message:
Scarlett: Ladies… He’s gone.
My phone starts ringing immediately. Scarlett. Decline. Hadley. Decline. Erica. Decline. Tessa. I finally toss the phone onto the cushion beside me before anyone else can call.
My head is still splitting, throat still burns and every inch of me aches. But none of it matters quite as much anymore.
Because somehow, on the worst day I’ve had in months, I walked into that clinic feeling like death… and walked out knowing I’d just met the woman I’d been waiting for all along.