Nerds pocket pets, p.15
Nerd's Pocket Pets, page 15
“I am not telling you anything else,” she glared at him through narrowed eyes.
Figuring he better distract her, he handed her a menu. She used it to whap him and he laughed. The evening had barely started and already it was good.
Shelby stared up at Sam as he walked her to her door. The evening had been too short. She wanted more time. But looking at a clock, she realized what Sam already had. They needed to go home. Work would come very soon in the morning.
Especially when one of them had cancer. He understood how weary she felt, which is why he was cutting their evening short. He teased her throughout the meal and stole a few more kisses. Was it greedy that she wanted more?
“Thank you,” she whispered.
He took her hands in his. Sam’s swallowed hers up. She liked that. She liked how big and solid he was. How protected she felt when she was with him. Of course, she would protect him to her last breath if need be.
In a short amount of time, this man had come to mean so much to her.
“You’re welcome. Thank you.” He swooped to kiss her.
She met him halfway, eager to feel his lips on hers again. This was truly a magical memory. One she intended to store in the favorite, thrilling experiences section. The area where only the most precious, treasured memories got filed.
Smiling mistily up at him, Shelby liked the gleam of intent in his eyes. He intended to pursue a relationship with her. She could tell. This wouldn’t be their only evening together.
“What’s your schedule like for tomorrow night?”
“I’m going to church with my mother.”
“Right, I’ll also be there,” Sam said and nodded.
“You will?”
“Of course,” he said, “how about Thursday night?”
“I think I’m free Thursday.”
“You think?”
“Well, if you were to say,” she fiddled with his tie, “want my time, then I’m not free, because I’ll be with you, right?” She peeked at him through her lashes.
He laughed, and picked her up to squeeze her. He was gentle, and she savored the moment. “You are flirting with me.”
“Well, sometimes I actually like you.” She mock scowled at him as he set her back on her feet.
“Sometimes?”
“When you’re not picking on me.” Shelby increased the intensity of her glare.
“How about now?” And his lips came close, really close.
Shelby lost her train of thought. She stared at his lips and willed him closer.
“Hmm?” Her arms crept around his neck.
“Hmm? What?” Why wasn’t he pressing those dangerous lips on hers? “Do you like me now?” he teased. He knew what she wanted, but he made her wait, the fiend.
“Sam Welby, kiss me,” she demanded, her hands cupping his face to hold him still as his lips finally met hers. She sighed.
“You’re so bossy,” he growled against her lips. He didn’t sound upset by her take-charge attitude at all. This was good, because she had a few more orders for him.
“I know. Kiss me again.”
He complied. Such a wonderful man.
“Anything else, your Royal Highness?”
She couldn’t stop the giggle that escaped, but she still poked him. Shelby liked how she could be herself around him. If she was goofy that was okay. Bossy, he didn’t appear to mind, either. If she felt sad, he did his best to cheer her up. When she was scared, he held her hand.
“My lips are lonely.”
He laughed again. “You need to sleep sometime tonight. I brought you home early so you could rest.”
“You brought me home so you could kiss me,” Shelby corrected with a bratty grin.
“That, too, but this is the last one you get.”
She decided to make the kiss a good one. “How long do I have to wait for the next one?”
His bright blue eyes burned with an enigmatic light. Oh no. “You’ll have to wait and see, won’t you?”
“That is so not fair.”
Chapter 18
The next morning at work, Shelby realized she and Sam would be fine. They did have a lot to do and they were both professionals. While they visited patients, they sank right back into their usual teasing, bickering, cheer-up-the-kids mode.
Somehow that only strengthened their new relationship.
Sam had held out his hand for four of her pets upon her arrival, as usual, and she handed them over, as usual. They had gone over patient charts, as usual. And she had no desire to kiss him today, which was unusual. Well, that was inaccurate. She had that desire all the time. She just ignored it because they were at work.
As this wasn’t the time or the place, she could abstain. The only difference today from any other day was the six pills she took this morning. Thinking about the disease growing inside her, dread crept closer, so she cut off the macabre thoughts.
Right now their focus needed to be on the sick kids they treated. Now that she carried the same diagnosis as their patients, Shelby thought she might be an even better medical care provider. This was also why Sam was so good at his job. He had fought cancer and won, himself.
“Siegfried spoke with Kylie again,” Sam said and Shelby turned to look at him.
“And?”
“He said she mentioned something interesting,” he continued, frowning at the note in his hand.
“Are you going to tell me, or make me guess?”
He continued to stare at the tablet and when he glanced back at her, his eyes revealed his I’m-concentrating look.
“What did she say that was interesting?”
“She mentioned her parent’s lab, and their experiments.” Sam lifted his eyes from the page so they met hers. What Shelby glimpsed there scared her.
Because she felt certain what was in his eyes might be in hers.
“The cancer came on suddenly for all three of them. Kylie’s parents’ cancers were aggressive and killed them, but not her,” Shelby said, swallowing at the horrifying images barreling through her mind. She shook her head. “No, people wouldn’t do that to a little girl.”
“If they tested something on themselves, Kylie may have caught the backlash. Remember, hers isn’t bad. She might have received a dose of whatever they were working on by accident. Say from their clothing or from their bodies, but I can’t believe they’d test something on her.”
“Why not?” Shelby heard the tightness in her voice. She wrapped her arms around her middle.
“She’s a kid. We’re jumping to some major conclusions here,” Sam warned and she nodded. “If they used her as an experiment, she should have gotten as sick as they did.”
“But her body could have worked differently. Her immune system might have combated the disease, while theirs didn’t.” Shelby ran her hands up and down her arms.
“True, they weren’t biologically related.”
“What a terrible reason to adopt a child,” she replied tautly. More images slashed through her mind and she shivered.
Sam sent her a look and she shivered again. If Kylie’s parents had knowingly given her something to make her sick...
“I don’t think we should make guesses here. We don’t know. We also shouldn’t influence the answers we need. That means we’re careful how we word questions.”
Because she couldn’t speak, she nodded instead. That made sense. Goosebumps still continued to pop out along her arms. She rubbed them a little harder.
“I think we’d better go do rounds and talk to Miss Kylie,” Sam said. “We haven’t been able to get her to talk at all.”
“I was adopted. Want me to talk to her?”
Sam stared at the ceiling, and Shelby saw he had taken Masie out of his pocket. He stroked the little bunny gently as he thought.
When he did speak, it made her jump even though she knew he would eventually answer her. “How would you approach her?”
“Tell her I heard she was adopted, and that I was adopted too. My parents are also dead. Let her open up to me. Or I’ll just wing it.”
“That might work.” Sam tapped Masie fondly and settled her back into his pocket. “She prefers Zodak, do you have her or do I?”
“I don’t know, check your pockets.” Shelby did a survey of hers while Sam did the same. “I have her,” she announced as she tugged the little cat from a hip pocket.
“You didn’t have her in your breast pocket.” Sam raised a brow. She understood that because in the nearly three years she had Zodak, the diminutive cat never rode with anyone other than Ribble.
“No, she seems to want to be with the other animals now.” Shelby bit her lip.
“I wonder why?”
“I don’t know, but she seems awfully content these days.”
“Must be she likes me.” Sam’s voice held more than a trace of smugness. He was so cute.
“Yeah, there seems to be a lot of that going round,” Shelby replied, and rolled her eyes. She heard the pertness in her own voice.
Sam tried to poke her, but she moved out of his range. “You are such a brat.” But he didn’t sound worried.
“Takes one to know one,” she answered, and narrowed her eyes at him again.
Sam shook his head sadly as they headed for the parking lot.
Shelby sat in a chair by Kylie’s bed, and stared at the frail little girl. For some reason this patient touched her heart more than the others. Not that she didn’t care about the kids in the other beds, but Kylie pulled at her heartstrings in a different way.
“Kylie, it’s Shelby, how are you?” she murmured, not wanting to startle the sleeping child.
Kylie’s eyes fluttered open and she stared glassily over Shelby’s shoulder for a bit before her eyes focused. “Shelby?”
“Yes, I’m here.”
“Zodak?” Kylie’s voice sounded hopeful.
Shelby laughed. The little girl’s attitude lapped into - shut up and hand over the cat.
Zodak popped out of her pocket and meowed faintly. Shelby wondered if that cry might be because the small cat was lonely. All the other animals were in Sam’s possession. He planned to distribute them while doing rounds.
She placed her hand so Zodak could crawl aboard. Shelby transferred her pet to the bed and Kylie, her face now shining, picked up the tiny feline. The reunion between girl and animal was a joy to see. They touched noses and Zodak emitted another little meow. “Hi, Zodak.” Kylie’s voice held affection and interest.
The small cat climbed onto the girl’s sunken chest, turned three times and settled down with a yawn. Shelby abandoned the idea of questioning Kylie about being adopted in order to encourage the little girl to talk. She would use Zodak as an ice-breaker instead.
“I think she likes you.”
“I like her,” their patient responded.
“Did you have a kitty?” Shelby watched the little girl.
“Yeah.” Kylie didn’t look up.
“What happened to her?”
Kylie shrunk in on herself and mumbled something. Zodak butted her head against the girl and stared at Shelby before her eyes closed in contentment.
“What, honey? I couldn’t hear what you said.”
“Mom and Dad said she died,” Kylie answered, and this time she did look at Shelby, but avoided her eyes.
“How did she die?”
Kylie shrugged. “Don’t know.”
“Do you miss your kitty?”
Another shrug. “Zodak likes me.”
Sam stayed close, but didn’t interfere. Shelby knew he was listening to their conversation though. He was as interested in the outcome as Shelby.
“Yes, she does. She likes you more than most people,” Shelby said, noticing that Zodak did seem to prefer Kylie over the other children. Could this be the reason for Zodak’s new comfort level? Because of the bond growing between the cat and Kylie? Shelby yanked herself back to the conversation she was supposed to be conducting with their patient.
“Kylie, did you ever go into your parent’s lab?” Shelby held her breath and watched the child, waiting for her response. Sam went still after he released Spike into the hands of an eager boy.
“Not allowed,” Kylie told Zodak in a firm voice. Zodak’s eyes popped open.
“Not allowed to what?”
“You may not go in there,” she said fiercely, her finger pointed at Shelby. Her other hand curled around Zodak, who didn’t protest. Kylie resembled an adult, only in miniature. How often had the little girl heard that order?
“Why aren’t you allowed?”
“Bad girl,” Kylie whispered.
“Who’s a bad girl?” Shelby’s heart wrenched all over again for what this child had already been through. And for what she had to yet endure.
“Kylie,” Kylie told Zodak, lifting the cat to stare into the yellow feline eyes.
“I don’t think Kylie’s a bad girl.” Shelby stared at the girl intently, willing her to stare back.
“Kylie is a bad girl. She’s not allowed in the lab,” Kylie answered, still staring at Zodak.
“Did Kylie go into the lab?” Shelby whispered, leaning forward.
“Kylie’s a bad girl.” The little girl’s eyes filled with tears and Shelby reached for her. Zodak scampered up Kylie’s chest and hopped onto Shelby’s shoulder. When Kylie’s arms wrapped around her neck, Shelby stared at Sam, whose eyes reflected the same despair weighing on her.
When they finished rounds, Shelby turned to Sam once they were alone in his SUV. “What do you think?”
He sighed. “I don’t think her parents actually tested anything on her.”
“But Kylie knew she wasn’t supposed to go into that lab, so that’s where she went.”
“Yeah,” he answered, and she felt the vibes of his thought process. “Maybe she’s not progressed because she knows she shouldn’t have gone into the lab and guilt is holding back her recovery.”
He frowned, and tugged on his left ear while he thought. The only time Sam tugged on an ear was when his thoughts went especially deep. She slanted a glance at him, thinking, I kissed him last night. But the same thrill didn’t ripple through her at the moment because her own thoughts were so unsettling.
“We don’t know for sure that her parent’s experiments are where the family cancer came from.” Sam tugged on his earlobe before starting the engine. They both buckled their seat belts.
“No, we don’t. I wonder...” Shelby said and bit her lip. “Was the lab attached to their house?”
Sam looked thoughtful. He tapped the steering wheel. “Why?” With the ease she associated with Sam, he exited the parking spot and headed toward the exit.
“I’m wondering how often Kylie snuck into the lab. We assume her parents spent most of their days there. How often did Kylie visit?”
He pulled out of the parking garage and onto the road that would take them back to their office. “I don’t know. I’ll make a few phone calls and see what I can find out about the house and lab.”
“I’d be interested to know whether they were attached.”
“What are you thinking?” The traffic light turned red and Sam brought the SUV to a smooth stop she envied.
“If the parents were exposed to something in the lab, whether the exposure was to something they were working on, or something they didn’t know they had created, they would have the more aggressive cancers. Kylie, who wasn’t supposed to be in the lab, but crept in sometimes wouldn’t have been exposed as greatly.”
“She’s also a kid,” Sam said. The light changed and he drove through the intersection before turning a corner.
“Right. But, her body make-up could also be contributing to her slow growing tumor. However, she wasn’t in the lab often, so we know her exposure was less.”
“I wonder what the team who checked out the house found,” Sam said. He nodded, as though he’d just made a decision. Another turn and he drove into their parking area. “I’ll make those phone calls.”
“Sam,” Shelby said and turned to him abruptly.
“What?” He stared at her, probably because he hadn’t expected her to turn so fast.
“See if you can have someone locate their lab notebooks.”
“Right, if they were working in the lab, they’d be sure to record everything. Good thinking.” He climbed out of the vehicle and strode around to offer her a hand.
Their eyes met as she slid out of her seat. “They might provide some answers.”
Chapter 19
Sam dressed with care for his second date with Shelby. He still wasn’t sure this was a good idea. Dating the one person he worked the closest with each day might not be the smartest choice he had ever made. But he didn’t have any better ideas. They were attracted to each other.
So far, they seemed to be fine with keeping their personal feelings for each other separate from their daily duties. That didn’t mean much since they had only worked two days so far after figuring out their mutual attraction. They sat beside each other at church the night before, but he could see Shelby was tired, so he only spoke briefly with her afterwards.
She had needed to go home and sleep. Her mother had also been vigilant and taken her home soon after. Today they had been busy again. Like visiting the sick kids who needed their skills.
Kylie showed little improvement, but she smiled whenever she saw them. He was certain the only reason was because of Zodak. Shelby had mentioned to him earlier that she thought maybe Zodak’s willingness to ride with the other animals was due to her new friendship with Kylie. Maybe the little girl had helped to heal whatever was wrong with the cat.
Sam didn’t care what the reason was that made their small patient and Zodak both more communicative. He was just grateful to see Kylie willing to talk. Kylie pulled at him as no other child had. He couldn’t fathom what was so different about her. And he definitely encountered plenty of other depressed kids. He was surprised he hadn’t noticed the signs in Kylie.
His tie lay on the bed. He picked it up and slung the cloth around his neck. For some reason the tie made him think of Shelby. She had looked so thin Tuesday night. The symptoms of her disease were progressing with too much speed.
