by Elle Tyler
I smiled. “I’m good. Really.”
“Just not ‘I got freshly laid last night’ good.”
“I wasn’t trying to get laid. After three years of med school, there is this thing that happens to a med student when you get near a bed. It’s called face-planting right into your pillow.”
He laughed. “Call it whatever you like, brother. I’m here for you.”
“You’re here for the bacon I’m not sharing with you,” I replied.
“You and I both know that is way too much damn bacon for one person. I am here to save your arteries,” he said.
“Everly will be saving my arteries, because I am sharing this bacon with Everly.”
He nodded his head. “Bacon is a good choice when one is attempting to get himself out of the dog house.”
“I’m not in the dog house, Nick.”
I found a few plates and begrudgingly shared four slices of bacon with Nick. The rest went on Everly’s plate, along with scrambled eggs. I found her in the bathroom upstairs, the water running, the door ajar. I knocked and then pushed the door open. She dropped something into the sink as if I’d scared her.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“It’s okay.” She collected a bottle from the sink and shoved it in her bag. Turned the water off.
“I made you breakfast.”
She kept her eyes down. I stepped inside the bathroom and smoothed my hand along her hair. “We can eat in my room. Or out on the patio. Or you can eat all alone. Whatever works best for you.”
Everly’s head shook. “It’s not that. I need...” She sighed and then dug inside her bag, pulling the bottle out again. She shoved it at me. “Just put these stupid drops in my eyes, all right?”
It was prescription eye drops. I wanted to ask, but I didn’t want to upset her by making her confess more secrets before we’d even attempted to conquer breakfast. “Head back. Look up.”
That was the easy part. She wiped her eyes with a tissue and then said, “You have to check me. Make sure my eyes aren’t scratched, my mouth, my back. All of the places I can’t see. Then you have to take my temperature. Then you have to check my blood pressure. Then you have to feel my stomach and check for internal bleeding. Then you have to listen to my lungs. Then you have to...”
I put my hand over her mouth, smiling. “I get it. You’re a very needy person who can’t feel pain. Shut up and take off your shirt.”
She looked up at me, her eyes bright. “You know I have had the same nurse for seven years and she’s never once told me shut up.”
“Not to your face.” I laughed.
She smiled and then turned around, pulling her hair to the side. “Figures you’d start with me stripping, Callum Andrew.”
“Leave your shirt on. I was only teasing.” I pulled up her shirt just far enough to see her back. It wasn’t as bad as I’d thought. She had a few light scars and several fading bruises. Not nearly as bad as the marks on her legs. “You look fine.” I ran my hands along her arms, legs. She twisted as if tickled when I reached her stomach. “You feel that?” I wondered.
Her eyes were closed. “I feel, Callum Andrew. I feel.”
I caressed the tips of my fingers against her ribs again. She opened her eyes, smiling. “Knock it off, Doc.”
“Open your mouth,” I said.
“Always this forward with your patients?”
“It’s keeping you quiet, isn’t it?”
“You don’t like it when I’m quiet,” she said.
I held her face in my hands. “No, I don’t.”
I kissed her forehead when I was done. She swallowed a handful of vitamins before she sat with me in my room for breakfast.
“What do you usually eat?” I asked, eyeing her untouched plate.
“My nurse Henrietta usually makes me a smoothie. Sometimes, when I’m nice to her, it’s full of berries. Sometimes, when I’m difficult, it’s full of spinach.”
“Well, you were rather nice to me this morning. I’ll make you a smoothie if it means you’ll eat something. I think I saw strawberries in the fridge.”
“Aren’t you going to ask me about it?” she said quietly.
“Nope.” I took a bite of bacon and stared out the window. “I don’t want to know. Not like this. It was a bad idea to bring you here and try to cheat my way to the truth.”
“How could it possibly ever be a good idea, Callum?”
“You know, how most people find out things about each other? They date. They become friends. They just spend time together and get to know each other. They make someone constantly use words they swore off.”
Everly laughed. “You want to date me to solve your differential. Well, that’s new. I’ll give you that much.”
“Nope.” I finished off my coffee. “I want to date you. Forget the differential.”
“You can’t forget it unless you’re dropping out of school.”
I scooped up our plates. “Listen, I don’t want to fight. I don’t want to think about what comes after today.” I leaned down and kissed her head. “Come downstairs and let me feed you.”
***
She sat on the counter as I rifled through the fridge. The rest of my family—father aside—was out on the patio.
“Strawberries,” I called out, “some pineapple chunks, watermel—oh fuck, no—and blueberries.”
“How do you make a breakfast smoothie,” she asked, “with an ‘oh fuck no’?”
I laughed, pulling an armful of fruit from the fridge. “So witty, Everly Anne.”
“Strawberries and blueberries. No pineapple, please.”
“Doesn’t like pineapples,” I mused. “I’ll remember that.”
“Be sure to leave it in your notes,” she said. “I’m sure Logan would love to know how you know I don’t like pineapples. What would even make you ask me such an odd thing?”
“Speaking of Logan,” I replied, tossing fruit into a blender. “How out of line has he been with you?”
“Do I have a scale to work with?” she smiled.
“On a scale of I need to break both of his arms to I need to turn him inside out.”
“I’ll be glad when this semester is over,” she said, watching me pour milk. “I certainly won’t miss Logan.”
“No?” I screwed the cap back on the milk and shoved in the fridge. “Who will you miss, Everly Anne?”
“I like that little Italian girl from your group... What’s her name?”
I went for her ribs.
She laughed as I tickled her, crying out, “Come on, tell me her name. I know you remember it.”
“Her name is Cecily the Cute Italian Girl.” I stopped my hands but kept them on her bare knees. “You know why I named her that?”
“Gee, let me think...”
I squeezed her knee. “Because I wouldn’t remember her name otherwise. You know what I call you?”
“Yes. Very well,” she replied.
I slid my fingers down the backs of her legs until I reached her calves. “What do I call you?”
“Everly Anne,” she said quietly.
“And?”
“Peach.”
My fingers trailed back up her legs. “And?”
“T-Topolina.”
Behind her knees. Squeeze. “And?”
“Farfalla.”
I leaned in closer, kissed her chin. “Farfalla.”
The patio door slid open, and I pulled away. Noelle laughed, already glassy-eyed as she rounded the kitchen island. “Oh, for goodness sake, just drink a beer, Callum.” She took a strawberry from the bowl. “Unless you’ve got rum in that blender—then I’m all for whatever fruity concoction you’ve got going on.”
“I’m making Everly breakfast. And no, it doesn’t consist of fruit and rum.”
Noelle ate another strawberry. “Amelia is coming by at noon. Can you at least try to be nice to her today?”
“I tried being nice yesterday,” I said. “That didn’t work out too well.”
> My father came wandering into the kitchen as if he hadn’t even been to bed. Dark under his eyes. Dark inside of his eyes. It had been a long time since I had seen him look so bad. He gave a gruff, “Morning,” and then began to root around in the cabinet.
Everly slid off the counter and said, “I forgot to put on sunscreen. Be right back.”
His eyes followed her as she hurried from the room. “Still here?”
“Yeah, Pop. We leave tomorrow. Want some breakfast?”
He downed a handful of antacids and then stared at the blender. “That’s not breakfast. It’s rabbit food.”
“Actually,” I grinned, “rabbits can’t operate a blender. No proper digits.”
Not amused. “Cook the girl some bacon. She needs to eat something to fatten her up.”
Noelle scoffed. “You know what? I’d kill to be that skinny.”
“A case of wine doesn’t count as eating fruit, Noelle.” But that wasn’t me. That was Amelia. Amelia who touched my father’s cheek as she passed him to cross the kitchen. Amelia who was still in her same hot-pink bikini from yesterday.
“Where the fuck did you come from?” I asked.
Noelle glared at her. “I thought you were coming by at noon?”
“Is it not noon?” Amelia faked her stupidity, for once. “You know me, ditsy blonde who barely remembers her name. How can I possibly read time on a watch? Right, Callum?”
My chest was on fire. “Where the fuck did you just come from?”
She turned to my father and smiled. “See you later, Dr. Trovatto.”
Everly was in the doorway as Amelia left the room. “Trust me,” she said to Everly, “the older one is a much better doctor.”
Everly scrunched her face, having no idea what had transpired.
I looked at my father. “What in the hell are you even thinking?”
“She’s trying to make you jealous. Or crazy,” he said nonchalantly. “I’m old enough to be her—”
“Father!” Noelle and I screamed in unison.
I felt like my skin needed to be scrubbed. “Let us not even discuss that little gold band on your fuckin’ finger, Pop.”
He yelled at us in Italian to shut up. “My own children!” He shook his head. “She was hung over. I gave her IV fluids and let her ask me stupid things about my dense son all morning. She has a thing for you, moron.” He glanced at Everly. “And she isn’t helping anything.”
I glared at him. “Are we still talking about Amelia, Pop?”
He turned away, leaving me with Noelle’s questioning eyes.
“Forget this shit,” I said. “Come on, topolina. I’ll buy you breakfast this morning.”
I pulled her outside with me but didn’t get far before Tatum called my name. “Where are you going?”
“To feed Everly Anne before she dies of starvation!” I paused. Breathed. “It’s too crowded here. I can’t...”
She got up and followed us down the steps to the beach. “Wait a second. I wanted to ask Everly something.”
I sighed. “So ask.”
She turned to Everly. “I wanted to know if you could pry yourself away from this charming fool for an hour—go shopping with me? I want to dress up a little for the sergeant, tonight.”
“Um...” Everly looked at me.
“It’s up to you, peach.”
“Just an hour,” Tatum said. “I’ll even feed you breakfast so Prince Charming won’t lose his mind.”
I shook my head. “Do you have any idea what just happened in my kitchen, Tater?”
“Same drama that always happens, Callum.” She reached for Everly. “Come on. We’ll have some fun. Besides, Nicholas wants to spend time with you Callum.” She looked at me. “It’s the last we’ll see of him until Thanksgiving.”
Nodding, I took Everly’s hand and pulled her to the side. “Tatum is a nurse. She won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Sure,” she said. “I’d be glad to go with her.”
I kissed her head. “I’ll see you in an hour.” But I kept hold of her hand as she tried to step away. “Eat breakfast, Everly Anne.”
She smiled, and I didn’t look away until they were too far to see.
***
We ran nearly five miles along the beach. I was dying when we finally stopped, much to Nick’s amusement.
“Getting weak on me, Cal.”
“I’ve been pulling longer shifts in the hospital, on top of going to school. I don’t have as much time to do this shit as I used to. So yeah, I’m a little slower than when I was fifteen and could beat your sorry ass without any real effort.”
“Told you you should have enlisted with me,” he said, stretching his arms over his head. “You’d be a man instead of a weakling.”
“Don’t ever mock someone capable of saving your life.”
He laughed for a moment, and then slapped his hands together. “All right! On your feet, Trovatto! Those beers at the other end of this beach aren’t going to drink themselves.”
We ran five miles the other direction. I chose lemonade and a burger over beer and a fish with its head still attached. Nick had half of it devoured, plus his second pitcher of beer on the table, before he asked me about Tatum.
“She’s fine. I did a rotation in pediatrics with her not long ago.”
“Mmm,” he hummed. “I heard about that. You all lost a kid. Tatum cried the whole time I talked to her on the phone that night.”
“Yeah, but she hides it well at work.”
“What about your girl?” he asked. “How is that going? When did it even start?”
“You would be due back on duty before I could tell you the half, brother.”
“That bad, huh?” He laughed.
I shook my head, picking up a fry. “Everly’s a good girl. There’s just a lot at stake. A lot of politics involved.”
“Tell me fucking about it—politics! You would not believe...”
And for the next hour, I could not believe.
When we came home, I was pleased to see Tatum sitting by the pool, but Everly was nowhere in sight. I found my room and peered inside, but nothing. Before I closed the door, I heard water running. I stepped back inside and listened. The bathroom that connected to mine and Everly’s room had the light on and water running. I knocked lightly, calling her name. Nothing. I called her once more... Nothing. I twisted the handle and peeked inside to find her on her knees in the tub, head under the faucet. I rushed to the floor and was about to touch her back, thinking it was a repeat of yesterday, cursing myself for allowing her to leave with Tatum.
But Everly lifted her head before I could call her name and was... humming. Eyes still closed, she felt around the bottle of shampoo and then started washing her hair, oblivious to me sitting right next to her, outside the tub.
And I couldn’t look away.
She curled back under the faucet and rinsed her hair. I reached my hand to the water and felt it had gone cold, the knob turned to the middle where she would have been safe from being burned. Everly pulled away from the water and wiped her face clear. Opening her eyes, she finally spotted me and screeched out loud, sliding herself quickly toward the back of the tub with a pull of the shower curtain.
“Holy buckets, Callum Andrew!” She started laughing from behind the closed curtain.
“I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to scare you.” I put my head on the ledge of the tub and laughed uncontrollably.
She pulled the curtain away and slid forward, still laughing, and gave a push to my face. “I thought you were the Grimm Reaper coming to collect!”
“You were so adorable, I couldn’t help it. I’m sorry.”
“Next time you check out a girl in the nude with her head under the faucet, at least have the decency to cough or knock. Man!”
“I did knock, but you didn’t hear me.” I looked at the shower head. “You understand this doubles as a shower, right?”
“I know, but this tub is huge,” she said. “It feels like a bir
dbath this way. That’s what I’m pretending.” Everly swirled her hands in the water, oblivious to me staring at her in adoration.
When she finally looked up, she understood. “You’re not allowed to have that look, remember?”
“How could I not?” I pushed the wet hair from her face, leaning on the edge of the tub. “How could I not?”
She looked down to the water. “You know what qualifies as shopping to your friend, Tatum?”
“I’m very fearful of this answer, Everly Anne.”
“Getting every last hair on her body removed.”
I grimaced. “That’s what you did today?”
“What she did. As a person who can’t feel pain, I am humored by the irony that, while I should be happy to go on pain-inducing endeavors to make myself a more beautiful woman, I simply can’t get past the fear of my skin being ripped off and not having any knowledge until it’s too late.”
Laughing, I said, “I’m pretty sure Tatum is crazy enough to let someone rip her skin off, if it means pleasing the sergeant. I think it’s written in their vows.”
She rolled her eyes. “I will never adore you that much, Callum Andrew.”
“It’s okay, for I will never dislike you that much, Everly Anne.”
“Do you like me enough to help me shave my legs so I can put on a short, pretty dress for you later?”
I joshed, “Exactly how short is the dress?”
She flicked water in my face.
“Leave your shirt on when you get in,” she said. “It’s more fun that way.” I stripped down to my T-shirt and underwear. Everly glared. “I’m completely naked. It’s not fair, Callum.”
“It was out of respect for you…”
More glaring. With a heavy sigh, I shoved my underwear down. Everly looked curiously at me as I climbed in the tub and sat behind her.
“Will you put conditioner in my hair, first?” she asked.
“Sure. Hand me the bottle, topolina.” I leaned down and kissed her bare, wet shoulder. “You smell like sunshine.” I kissed her again. “I’m sorry about Tatum.”
“It was all right. She’s very nice.”
“Yes. Did you eat?”
“I had some frozen yogurt.”
“That’s hardly food.”
“Now you sound like my father.”