Chapter 68

Amber’s POV

“Chase,” I repeated. “Good to meet you. Please follow me to an examination room.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a smile, though it took him a moment to release my hand.

When he did, I turned and walked toward the hallway leading to the back.

“It was nice speaking with you Carla,” Chase told her. “I’ll see you again soon.”

“Y-yes… Yes! Likewise, uh, Chase,” Carla said, blushing even more deeply than before.

I led Chase into the back and then into one of the examination rooms. Once he was inside, I closed the door.

Chase wasn’t like my usual walk-ins. Typically, people without appointments were deathly sick or in some kind of other medical emergency. Chase was smooth and confident, showing no hint of pain or distress.

I kept my opinions to myself though, as I knew not all medical issues were clearly displayed on the outside.

Chase wasn’t from around here. Dressed like that, he was probably from one of the nearby cities. He clearly had the financial means to seek me out, so perhaps his issue was something internal and longstanding.

“Now we are alone,” Chase said. “Just how I like it.”

Was he trying to flirt with me? I fully ignored it.

“Tell me what brought you in today, Chase,” I said.

He seemed somewhat surprised for a moment. Perhaps because his charms didn’t work? But he recovered quick enough.

“I have a rare heart condition,” he said. “It doesn’t really bother me often, but I have been told it will affect my lifespan. Someday I’m just going to…” He made a pop sound, then dropped a hand from vertical to horizontal.

A crude way of saying he was going to suddenly die someday. And flippant. It had to be a show. A man like this, I imagined, like to play pretend a lot. I wondered if underneath, he wasn’t a little bit afraid.

I wouldn’t call him on it though. If he wanted to maintain his cocksure attitude, that was none of my business.

I was just a Healer.

“I was told there isn’t much anyone can do. I’ve been told I should just accept it,” he said and shrugged. “I imagine you will probably tell me the same.”

“I’m not one to give up,” I said. “Please sit down on the examination bed and I will begin.”

Again, he seemed surprised. Why? Did he truly expect me to just give up because others did?

Nonsense.

I waited until he sat, then lifted my stethoscope, placing one end over his heart to listen.

“If it’s racing, it’s only because I have a beautiful woman so close to me,” he said.

I shushed him, ignoring his words and concentrating on his heart. It took some effort, and some assistance from my wolf, but yes… there… I could hear a slight tremor in his heartbeat.

As I continued to listen, wanting to be sure, he huffed dismissively. “You won’t find anything like that. It’s entirely undetectable without the use of machines.”

“I hear something,” I said.

He blinked, startled. His smile slipped. “Y-you do?”

“There’s a tremor in your heartbeat,” I said, more confident now as I heard it again. I leaned back. “How long have you been experiencing this?”

“I… uh…” He seemed fully taken aback.

Perhaps he didn’t know the answer. I supposed it didn’t matter. We found it now and regardless of what the previous doctors had done for him, I was ready to move forward to give this man back his life.

“Do you feel bouts of weakness sometimes? Or shortness of breath?” I asked.

“Uh, not often… but…”

His brow pulled together as he looked at me, like he was seeing me for the first time. But then, he glanced down at his watch and shook his head. When he looked at me again, whatever vulnerability he had been feeling had vanished. He was smoldering instead.

“It’s never happened in bed,” he said, grinning.

I turned away from him and headed toward the cabinets that were on the side of the room. “I need to take some blood and run some tests to truly see what we are working with. How long can you stay in town?”

“For you? However long you want.”

“Good. I’ll draw this blood and then we’ll make an appointment for you for tomorrow afternoon. I should have more details by then.”

“I… uh… okay…”

I seemed to knock him off his game again. That was an added bonus to what I was saying. The sooner he stopped trying to flirt with me, the better it would be for everyone involved. I had more than enough complications in my life without adding him to the mix.

He recovered quickly again though, showing his persistence. “I look forward to seeing you as much as possible, Healer Amber.”

“Well, hopefully, we can find a cure and you won’t have to stay here too long.” After donning gloves, I prepared a clean needle. Then I came closer to him again.

Looking at me, he grinned mischievously. “Even if brief, time spent with you will feel like a dream.”

He was definitely trouble with a capital T.

“Hold out your arm,” I said, and he did so. As I drew the blood I needed, he stayed quiet. After withdrawing the needle, I noticed a bead of blood there. Strange. Usually werewolves healed so quickly that there wasn’t even time for the blood to escape.

I quickly grabbed a bandage and treated the mark, all while making note in my mind of this slow healing.

That was likely another factor to consider here.

When the wound was clean and bandage and the sample secured, I wrote a few notes in Chase’s new chart and then helped make him an appointment on the computer. Though that was typically Carla’s role, I didn’t trust her to be able to compose herself long enough around Chase to facilitate it.

With the appointment made, I reached for the door.

“Healer Amber,” Chase said, staying close behind me. So close that I almost jumped.

I was on duty now though, fully in Healer mode, so though his closeness did surprise me, I was able to contain all emotion under a veil of professionalism.

I still wanted some distance between us, though, so I opened the door and stepped into the hallway.

“Wait,” he said, moving into the doorway. “I have one last question before tomorrow.”

I wouldn’t ignore a patient’s question, so I turned toward him, ready to listen. “Yes?”

Resting one arm on the doorframe, he leaned heavily against it. Grinning like a devil, he trailed his gaze up and down my body before returning his eyes to my face.

Dressed as I was in my white doctor’s coat, I couldn’t imagine he was even seeing anything. I was mostly a formless blob with this thing on, yet he grinned like he could see what was underneath.

I just stared blankly at him. He did realize he didn’t have to flirt with me to get me to treat him, right? Maybe I needed to have a talk with him about that. Perhaps he was the type of guy who was used to needing to do things for other people.

This was a transactional exchange. I healed him, he paid my fees. Done and done.

There was no need for all… this.

“Chase –”

“Come to dinner with me tonight,” he said. “Allow me to show you my appreciation for all you are doing.”

My rejection was ready on my tongue when I noticed movement down the hallway.

Someone was close enough to have overheard.

I glanced, and my heart leapt into my throat.

That someone was Julian.