My Forbidden Doctor (Forbidden Medicine 7)

"I have a cat— I'm not allergic to her, but sometimes she sleeps on me and makes it worse."

"You may need to get tested again. You already have a history of spontaneous allergies, so I'd strongly recommend it. Your pollen allergy manifested when you were nineteen, but you're the right age to be at risk for another one. Do you want to do that today, or...?" Glancing up at me, Carl arched a brow quizzically. Indecision warred in my chest, but he was patient when it became obvious I wasn't going to answer immediately. "Since you're having such a hard time, and the test will back it up, I'm going to order you a CPAP machine. You should be able to pick it up from the hospital's medical supply store when you leave."

"Oh, thank you. I hope it works. Otherwise, I don't know what I'm going to do. I really like this town. I don't want to move."

Just like that, Carl's head whipped up, his mask slipping before it'd even rested on his face fully. Frowning more to myself, I shook my head a little.

"It's just a thought I had. With everything happening with my dad, and my allergies acting up so bad, I thought that maybe a change would be warranted. I'm not allergic to pine, and there's a lot of places I haven't been to that are supposedly good for allergy sufferers."

"... Well, if you're going to move, let me know when you make a decision so I can find an appropriate referral." Carl spoke slowly, his voice thick with unsaid words, his eyes gleaming with sparkles that shouldn't be there.

Ducking my head in a nod, I pursed my lips thinly as flames licked up my neck. This time, he didn't even bother to apologize as he cleared his throat softly.

"So, I'll send in the order, and you're welcome to take your time. I'd give it about fifteen minutes before you head over."Chapter 8Carl"Yeah, I'm leaving now. How was Mom's?" My sister groaned over the phone, and I grimaced as I shoved my arms through my suit jacket. "That bad, huh?"

"Don't get me wrong— I'm glad she's found someone to spend time with, but I don't wanna hear about it. Also, he seems like an asshole."

I nodded as I switched my phone from one ear to the other and slapped my jacket against my shoulders.

For a second, Laurie paused to sigh roughly before continuing her little tangent. "I'm really, really not interested in how sweet this guy is, or how they did whatever together, or what they're planning to do. Not only am I a little bitter because I broke up with Matt at the beginning of the year, but... like, Mom— I don't want to hear about all the expensive stuff you do, okay. I'm glad you're happy, but everything costs money, and I don't understand why she'd doesn't see this guy as a gold digger. Can only women be gold diggers? That guy's definitely a gold digger."

"Yeah, I'm not exactly fond of him, either. He didn't make the best impression. Is it too lordly of me to expect him to stand up and shake my hand, tell me his name, even?"

My sister grunted grumpily as I snatched my briefcase off my desk and headed for the door.

"I understand not wanting to be 'Dad' or whatever, but if Mom didn't tell me his name, I wouldn't know it. That's not right."

Flicking the lights off, I glanced around my office once more before stepping out into the hallway. Laurie's heavy breaths sounded loud in my ears, and our bashing session was put on hold as I pulled my Bluetooth out of my jacket pocket. The offices were quiet, dark, and I hooked my device to my ear to slide my phone into my pocket.

"Anyway, what are you doing right now? Your lungs sound great." Wandering down the hallway toward the reception area, I smiled when Laurie snorted roughly at my compliment.

"I'm on my way home from my jog to take a shower before we have dinner tonight. I need to think of stuff other than Mom and that guy, too. It's bad taste to just shit on someone unless it's directly to their face."

I couldn't help but laugh at that, and I crossed the threshold to halt mid-step. Surprise made my brows arch at the figure hanging around the waiting area, a small envelop under his arm.

"Excuse me? Can I help you?"

The slender man whipped around, intelligent, if not a little droopy, brown eyes meeting mine.

"Just a sec, okay?"

My sister hummed as I took out my Bluetooth, and the guy cleared his throat before curtly holding out the envelope.

"Carl Northrop, you're being investigated by HR."

"What!" A shocked scoff escaped me, and I took the envelope to rip off the side. There, plain as day, was a summons to HR for the morning, and I ground my teeth hard. When I looked up, the guy was gone, and the page in my hands crinkled overly loud in my ears.