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“I’m not going to hurt you,” she promised. “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“I told you, I’m fine.”

“Alright. Good. I just—”

“And don’t talk to me in that tone,” the lawyer snapped.

“What tone?”

“Cop to victim. That’s not me.”

“Okay. Sorry.” Cody nodded, aware she had automatically dropped into that mode without realizing it. “But what made you react so strongly, Kim? Almost violently? You laid your fingers on my arm, and then…”

She gave a little shrug and allowed her unfinished sentence to float between them. Kim stared a moment longer, suspicion and reluctance written all over her face. Then she took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and clearly made an effort to relax. Fromthe remaining lack of color on her face, Cody assumed that she was not there yet. But at least she opted to share.

“This tragic experience with your… With Emma. I felt its impact when I touched you, Cody,” Kim confided. “Everything you didn’t put into words. Your emotions, the pain... Such acute pain. I felt it.”

Cody’s first reaction to this, a little spike of anger at what felt like an intrusion, surprised her. She thought she had left that sort of thing behind. Anyway, it melted instantly as she noticed the look in Kim’s expressive dark eyes. Naked, raw empathy, and again, a touch of her own pain.

“I’m sorry you had to go through this,” the beautiful lawyer murmured.

“You really felt it?”

“Yes. Your emotions.”

She sounded so sure...

“How?” Cody prompted.

Kim sighed. “It’s like… ink in water. You know how as soon as a drop of ink touches water, it spreads through, and the water is fully colored by it?”

Cody just gave a quiet nod.

“When I touched you, my mind went blank. I couldn’t see you or the room anymore. Emotions spread across my mind like ink through water. I felt fear, guilt, fury. There were flashes of a busy street. A donut store. Blood on the tarmac. I am so sorry.” Kim shook her head when Cody exhaled, perhaps more sharply than she intended. “The last thing I want is to bring these feelings back.”

“It’s okay. I asked.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Fine. Right now, I’m a bit more concerned about the effect this had on you.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“But I am. Come on, be honest with me,” Cody insisted. “How often does this sort of experience happen when you touch somebody?”

“It’s incredibly rare.”

“Define rare.”

“Three times that I recall in all my life, including with you.” Kim stepped forward, coming to stand in front of her. “Please… may I touch you again?”

“Why?”

“Just to make sure it won’t repeat.”

Heart beating a little faster than she would care to admit, Cody nodded. “Okay.”

Kim held her bottom lip between her teeth, and she looked to be holding her breath when she raised her fingers to her face. She touched her lightly at first, tentatively, as if afraid she might get zapped. Then a bit more firmly, when nothing of the sort happened. Finally, she cupped her cheek. Exhaled nice and slow. Only then did some color come back into her own face.