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“It’s not early. This is what time I go to school.”

“Well, I haven’t been in school for a very long time, so this hour just isn’t practical for me.”

“How old are you?”

“Old.”

“How old is old?”

“Grown.”

The girl crossed her little arms across her chest.

I was reminded of yet another reason I preferred the night shift; I was no good at working with or entertaining children; they were few and far between during the night shift.

I sighed. “So…do you like stickers, Sarah?”

“What kind of stickers?”

“Well, let’s see what we can find here.” I stood from my seat, trying to recall where I’d seen the nurses retrieve stickers from. I knew a stash was kept somewhere in the examining room for the children that came in. However, I had never needed to find the stash before, so I’d never really paid attention to it.

“Where’s Mommy?” the girl asked in a slightly sad tone.

My thoughts exactly. “I’m sure she’ll be back any moment now.” I paused in my search for the elusive stickers, and glanced back at the girl. Tears streamed down her face. Upon finding me looking at her, she hastily wiped her eyes. A lump developed in my throat at the sight of her wrists—or the marks on them, rather.

“Sarah…?” But before I could say anything more, someone drew back the curtain to our room. For a second, I thought it was the girl’s mother. But instead, Tessa Kennery peeked in at us. Our eyes instantly met for a second that felt like an eternity before Tessa shifted her gaze to the little girl. “How are we doing in here?” she asked.

The little girl was still rubbing her eyes. Tessa’s brow wrinkled; she was still beautiful even with a frown on her face. I stood frozen on the spot as I watched her approach the child and kneel down before her.

“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” Tessa asked.

“I don’t feel good,” she said.

Tessa glanced back at me.

I shook my head and cleared my throat. “Sarah has a fever. She’s going to need some antibiotics. We’re just…waiting for her mom to return.”

I saw it this time—the slight flash of panic that appeared on Sarah’s face when I mentioned her mother.

“I see,” Tessa said. She met my eye again, and I struggled to figure out how to discreetly indicate the marks on the child’s wrist.

“Sarah tells me that she enjoys stickers. I was just trying to find some for her, but they seem to be hiding from us.”

“Is that so?” Tessa said, standing up. “Well, I’m sure those stickers can’t hide from me.” She winked at Sarah and crossed the room toward me. “Excuse me, doctor.” I thought I detected the slightest bit of snark in her voice, but there was no time to contemplate it. She brushed past me and our arms just grazed each other. My cock twitched in anticipation. Dammit. This was getting worse by the second.

Behind me, she opened a cabinet I hadn’t made my way to yet. When she opened it, she pulled out a jar that contained not only stickers, but lollipops as well. She turned back towards Sarah with a smile on her face as she shook the jar at her. “You see—I told you they couldn’t hide from me!”

Sarah giggled through her tears. “He couldn’t find them.”

Tessa glanced at me. “Well, that’s because he’s a boy. You know, boys don’t always know as much as they think they do.”

The significance of her comment wasn’t lost on me and I was forcibly reminded of how rude I’d been to her the day before. “I won’t deny that,” I said. Tessa glanced at me once again, as if she could decipher the thoughts behind my words.

“Here you go, sweetie,” she said, offering the jar to Sarah. “Pick whichever ones you want.”

Sarah reached into the jar to get a green lollipop and a sticker of some kind of Disney princess.

Tessa gasped.