Page 53 of Deathtoll

“I do. I swear.”

“Well, I trust you. So in you go. Let me know when you’re under the sheet.”

Scott barely disappeared into the treatment room when Murph strode into her office. If he had any thoughts about her earlier strange behavior, he didn’t show it. He just parked himself in the middle of the space.

Sweet chocolate chip cookies, this was so unnecessary. Also, he might be an unruffleable manly monolith, but she wasn’t completely over their morning encounter yet. Kate folded her arms. “No.”

“Is that Murph?” Scott called through the door. “It’s okay, Kate. We’ve talked about it.”

Murph did that standing-with-his-feet-apart thing of his, hands folded behind him, parade rest or whatever they called it, ex-cop/ex-soldier move that said a tank wouldn’t be able to budge him.

“I talked to Maria earlier,” he told Kate. “She said it’s not a bad idea if I sit in. Scott is nervous about hurting you. If he knows he can’t because I’m here to intervene, it’ll allow him to relax.”

Kate held her tongue. Mostly because letting loose on Murph in front of a patient would have been unprofessional, but also because he was right, dammit. If Maria had shown up and offered to stay, Kate would have thanked her and wouldn’t have had a problem with the assistance.

“How about you stay out here?” she said in a low voice, fully aware that she was acting as if she and Murph were parents at odds, trying not to fight in front of the kids.

When Murph opened his mouth, she held up a hand palm out to stop him from talking. She made a series of hand gestures: pointed her finger at him, then the zipper movement over her mouth, then a slash across her neck. His nostrils flared as he struggled not to laugh. Which made her want to smile, but she did not. She meant business.

Then Scott called out, “I’m ready,” saving them from further awkward moments.

Thank God.Kate walked past Murph with a this-is-not-my-happy-face glare, leaving the door open a crack. But by the time she turned to Scott, she was smiling again.

“All right. I’m going to start with your right calf like last time. I’m going to fold back the sheet.” She went right ahead. “And now I’m just going to place my hand on your skin. How is it so far?”

“It’s fine. Good.”

She began with a soothing massage first, then dug in a little deeper, but nothing that would hurt.

“Ready for me to move to the thigh muscles?”

“Sure.”

That terrible tension he’d carried in every inch of his body the last time was mostly gone. He was still tense, but less so, actively trying to relax.

“Maria, Dr. Gulick, said I could do breathing exercises while you work on me. It might help.”

“Excellent idea. You absolutely can.”

Scott began slow breathing, and, after a few moments, his muscles relaxed another notch.

Kate didn’t hesitate when she reached for his shoulder, just warned him like before, but didn’t give him any indication that she remembered his reaction from last time or that it concerned her.

After she finished with him, she covered him up. “Feel free to stay here for a few minutes to relax if you’d like.”

His voice held emotion as he said, “Thank you.”

“Absolutely, Scott, any time.”

When she walked out into her office, closing the door behind her, she found Murph scrolling on his phone.

“Thank you,” she said, because hehadcome to help.

He pushed to his feet with the controlled grace of a warrior, nodded at her without a word, and then he left. Notold you so. No gloating that she needed him. Nothing. He just did what needed to be done. Always.

He was a man a woman could count on, no matter what, in matters small and great, which was one of the reasons she’d fallen in love with him in the first place.

Kate blew out a pent-up breath. She wasn’t going to stand in the middle of her office, wishing he would come back, dammit. She was there to work.