Page 28

ADRIAN

I looked up from the clipboard in my hands, to the kid in front of me, and back down again at the initials scrawled across the top. KM. No other identifiers. No billing information or social security number. Which told me no one was worried about the coding.

His intake paperwork claimed he was in his early teens but he presented younger than his stated age with white-blonde hair that had been shaved down to his scalp.

Pale blue eyes and a slight, malnourished frame.

Other than the smirk he was wearing like armor, there was nothing remarkable about this patient. At least from what I could see.

Clearly, John saw differently. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have dragged me all the way out here. He wanted something. From me or the kid. Maybe both.

I tilted my head and watched my patient for a few more minutes, never saying a word as he smacked his chewing gum, blowing a bubble as wide as it would go before popping it and starting over. I was sure he was analyzing me as much as I was analyzing him.

“What’s your name?” I decided to start simple. I didn’t need the answer. I just needed to see where it would take me.

“You tell me, Doc.” He grinned. Then again, he never stopped grinning. Not since I walked in here. When I didn’t take the bait, he huffed out a breath. It was no fun when the game was one-sided and it was obvious this kid wanted to play. “You can call me Kaz.”

I nodded once before making a little note on a blank page of the chart. I didn’t have to write it down. It was just a way to keep my hands busy and my attention on something other than the patient who was thirsting for it.

He inched forward, trying to read over the lip of the folder before I tugged it closer to my chest and landed him with a smirk of my own.

“Come on, Doc,” he whined. “Just give me a little peek. You’ll find I’m good at keeping secrets.”

“Yeah? What kind of secrets?” I questioned, even though I knew I shouldn’t. But I had to admit I was curious. Because I knew how to keep secrets too. For very different reasons.

“Why don’t you drop your pants and find out?” He lifted a challenging brow and suddenly he looked much older for his age. Trauma did that to you. Though I had to wonder if it was trauma at all. Could just as easily be for shock value .

“No thanks,” I replied as I made another scribble across the blank page. More nonsense. Because whether or not this kid was serious, I wasn’t writing that shit down.

He craned his head and narrowed his eyes at me. “Why not?”

“Because I’m not a perve.” I shrugged, and he laughed.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before. But guess what, Doc? Everyone is a good suck away from becoming one.” He followed my line of sight as my eyes flicked to his legs before I could stop myself. “You’d be surprised what I can do in this chair…”

“Yeah, everything but hang yourself, right?” It was the one thing of interest I did find when I was flipping through his file. A failed suicide attempt. Not all that long ago either.

“Give me enough time and I’ll figure that out too,” he grunted, tugging back on his wheels before pivoting himself out of the room. I’d pissed him off.

Guess my new friend didn’t want to play anymore.