Pia lowered her voice and leaned closer to Paul. “I need a scrip. I need a prescription, or better still, maybe you could just give me a few pills if they’re available in the ER.”

“What kind of pills are you talking about?” Paul questioned warily. Pia asking for drugs raised an immediate red flag. Obviously he didn’t know her well, having met her for the first time the day before. He also noticed that she was still continuing to avoid looking at him, making him wonder if she had been like that yesterday. He couldn’t remember.

“Sleep medication,” Pia said. She was studying her hands. She felt awkward. “Not a lot. In fact, only a few pills or capsules or whatever. I hardly slept a wink last night. Thanks. I really appreciate you doing it.”

Paul leaned back, “Hey, I haven’t agreed to do it!”

“No, right, sorry, I’m jumping the gun. I need some Temazepam.”

“That’s a benzodiazepine, a controlled substance.”

“I know, I know. I’m having terrible trouble sleeping. I can’t sleep at all, in fact. I had some Ambien, it doesn’t work at all. I mean, look at me.”

Paul looked at Pia, and she seemed completely fine to him. In fact, she looked totally gorgeous. Like Pia, Paul relied a lot on his intuition to guide him. He was suspicious of Pia’s claim that she wanted the narcotic to help her get to sleep. Something wasn’t right, and she wouldn’t look at him.

“Look, sorry,” Pia said. She stood up. “I can ask someone else, it’s not a big deal.” She started toward the door.

“Pia, there’s something I didn’t tell you.”

And Pia turned back. She noticed that the other person in the room was still ignoring them as if he wasn’t even aware of their presence.

“I didn’t send all the blood to the lab. I kept a few cc’s here in the ER. They are in the fridge.”

“You did?” Pia’s face lit up. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I would have told you earlier, but you hung up on me. And I did tell you I sent a sample of the blood over to the lab. I didn’t send all of it because you said you might want to take a look at it. I sent enough for standard diagnostic tests and kept the rest.”

“I wish you’d told me.”

“I’m telling you now. You could have used a little time to chill out when we were talking earlier. I’m not going to come running after you like a lost puppy who got scolded. I’ve got my own stuff to worry about, you know.”