“If she dumped you because of this, I’m gonna punch her in the ovaries.” Jeni’s jaw was clenched, her eyes positively murderous.

“Can we talk about this later?” Andrew bit out. “All that matters right now is that we don’t need to talk about sex while I’m on chemo. Okay?” He turned pleading eyes on Lauren. “Can we move on?”

“Sure, um…I’m all done, if there are no other questions.”

Mrs. Bishop crossed her arms.

The two sisters standing against the wall watched Andrew.

Jeni stared straight ahead, not looking at anything in particular, hands fisted tightly in her lap.

Andrew was the only one looking at Lauren. His eyes scanned her face and stopped at her mouth for a second before returning to her eyes. “I’m good. Thank you, this was helpful. It’s nice to know what to expect.” He smiled then, a wide, beautiful smile that exposed straight white teeth and transformed his face into something even more glorious than before. Which was really saying something.

Lauren couldn’t look away. Without conscious thought, she felt her own lips widening to return the smile, like a flower might stretch its petals open to the sunlight.

“Yes, thank you, Lauren,” Mrs. Bishop’s voice broke in.

Lauren shifted her gaze. “You’re very welcome.” She stood, careful to look anywhere but at a smiling Andrew. “I’ll send Kiara in, and she’ll walk you out.”

She stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind her. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wood. Her heart pounded and the tremble in her hands returned. Taking in a deep breath, she returned to the workroom.

“All done?” Kiara asked.

“Yep. They’re ready to go.”

Kiara stood, paperwork in hand, and walked out.

Lauren unlocked her computer screen and opened Andrew’s chart. His name on the screen seemed different somehow, now that she knew who he was. They’d barely spoken this morning at the coffee shop, but it still felt like they were keeping a secret, from his family and from Dr. Patel. Like their prior involvement was more than a few glances and an accidental crashing of their bodies. When it had happened, she’d been mortified and unbalanced, and could think only of getting to the presentation she didn’t want to be late for. But in the half hour between when she’d finished her lecture and met Andrew in the clinic, she’d replayed the moment in her head over and over. How firm and strong his body had been, and how good he’d smelled.