Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 68286 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68286 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
"My head hurts," I tell him.
"I know. Follow my finger," he says, holding it up and moving it left and right, then up and down while I follow with my eyes.
"How long was I asleep?" I ask.
"It's Sunday morning."
"I slept all night?"
"You were unconscious, not asleep, Sophie," he says sharply as he wraps a blood-pressure cuff around my upper arm and inflates it, before unwrapping a stethoscope from around his neck.
He places it on my arm and listens as the air is released from the cuff while keeping an eye on his watch. The stethoscope is turning me on so I guess I'm feeling better.
"Why is my ankle wrapped?" I say, catching sight of my leg.
"It's not broken, just sprained," he assures me. "We did an X-ray when you were brought in."
A nurse comes into the room then, moving quickly, her sneakers squeaking across the linoleum floors.
"Good morning, Sophie, we've been waiting for you to wake up. I'm Stacy, I'll be your nurse today. I need to get your vitals."
"I already did," Luke interrupts her, and takes the chart from her hands, writes something in it and hands it back to her.
Stacy looks shocked, and like she might disagree, but decides better of it. "Page me if you need anything, Dr. Miller."
"Bring me the release paperwork, please."
She pauses midstep on her way out the door. "I think Dr. Kallam wanted to see the patient first, Dr. Miller."
"Tell Dr. Kallam I'll have the patient follow up next week."
I look between them, sensing tension, but unsure of what's going on. The nurse leaves without another word and Luke turns his attention back to me.
"What do you remember?"
"I, uh…" I stall. What do I remember? "I remember you left the party with Gina."
"Really, Sophie?" He turns around and walks over to the window and stares at the shitty view from my room for a minute before turning back to me and crossing his arms across his chest.
"As fascinating as your childish assumptions are, I’m more interested in how you ended up unconscious in the stairwell of your dorm."
I raise my hand and rub it over the back of my head where it made contact with something—a railing, the floor, I don't know. "He was angry at me," I begin before Luke cuts me off.
"Who was angry?"
"My ex-boyfriend, Mike. He was in the lobby when I got back to the dorm flirting with a girl who lives in my building. I interrupted them and told her what kind of guy he is. He didn't
appreciate the interruption."
"Go on," Luke prods.
"I was jogging up the steps, in my heels. That’s all I remember.”
“Did he touch you?” Luke’s face is calm but his voice betrays him.
“No.” I shake my head. “No. He was a floor or two behind me. I think I tripped. I should have taken the heels off.”
The door swings open then and a tall blonde wearing a lab coat strides in with a chart in her hands. "Dr. Miller, I hear you're trying to release my patient without me?"
Luke looks like he's had enough of this day and the sun hasn't even finished rising. "Last I checked you reported to me, Dr. Kallam."
"My patient," she retorts.
"Kristi," he says warningly.
"Luke," she replies, seemingly unfazed by his ire.
They have a silent battle then, over what I do not know.
"Sophie, how are you feeling?" This is directed at me from Dr. Kallam.
"I think I'm okay," I respond. "I'd really like to leave," I add, in case I have any say in this standoff.
Dr. Kallam shifts her gaze back to Luke and tells him, "One week," on her way out the door.
* * *
We're in Luke's car shortly after that. They wheeled me out in a wheelchair, which I would normally find embarrassing but it turns out I did twist my ankle pretty badly, so I'm not sure
I would have been up for a long walk anyway.
"Wait, where are you taking me?" I ask when it's clear Luke is not driving in the direction of campus. It's Sunday. I always go home on Sundays.
"I'm taking you home," he replies testily.
I assume he means his home, but his attitude is not encouraging questions at this point, so I give in and lean back against the headrest and close my eyes. When I open them Luke has
already parked the car and he's opening my door to help me out. He scoops me up as soon as the door is closed and carries me to the elevator. I'm in scrubs and an oversized Baldwin
Memorial Hospital sweatshirt from Luke's office.
I'd freaked out when Luke had brought me the scrubs to wear home, realizing I must have been wearing Meredith's dress when I was brought in. I'd asked Luke if he'd returned the dress to
Meredith and he'd said yes, that he'd called her to the hospital the second I was admitted to pick it up. He was being sarcastic, obviously, but his tone did not brook further
conversation.