Year One (Chronicles of The One #1)(93)

Jonah, walking back from the nurse’s office, where they kept additional supplies, stopped. Just looked at her through the glass.

She’d let a woman—Clarice, who’d once owned a hair salon—cut her hair. He loved the way it sort of exploded in corkscrews around her face.

They’d set up the clinic together, often worked there side by side for hours. While his respect for her as a person and a doctor had grown, he’d learned more about her. Little things, he thought.

She liked science fiction novels, had lettered in track and field in high school, had never ridden a horse, and harbored a mild fear of them.

She’d collected PEZ dispensers—something he found ridiculously endearing.

He knew she’d lived in a group house with other interns for a year, and the daily soap opera had caused her to cut her budget to the bone so she could afford an efficiency apartment on her own.

He knew when she needed a break, five minutes to herself. And he knew his feelings for her, about her, had changed. What he felt now wasn’t a crush. What he didn’t know was what to do about it.

She looked up then. He saw the fatigue in her eyes, and the mild puzzlement.

To cover the fact he’d been staring at her, he stepped to the doorway.

“Sorry. I didn’t want to break your focus.”

“Just finished up. Or will be once I file all these.”

“I’ve got that. Take a break, Doc. Ray’s going to take some of the load off, don’t you think?”

“He’s willing, and he’s able. Carly, the nursing student? She got some practical experience on the trip here, but needs more training.”

He continued to file the patient information as she sat, rubbing at the back of her neck.

“Headache?”

“Just overload,” she said. “We’ve got a type two diabetic. They’ve done well managing that, and finding oral meds, but the supply’s low. Some of the group is on medication—hypertension, chemical balancing, beta blockers, blood thinners, asthma inhalers, and so on.”

He nodded, finished up the filing. “I was coming in to let you know we’re going to need more supplies. Even the bare basics are running low after today. We’re in decent shape,” he said as he turned to her. “But we just added nearly a hundred people. It’s time for a scavenger hunt.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“We need you here. We can figure out who’d be best to go along, nudge them into volunteering. I think we need to postpone the meeting—at least a day. Too much going on. And when we do hold it, if we’re comfortable with them by then, we should probably include Max and—it’s Lana, right?”

“Yes, and I agree about including them. Bill’s going to want his son there.”

“I’ll get a better sense of Will. He’s moving in with us. My initial take on him? He traveled hundreds of miles to find his father. That says something about heart and character.”

“Again, I agree. Here’s where I don’t. I don’t think we can or should postpone the meeting. Katie worked the sign-up, and Lloyd helped her with it for a while. Both of them came in to tell me Kurt Rove, the Mercers, and Denny Wertz stood across the street, watching. And Katie saw the Mercers stroll over and start on some kid—a teenager with a dog. Apparently one of them made noises and threats about putting the dog down when it growled at them.”

“Crap. Why didn’t Katie have someone come get me?”

“She was about to when Rove strutted across, and people in Max’s group had words to say back. Max walked up. Whatever he said or did had Rove and the Mercers backing off.

“We need those rules, Jonah. We need the order. And we need them yesterday.”

“All right.” He scrubbed at his face. “Okay. We’ve got about three hours. Add Max, Lana, and Will Anderson?”

“I think it’s the way to go. I can stop by and tell Max and Lana. You can talk to Will.”

“You need a break, Rachel. When did you eat last?”

“It’s been a long day, Dr. Vorhies.”

He opened the desk drawer, took out a protein bar.

“Why can’t they make these in hot fudge sundae, or rare roast beef au jus?” She unwrapped it, took a bite. “They’re just terrible. Good news is, they won’t last forever.”

“Could be like Twinkies.”

She laughed a little. “Zombieland. Love that movie. The other good news is: However much the world is screwed, we’re not having a zombie apocalypse.”

“Yet.”

On a sigh, she ate more of the protein bar. “You sure can cheer me up, Jonah.”

“How about we take a walk? You could use some air, some just out-of-here time. We’ll go tell Max about the meeting, tell Bill and his son. Maybe walk down to the gardens.”

“I could use a walk.”

She got up; he forgot to step back. And he reminded himself he’d delivered twins under desperate circumstances. He’d gotten those twins, Hannah, their mother, and Rachel out of New York City. He’d done things during the past four months he never believed he could or would.

So why couldn’t he just make a move here?

He didn’t step back, and realized neither did she.

“I want to ask you something.”