Everly's head shook. "It's not that. I need . . ." She sighed and then dug inside her bag, pulling the bottle out again. She shoved it at me. "Just put these stupid drops in my eyes, all right?"

It was prescription eye drops. I wanted to ask, but I didn't want to upset her by making her confess more secrets before we even attempted to conquer breakfast. "Head back. Look up."

That was the easy part. She wiped her eyes with a tissue and then said, "You have to check me. Make sure my eyes aren't scratched, my mouth, my back. All of the places I can't see. Then you have to take my temperature. Then you have to check my blood pressure. Then you have to feel my stomach and check for internal bleeding. Then you have to listen to my lungs. Then you have to . . ."

I put my hand over her mouth, smiling. "I get it. You're a very needy person who can't feel pain. Shut up and take off your shirt."

She looked up at me, her eyes bright. "You know I have had the same nurse for seven years and she's never once told me shut up."

"Not to your face," I laughed.

She smiled, and then turned around, pulling her hair to the side. "Figures you'd start with me stripping, Callum Andrew."

"Leave your shirt on. I was only teasing." I pulled up her shirt just far enough to see her back. It wasn't as bad as I thought. She had a few light scars and several fading bruises. It wasn't nearly as bad as the marks on her legs. "You look fine." I ran my hands along her arms, legs. She twisted as if it tickled when I reached her stomach. "You feel that?" I wondered.

Her eyes were closed. "I feel, Callum Andrew. I feel."

I caressed the tips of my fingers against her ribs again. She opened her eyes, smiling. "Knock it off, Doc."

"Open your mouth," I said.

"Always this forward with your patients?"

"It's keeping you quiet, isn't it?"

"You don't like it when I'm quiet," she said.

I held her face in my hands. "No, I don't."

I kissed her forehead when I was done. She swallowed a handful of vitamins before she sat with me in my room for breakfast.

"What do you usually eat?" I asked, eyeing her untouched plate.

"My nurse Henrietta usually makes me a smoothie. Sometimes, when I'm nice to her, it's full of berries. Sometimes, when I'm difficult, it's full of spinach."

"Well, you were rather nice to me this morning. I'll make you a smoothie if it means you'll eat something. I think I saw strawberries in the fridge."

"Aren't you going to ask me about it?" she said quietly.

"Nope." I took a bite of bacon and stared out the window. "I don't want to know. Not like this. It was a bad idea to bring you here and try to cheat my way to the truth."

"How could it possibly ever be a good idea, Callum?"

"You know how most people find out things about each other? They date. They become friends. They just spend time together and get to know each other. They make someone constantly use words they swore off."

Everly laughed. "You want to date me to solve your differential. Well, that's new, I'll give you that much."

"Nope." I finished off my coffee. "I want to date you. Forget the differential."

"You can't forget it unless you're dropping out of school."

I scooped up our plates. "Listen, I don't want to fight. I don't want to think about what comes after today." I leaned down and kissed her head. "Come downstairs and let me feed you."

She sat on the counter as I rifled through the fridge. The rest of my family-father aside-was out on the patio.

"Strawberries," I called out, "some pineapple chunks, watermel-oh fuck no-and blueberries."

"How do you make a breakfast smoothie," she asked, "with an "oh fuck no"?"

I laughed, pulling an armful of fruit from the fridge. "So witty, Everly Anne."

"Strawberries and blueberries. No pineapple, please."

"Doesn't like pineapples," I mused. "I'll remember that."