REJOIN | ✔️

Chapter Three

Forget the whole soulmate thing, Dr Mayan and I were destined to be together. Admittedly he was very Aryan-race-poster-boy with his insanely rock-hard body, blond hair and deep ocean blue eyes, but the smile he greeted me with flash banged my brain. I have a thing for good teeth.

I was almost certainly in love.

He met me halfway through the door, welcoming me with that blinding smile and a strong handshake. When he spoke, he gave a heartfelt, "Good afternoon, welcome, welcome! Please take a seat, make yourself comfortable." His voice was so low it rumbled a little. I melted.

I stuttered hello and took a seat in front of the desk that took up most of the office. Instead of retaking his desk chair, he positioned himself in the seat next to me, which I doubted was anywhere near as comfortable. Leaning attentively into me, he rested his elbows on his knees with his hands clasped together, a look of intrigue on his face that made me a little confused.

What was so intriguing about me?

It seemed so informal for a doctor's visit, but I preferred it. I hate doctor's appointments where you get stared at and have to mumble your problem to your lap self-consciously. Either that or you just stare at your mum in hopes she'll say it all for you. No, this appointment seemed like catching up with an old friend.

"Thanks for seeing me so last minute," he surprised me by saying.

He was thanking me? He was the one getting me in during a cancellation... and looking damn fine whilst doing it too. Sorry, that was autocorrect.

"It's an honour to get to work with one of the firsts, we only had a handful here and I never got the chance to see any of you. Until now!"

He said this so excitedly, that I had to ask, "What is a 'first'? I've heard that a couple of times today."

Dr Mayan laughed in what sounded like genuine shock. "Wow, you must have been living under a rock."

"Yeah, I've heard that a couple of times today, too." I laughed with him.

"A 'first' is just referring to the first names generated to come in for testing. We made it kind of a competition between J. Caw sites to see who could get through all of theirs the quickest. We missed the finish line by about..." He checked his desk calendar theatrically and chuckled. "Oh, five and a half months."

"Sorry," I said with feeling. "I seriously never received any of the letters. My mother is a bit of a..." I pulled a face, not knowing how to finish the sentence. Katherine Wilson was a lot of things.

"Ah," he said and smiled knowingly.

"How come my name was generated for this or was it at random?" I felt bad for asking so many questions, especially since we'd already started the appointment late. But my ignorance on the topic was poignant — I really should have read up on this and stopped avoiding the whole thing like a baby. I hadn't even had a chance to read Clara's pamphlet, but that had more to do with the fact I'd been too busy scoffing Penguins.

Dr Mayan answered without skipping a beat yet again, not seeming bothered for time. "If you gave blood around that time and signed a waiver for it, we may have used your DNA sample for testing."

I had, so that made sense. I never read terms and conditions of any sort — I always skipped the fine print and signed my soul away. And in this case, that's pretty much literal.

"There's every chance you've already been matched on the system... that's if you have a match to make, of course. Now, you know there's a possibility of there not being a match for you, right? It's not common, but sometimes people don't have the gene necessary for a rejoining to take place."