Right Through Me

T H I R T E E N

"You got a crush on the big, bad Gladiator?!" Mia, Leslie and Amanda gasped, giggling to each other. 

"No, no!" Lina denied, sighing heavily. "I never said anything like that."

"You didn't need to, Lina," Mia said, taking a sip of her margarita. "It's written all over your face."

"I fell nothing for the man," Lina said, taking a gulp of her IPA.

"You just said you care about him," Leslie pointed out, the three of them giggling. 

"That doesn't mean I have a crush on him," Lina said, pointing her finger at them. "Besides, even if I did. It wouldn't work out, seriously. We're complete opposites."

"Opposites attract, Lina, more often than you think," Amanda teased, enjoying her Bloody Mary. "So, tell us. When did you start to care for this big caveman?"

Lina rolled her eyes at them, taking another gulp of her beer before continuing. "I suppose it was when he came to the clinic that one night, a few months back."

"Wow, that long?" Mia asked, ordering her fifth margarita.

"I'm telling you guys," Lina said, trying to act serious. "There's something wrong with the man. He refuses to see a doctor, ever, yet has no problem with hiring me as his doctor. I don't get it. He also refuses to go the emergency room or even a real hospital."

"You're reading too much into it, Lina," Amanda said.

"Maybe I am," she admitted. "Or maybe I'm not. Look, this man nearly died on my table last night. It was that moment that I realized how much I care for the brute."

"This is definitely different, Lina," Leslie said. "You don't feel the same kind of care towards him as you do with your other patients. It's different with him, isn't it?"

She never thought about it that way. But, she had a point. Was it because she knew him personally? Or maybe because he wasn't a stranger?

Lina groaned audibly, finishing her beer in one big gulp and ordering another. "Forget about it. It was the alcohol talking."

"I don't think it was, Lina," they giggled. 

"When was the last time you dated someone?" Mia asked, wiggling her eyebrows at her. 

"Oh, god," Lina groaned, Amanda and Leslie laughing hysterically. "Back when there were dinosaurs."

"Seriously, Lina."

She stared at her three friends, they looked at her intently, awaiting her glorious answer. "Since freshman year of college, I guess. I dated a guy all throughout high school but once we started college he told me I can't keep up with your busy schedule and dumped me," Lina said realizing how truly not-glorious her answer was.

"How long has that been, exactly?"

"About--ten years, maybe?"

"What the hell?!" they screeched, eyes wide with horror. 

"Oh, please," Lina snickered, taking a quick gulp of her beer. "I've had some flings since then, it's not like the basement is all dust and cobwebs. Just...for maybe the past year I've been too busy with the clinic I never really thought about a relationship."

"You poor soul," they each muttered, ordering a round of shots and downing them instantly.

* * * * *

"I am not kidding, Donovan!" Lina shouted, entering his mansion-on-the-hill-side, after Ethan had called her over. "You need to rest!"

"I'm fine," he said, struggling to stay in his sitting position on the side of the bed. "I don't need to rest."