I didn’t know what to tell Drew that wouldn’t upset him. Simba had had a stroke. When Rose came in, I immediately noticed the head tilt, the inability to walk normally, the fact that he would fall to one side. I still ran a urinalysis and had already scheduled an MRI for Simba that would take place in roughly an hour. 

He talked to me like I was a vet and I talked to him like he was a client, an owner of a patient. There was no small talk, no smiling and flirting. It was all business between us - the way it should be right now.

Rose stayed through everything, sitting next to Drew and holding his hand. Even though she was offering him the support that I couldn’t, I still felt a small, selfish part of me twinge with jealousy at the sight. They had a history I couldn’t compete with, and I didn’t want to.

It was still uncomfortable for me though. Not necessarily because they were doing anything wrong, but because of the feelings it stirred up inside of me... feelings I had been trying to ignore, feelings I had been in denial about.

I liked Drew.

I liked Drew a lot and I wanted to spend time with him and get to know him better.

Now, obviously, was not the time to be thinking about that. I had a dog I had to worry about. I just wish there was more I could do. I was pretty sure Simba suffered a stroke, but I wanted to be sure, which was why I ran a bunch of tests.

I wished I could tell him that everything was going to be okay. The problem was, I didn’t know if that was true or not.

I helped other patients while we waited. I was so wrapped up in my job that I completely forgot to eat lunch. By the time it was closing, the only other person left in my practice was Drew. I hadn’t even noticed Rose had left.

He dropped a bag of fast food on the counter.

“I didn’t realize you ate this stuff,” I said, quirking a brow. God, my knees ached. I wanted nothing more than to sit down and stretch, maybe even sleep. Sleep sounded nice. “I thought hockey players were always on a diet.”

He cracked a smile, but it barely registered. I could understand. It was stupid of me to joke at a time like this.

“Sorry,” I murmured.

“This is actually for you,” he said. His voice was raw and scratchy, like he hadn’t spoken a word the whole day. “I noticed you didn’t eat anything today. You must be hungry.”

I felt my insides warm. The fact that he would even think about me when he was so stressed about his dog was more than I expected.

“You didn’t have to -“

He waved my concern away before I could even finish my show of appreciation. 

“You didn’t have to do what you did,” he said. “With Simba.”

I furrowed my brow, shooting him a look. “Actually, I definitely had to do that. It’s kind of like an oath you take when you become a vet. And it was Simba. I just saw him at the dog park. I wasn’t going to make him wait. Something happened. Luckily, Rose rushed him right in. It’s always good to stay on top of these things.”

I opened the brown paper bag and grinned when I saw my favorite crunchy rolls tucked away in a styrofoam box. I think he brought me three orders of it. I could barely finish two.

“You know,” he explained. “In case you get hungry later.”

I couldn’t stop myself from grinning if I tried. “Well,” I said, pulling the box out. “Thank you.”

“We aren’t together,” he said abruptly. 

He glanced around the small lobby and I wished I had made more of an effort to repaint the off-white walls and schedule a bleaching of the floor over a long weekend. I was tired of constantly smelling dried pee, even if it wasn’t there.

“I don’t know what you mean,” I said, glancing down at the sushi. I plopped one in my mouth so I wouldn’t have to speak just yet. I also hoped to buy myself some time so I wouldn’t have to respond to that just yet. 

“Yeah,” he said, his dark eyes on me. “You do.”

“It’s none of my business,” I said after I swallowed the sushi.

“I want it to be your business.”

I glanced over at him, my entire body freezing. I didn’t want to hope. I didn’t want to think anything of it, not when so much was still in limbo, and not when he had just broken up with Rose a few days ago. I couldn’t help but be a little excited though by the prospect of dating Drew, of seeing where this could go.

There was chemistry between us, that much I knew. I wanted to explore that. I never thought I would be given that opportunity.

“I don’t think now is the right time to talk about this,” I said. My voice was scratchy. It took effort to speak the words, but I needed to say them. It was the truth.

“I know,” he said, shaking his head, like even he knew he shouldn’t be bringing this up right then. “I know. When this is all over though, and you come to me to say that Simba will be fine, I want to talk about this.”

I stared at him for a long time, trying to assess him, the truth in his dark eyes. Slowly, I nodded my head. “Okay,” I agreed.

“Okay,” he said. “It’s a date.”