SAGE
I felt a cool air blowing over me, heard the hum of a fan nearby.
My eyes flickered open, and I heaved my body up to a sitting position in one fluid movement. The paper crinkled on the examining table below me. My sundress, soaked with my sweat, was pulled up high on my legs. I jerked it down. My face felt hot and clammy.
“Not to worry,” Dr. Stanstopolis said from her computer near the wall. “You only passed out for a few minutes. After your heart rate stabilized, we drew blood. You’ll be heading back to the mansion momentarily.”
I swung my legs off the side of the table.
“No need to get up yet,” she said. “Sven went to find you some lunch.” She set a vial of red blood—mine, I assumed—into a small holding rack. “Your mile time was unimpressive. Just over seven minutes.” She crossed her arms. “I’m sure you’re disappointed in your results.”
Disappointed? This was the best news I’d had in days. I loved the idea that I’d let her down.
“But not to worry,” she continued. “The code is within you. Dr. Adamson proved that with his tests on the island. We’ll get to it soon enough, and you’ll see your capabilities in full bloom.”
I remembered the gleam in Dr. Adamson’s eyes when he talked about the possibilities for Jack’s sperm and my eggs. Maybe it was just my sweat-soaked dress, but I shivered.
“Where is Dr. Adamson?” I said, smoothing my dress flat over my legs. “I half expected to see him here at headquarters.”
Did he have any idea that his sons were on their way to New York? Assuming what Sven said was true?
Dr. Stanstopolis paused her typing. “You’ll see Dr. Adamson tonight at the gala. I’m sure he’s anxious to confirm with his own eyes that you’ve arrived safely and are in good hands.” She sniffed, and, almost as an afterthought, added, “I can’t say I’ve missed him. It was refreshing having him away on the island.”
Something about the tone and beat of her last sentence clued me into the fact that Dr. Stanstopolis didn’t mean what she said. Had there been something between her and Dr. Adamson? Or was there still?
“You two weren’t close, then?”
“Close enough.” She slapped her tablet closed. “I remember his boys too. I remember them well enough to know that you’re probably in the mix of a love triangle.”
I willed my cheeks not to blush at the directness of her statement. How could she possibly know of anything going on between me and Jack and Beckett?
But what I really wondered was, why did she avoid talking about Dr. Adamson?
“So you liked him, then?” My fingers toyed with the paper covering the examining table. “Dr. Adamson?”
Dr. Stanstopolis pulled off her glasses and dropped them in her pocket.
“How about a question for you? Who would you pick, if you had the choice? Believe me, it was the talk of the secretaries around here once the boys hit their teens and were semi-old enough to ogle.
She moved in closer. “So? Are you a ‘bad boy’ girl, or do you prefer ‘salt of the earth’? Do you want rock ‘n’ roll? Or jazz? Do you want parties, unpredictability, someone uncontainable? Or do you prefer quiet nights and the security of knowing things will never change? Do you want the challenge of the one who needs to be rescued from himself? Or do you prefer the security of knowing you’ll always be loved? You can’t have both, you know.”
Dr. Stanstopolis stood right in front of me now, not realizing how absorbed she’d gotten in her speech. And although she’d effectively described pieces of both Jack and Beckett, I had a feeling she wasn’t referring to them at all.
I swallowed, refusing to pull away from her close proximity. “My mom always said it’s delusional to box people into stereotypes.”
“But it is representative of the way men are, isn’t it? They either lure you in with their inability to be bound to anyone or anything, or they violently profess the desire to love you and provide stability. But it’s never both.”
“And who’s jaded you, Dr. Stanstopolis?” I said. “Dr. Adamson?”
Dr. Stanstopolis snorted. “Dr. Adamson? He hasn’t gotten over his wife, even after all these years. He still can’t accept the fact she’s dead.”
Sven pushed through the door then, holding a white bag up in my direction. He raised his eyebrows. “Hungry?”
The doctor lifted her chin and smoothed out her lab coat.
“See you soon, Sage. You’re just a pretty face for one night, and then the real fun begins.”
She turned on her heel and stalked past Sven into the hallway, her hips swaying after her.