Chapter 234

Upon returning from the washroom, where Janine emptied her pitifully small bladder and spent a moment pep-talking herself in the mirror-don't lust after the patient, stay professional-she returned to find Derrick surrounded by burly bodies?and they were all sharing a bottle of tequila?

She blinked, but the scene remained the same. What happened while she was gone? Whatever the reason, she liked it, given these men gave something Derrick needed. Acceptance.

It was one thing for her to preach he could live a normal life, another for people to treat him normally, to tease him and swap scar stories.

She did her best to remain unobtrusive, sliding into a chair alongside Derrick, yet he knew she was there. To her surprise, he reached out and grasped her hand, and kept holding it the rest of the evening.

She'd never seen him more relaxed, so she was surprised when he announced, "Time for me and Red here to go."