140 The Parasite

"What are you doing here?" Claire asks in a tone that sounds more like, "Will you please drop dead?"

Gary Smulders shrugs. "Duty calls. A little bird told me something's afoot in this here medical establishment." He squints as he looks at her sideways. "Say, what are you doing here?"

Claire glances at the door of the ICU, hoping Gabriel doesn't come out; not yet, please. "Annual physical exam. But what is it to you?"

"Oh, is your fiancé making you work in his company now, with all the regular requirements?" His eyebrows arch in mock disbelief. "I would have thought he would simply flick a finger and every career obstacle in your way vanishes. Just like that."

Claire makes a deep breath. She looks around; Gary Smulders seems alone. Maybe he's just fishing for information. He probably doesn't know anything. Except he asks a nurse here, and everything will spill out. It's going to be a public relations nightmare, and completely opposite of what she's just trying to do a while back.