ARIA
The mask goes on before I open the curtains. My hands are faster with the strap than they need to be.
I pause and take a breath. He called. He apologized. It doesn't change what I'm here to do.
I am Dr. W to him.
I pick up my phone and walk to the clinic. It’s cold when I unlock it.
I turn on the lamps over the examination table and start laying out what I'll need for Celeste.
The work steadies me. It always has.
A knock comes at my door.
Two knocks, unhurried. My whole body goes tight before I've even lifted my head. Celeste doesn't knock like that.
"Come in."
The door swings and Wolcott fills it the same way he did yesterday, shoulder first, ducking slightly out of habit.
Everything in me goes cold, then hot, in quick succession.
Not him. Not today.
"Morning, Dr. W.
