"You liked the rules," she said.
"I liked knowing them better than everyone else in the room."
Something moved across her face. Recognition, maybe. "My father's house had no rules," she said quietly. "Or the rules changed depending on what he'd been drinking and what had gone wrong that week." She looked at her wine. "I liked medicine for the same reason you liked law. The body is a system. It tells you the truth. You learn to read it and it doesn't lie to you."
The courtyard outside the window was very still.
"Professor Moretti," I said.
She looked up sharply.
"You mentioned him," I said. "At the wedding dinner. That he said you had a gift."
She stared at me. "You were listening."
"I listen to everything."
She held my gaze for a moment and then looked away and I could see her dec
