“How was work?” he asked.
“Another chaotic day in the ED.”
“Any stories for me? You know I live for the good ones.”
She spread hummus across a triangle of flatbread. “I’ve got a sort of good one and a really good one.”
He could barely contain his excitement, indicative of just how boring his day had been. “Save the best for last.”
She took a bite and grinned at him as she chewed. “Okay. The first one was a guy with a nail in his head. Like, sticking straight out of his skull like he walked out of that Hellraiser movie. Walked right in, awake, talking, cracking jokes with his buddy who accidentally hit him with a nail gun.”
“Damn,” Graham whistled. “Remind me never to let you near me with one of those.”
Claire scoffed. “I’m excellent with power tools.”
“Right. That’s why you badgered me for weeks to put up the porch swing?”
“I could have done it. I just didn’t want to.”
He took a bite and just stared at her.
“Do you want to hear the best one or not?”
Graham nodded. Damn, that prosciutto was good.
“Okay, so this couple comes in, a man and a woman, and they’re probably in their fifties. The man has some sort of issue going on down there and he’s convinced his wife has been cheating on him and gave him an STD.”
Graham scooted to the edge of his chair. This was a good one.
“Sure enough, his penis was red and swollen. Looked infected. The entire time he’s being examined he and his wife are fighting. She’s swearing up and down she didn’t cheat but he wasn’t having it.”
“Did he have an STD?”
“Nope. Get this.” Claire’s eyes went wide. “Turns out he got a jalape?o seed stuck up there somehow and that’s what was causing the problem.”
Graham nearly choked on his food. He took a long drink of water. “A jalape?o seed?”
“Yep.”
He blinked, his mouth ajar. “How… I… How?”
“Dunno. But when the doctor said what he found the guy’s face sort of cleared up like Ooooohhhh.”
Graham burst out laughing. “Shit. That’s so messed up.”
“Hey, everyone has their thing.”
“That’s one I think I’ll pass on, thanks.”
“I’m gonna go out on a limb and say I’d never have thought of that one in the first place.”
He tipped his glass in her direction. “Same.”
She rearranged the food on her plate and asked, “What did you do all day?”
“The usual. Worked out, watched TV, sat outside.”
Wrote you an email.
“When did you say you can go back to work for light duty?”
“Next week. I’ll be at a different station where administration is, just filing paperwork and stuff. But at least it’s something.”
They continued on in easy conversation while they ate, and eventually came to dessert. Feeling guilty, Graham pushed the cheesecake in her direction. “We can split it, I guess,” he said grudgingly.
Claire put a hand over her heart. “Such a gentleman.”
She took half of each and pushed them back to his side of the table. They spoke less during dessert, too focused on eating. Graham wasn’t usually a fruit-dessert type person, but he had to admit the apple tart was pretty good. In fact, he’d liked almost everything Claire had ever introduced him to since they became roommates. Without her he’d still be on his old diet of pizza and chicken wings.
Gertrude had hovered around the table during the meal, hoping for a treat but unwilling to appear too eager.
Claire tossed her an extra piece of salami from the charcuterie spread. “There. Now stop staring at me with those eyes.”
Graham’s heart warmed at the nonhostile interaction between them.
“Did you have pets growing up?” he asked.
She sat back down. “No. My mom’s allergic to cats and she was too much of a clean freak to have an indoor dog.”
“You and your mom could not be more different.”
“Are you saying I’m a slob?”
He took a drink. “Did you hear me say that?”
She pursed her lips. “What about you? Did you have a Gertrude when you were a kid?”
“Nah. We barely had enough money for ourselves, let alone to spend on keeping an animal fed.”
He’d spoken without thinking as he put the last bite of cheesecake in his mouth, and didn’t realize how out of character it was to say something so personal until he looked up and found Claire staring at him, fork poised halfway to her mouth.