Nick closed his eyes and exhaled deeply.

“Come on, let's sit down,” he said softly. “As you say, we can yell later, but now there are more important things.”

Valeria didn't say anything. She just walked to one of the seats and filled out the form she already knew by heart.

Not even twenty minutes had passed when a doctor came into the waiting room and Valeria got up quickly to meet him.

“Alan!” Valeria hugged him for a second and he smiled with an expression that felt like a kick in Nick's stomach. “Alice...”

“Don’t worry. I saw her. It’s all right. She's going to be fine,” the doctor assured her.

He was in his thirties and seemed to be a serious, educated man, and more attractive than he should have been for a physician.

“It's been a long time since she'd had a fever like this,” said the doctor. “Has she been under stress? Were you able to change schools?

Nick saw that Valeria was looking at the floor and hugging herself.

“No... I haven't been able to do it. I'm working on it,” she mumbled as if embarrassed.

“It's a shame the government doesn't support cases like these... maybe give them some Insurance…” the doctor ventured, and Nick approached.

“Excuse me, what do you mean?” he asked, and Alan looked at him with some discomfort.

“I'm sorry, who are you?” he said curtly, and Valeria answered him.

“Alan, this is Mr. Bennet. He's my boss. He brought us here.”

“Your boss?” The doctor extended his hand, and the moment Nick shook it, he could feel the rivalry emerging. “I'm glad there's finally someone who values your work,” he said.

“What's wrong with Alice?” Nick asked, and after a brief nod from Valeria, the doctor turned to him.

“Alice is a child with a very high IQ, much higher than an adult’s. However, sometimes this excess of intelligence makes children very vulnerable, it’s difficult for them to relate to other people, and to accept the world as it is. In Alice's case, for example, she only tolerates Valeria's touch. And when she gets very stressed she gets a fever; it’s psychosomatic but still dangerous. She should be in a specialized school, but... well, they are very expensive”. He looked at Valeria nervously, making sure he hadn't offended her, but the girl wasn't looking at either of them. “Listen, Val... Alice is a strong girl. Just try to keep her calm. These things will eventually pass,” he assured, putting a hand on her shoulder. “And above all, try not to stress yourself. You are the only person Alice has. Whatever happens to you, it automatically reflects on her. You get stressed, she gets stressed. Got it?”

Nick clenched his fists inside his pants pockets. Valeria didn't even need to throw it in his face. His stupidity and his confrontation with Valeria had sent that girl to the hospital.

“Val, Alice will be here all day, but you can probably take her with you in the evening.”

“Thank you, Alan,” she murmured sadly before the doctor left.

Nick stood there, not knowing what to do or say, until she spoke.

“Thank you, Mr. Bennet, for all your help.”

“Well... if you don't mind, I'd rather stay until I know she's okay,” he said, and Valeria looked at him incredulously, but only nodded in response.

They didn't cross a single word after that. They just sat there, side by side, as if they were two strangers united by destiny in that waiting room, for hours.

“I'm going to get some coffee,” said Nick unexpectedly. “How do you like it?”

Valeria looked at him as if he were an alien.

“It doesn't matter as long as it's coffee. Thank you,” she replied.

Nick found the coffee shop, ordered a couple of cappuccinos, and was about to go back when the mention of her name made him react.

“Doc, you should forget about Valeria already.”

Nick didn't move from the bar, his back to the nurse and the doctor.

“Sara, what have I told you about prying into my love life?” the doctor replied condescendingly.

“It's just that she has never looked at you that way. Besides, you're a brilliant doctor and she's... Oh, I feel for her, but that little girl is a lot of baggage.”

Nick's blood boiled just hearing that. No child was a lot of baggage for a mother, and as much as he disliked Valeria, he was sure she didn't think so either. Her concern and affection for Alice was more than evident.

“Sara, don't say that. The truth is that Alice is lucky to have someone like Valeria in her life,” said the doctor, and Nick suddenly liked him even less. “Besides, she is not to blame for what is happening to her.”

“The truth is she's out of luck,” the nurse muttered sadly. “She hasn’t finished paying off one hospital bill when she's already having another one.”

“Well... I think I'm going to help her with this one,” the doctor reflected.

“Gratitude is not love, doc,” Sara warned him.

“No, but it will get me a date, and that's a start, Sarita. I have to start with something.”

Nick made his way back to the living room as it began to get dark and placed the cappuccino in Valeria's hands without saying a word. He resented the doctor's interest in her, and it bothered him more that he was using a favor to get her attention. Well, that wasn't something he was particularly tempted to allow, so he stepped away for a few minutes and went straight to solve the problem.

The sun had already gone down completely when Alan returned to the waiting room.

“That’s it,” he said, sitting down across from Valeria. “The fever is gone. She agreed to eat something and the only thing she will be is very sleepy. And her normal squeamishness, but you know that already. I'm going to discharge her.”

Valeria tried to smile a little, calmer.

“Thank you Alan. I'll pick up the bill and then I'll go get her,” she assured the girl.

“About that... you don't need to pay it. I'll take care of it this time,” he said, taking her hands reassuringly, but Valeria patted the back of one of them.

“I thank you very much, Alan, but I can't accept that,” the girl replied, and Nick's eyes narrowed with pleasure. Anyone else in her position would have accepted it without hesitation.

“Val, it's not a bad thing to get help once in a while...”

“Don't worry, Doc,” Nick interjected, making him turn to look at him. “Our company has comprehensive insurance coverage for all workers, so the bill is on us. I've already taken care of that.”

Valeria looked at him, astonished, but Nick didn't take that smile completely off his face, and if the doctor had been bothered by his intrusion, he managed to hide it well.

Finally, an hour later, they left the hospital, got back into Nick's car, and headed home. Valeria took Alice in her arms and sighed before facing those three flights of stairs—the girl was quite heavy—until she heard a strangely soothing voice behind her.

“Come on, I'll push you.”

She felt Nick's hands on her hips and her breath caught, but she started to climb and she couldn't deny that he did help, he helped quite a bit.

Eventually they reached the tiny apartment.

“If you give me a moment, I'll put Alice to bed,” she said, and Nick just nodded.

“Valeria... you smell like a hospital...” protested the half-asleep girl. “And so do I... Ew! Ew!”

“I'm sorry, sweetheart. We'll change right away,” Valeria assured her and went into the room with her while Nick stayed alone in the living room, looking around.

The small apartment wasn't horrible, but it was definitely not exciting to live in such a place. The living room, the dining room, and the kitchen were all distributed in the same space and there was only one other door through where Valeria had entered, so they must have only one room for the two of them. Everything was very tidy and clean, decorated with very soft pastel tones, and they had only the essentials. It was definitely an overwhelming contrast compared to his four-thousand-square-foot apartment, full of as much junk as he could buy, and well... he had money for a lot of that.

“I'm sorry; Alice is very sensitive to smells. We had to bathe and change,” apologized Valeria arriving next to him. “Can I make you some coffee? I don't think there is much more I can do to thank you for helping us today…”

Her voice was tired, Nick should probably get out of there and let her rest, but he couldn't leave because what he was seeing had him spellbound.

Valeria had come out wearing soft, oversized pajamas. The pants dragged over her bare feet. She wasn't wearing any makeup and her hair had been washed and it was fragrant. And all that had a fiercer impact on him than any lingerie.

She was damned beautiful and unbearably desirable just like that, au naturel, and Nick found himself turning against the kitchen counter so that she wouldn't notice the erection he was getting just by watching her make coffee. For God's sake, it was only a fucking coffee!

He closed his fingers around the cup and she did the same on the other side of the tiny bar. Nick sighed, raising his eyes to meet hers, and realized she was staring back at him.

“I'm sorry... for the slap and all,” she muttered, though they both knew it was just protocol because if she could have given him two, she would have.

“I'm sorry for stressing you out. I feel like I caused all this,” Nick replied.

Valeria didn't answer. It was strange seeing him like that; he looked like a completely different man. She found again all the little details she had seen the day they had met, all those things she had been so attracted to before she knew he was a jerk.

“I'd better go,” Nick said suddenly, and Valeria nodded.

“I'll put your coffee in a to-go cup,” she said and pulled up a small ladder to reach the top shelf in the kitchen.

Nick saw the disaster before it happened: the pants legs were way too long and wedged between the step and her foot... He barely had time to turn the bar around and reach for her as she went face-first into whatever was in front of her which was—thankfully—him.

They landed with a thud, and Valeria choked back a scream as her forehead collided with Nick's.

“Ouch!” she exclaimed and knew that was nothing compared to how much she could have been hurt if she hadn't fallen on top of him.

“Are you all right?” Nick asked, straining to sit up with her still on top of him, and suddenly it was as if they both stopped breathing.

They were too close, that was a fact. Nick's arms were locked around her waist and, sitting astride him, she could absolutely feel everything that was triggering him, since yes, what was pressing and growing against her intimacy was being caused by her. She couldn't even move. Nick's scent was absurdly enthralling, and she didn't understand why, but she was so nervous... and he was looking at her like... like...

And suddenly the room disappeared. Nick's mouth met hers in an urgent, desperate kiss, as if they were two old lovers suddenly finding each other again. Valeria tried to resist, but the moment Nick's arms opened, releasing her, she realized she didn't want to go anywhere.

She stayed there, on his mouth, afraid to move, until a soft, tentative touch from Nick made her close her eyes. She felt his lips explore her with a strange gentleness and stifled a moan as his tongue reached for hers in a perfect little game.

And like all perfect things... that couldn't last.