“Chase,” I repeated. “Good to meet you. Please follow me to an examination room.”

    “Yes, ma’am,” he said with a smile, though it took him a moment to release my hand.

    When he did, I turned and walked toward the hallway leading to the back.

    “It was nice speaking with you Ca,” Chase told her. “I’ll see you again soon.”

    “Y–yes… Yes! Likewise, uh, Chase,” Ca said, blushing even more deeply than before.

    I led Chase into the back and then into one of the examination rooms. Once he was inside, I closed the

    door.

    Chase wasn’t like my usual walk–ins. Typically, people without appointments were deathly sick or in some kind of other medical emergency. Chase was smooth and confident, showing no hint of pain or

    distress.

    I kept my opinions to myself though, as I knew not all medical issues were clearly disyed on the

    outside.

    Chase wasn’t from around here. Dressed like that, he was probably from one of the nearby cities. He clearly had the financial means to seek me out, so perhaps his issue was something internal and

    longstanding.

    “Now we are alone,i” /iChase said. “Just how I like it.”

    Was he trying to flirt with me? I fully ignored it.

    “Tell me what brought you in today, Chase,” I said.

    He seemed somewhat surprised for a moment. Perhaps because his charms didn’t work? But he recovered quick enough.

    “I have a rare heart condition,” he said. “It doesn’t really bother me often, but I have been told it will affect my lifespan. Someday I’m just going to…” He made a pop sound, then dropped a hand from vertical to

    horizontal.

    A crude way of saying he was going to suddenly die someday. And flippant. It had to be a show. A man like this, I imagined, like to y pretend a lot. I wondered if underneath, he wasn’t a little bit afraid.

    I wouldn’t call him on it though. If he wanted to maintain his cocksure attitude, that was none of my

    business.

    I was just a Healer.

    “I was told there isn’t much anyone can do. I’ve been told I should just ept it,” he said and shrugged. “I imagine you will probably tell me the same.”

    “I’m not one to give up,” I said. “Please sit down on the examination bed and I will begin.”

    Again, he seemed surprised. Why? Did he truly expect me to just give up because others did?

    Nonsense.

    I waited until he sat, then lifted my stethoscope, cing one end over his heart to listen.

    “If it’s racing, it’s only because I have a beautiful woman so close to me,” he said.

    I shushed him, ignoring his words and concentrating on his heart. It took some effortb, /band some assistance from my wolf, but yes… there… I could hear a slight tremor in his heartbeat.

    As I continued to listen, wanting to be sure, he huffed dismissively. “You won’t find anything like that. It’s entirely undetectable without the use of machines.”

    “I hear something,” I said.

    He blinked, startled. His smile slipped. “Y–you do?”

    “There’s a tremor in your heartbeat,” I said, more confident now as I heard it again. I leaned back. “How long have you been experiencing this?”

    “I… uh…” He seemed fully taken aback.

    Perhaps he didn’t know the answer. I supposed it didn’t matter. We found it now and regardless of what the previous doctors had done for him, I was ready to move forward to give this man back his life.

    “Do you feel bouts of weakness sometimes? Or shortness of breath?” I asked.

    “Uh, not often… but…”

    His brow pulled together as he looked at me, like he was seeing me for the first time. But then, he nced down at his watch and shook his head. When he looked at me again, whatever vulnerability he had been feeling had vanished. He was smoldering instead.