Kelly remained seated but her grin became a smile. ‘It’s a paediatrics exam. I’m not a child.’
Eli bobbed his head from left to right and hummed indecisively. ‘Not a child, but certainly childish enough.’ He extended his other hand.
Kelly raised an eyebrow but decided to play along. Why not? She wasn’t going to get anything productive done. Finn was in his apartment with the Tomb Raider; why shouldn’t she have some fun with Eli, even if it couldn’t go anywhere?
She stood up and put both her hands in his own.
Eli led her to the couch and adopted a mock serious frown. ‘Lie down, please.’
‘Bit forward, isn’t it?’ Kelly said.
‘Try to maintain some professionalism, doctor. This is a serious medical matter.’
Kelly lay on her back and joined her hands over her stomach. She relaxed into the cushions, allowed them to absorb all her weight and anxiety. It felt calming and safe to simply stop and lie still.
Eli knelt beside the couch. ‘All right, so we’re looking for any symptoms related to CFS.’
‘You think I’ve got chronic fatigue?’
‘Actually, no. It’s the more serious variant – Couldn’t be Fucked Syndrome.’
Kelly giggled. Eli rarely swore so it was shockingly entertaining when he did.
‘Now, when did this feeling first come over you?’
‘Um, let me think … I first noticed it when I was about six.’
Eli grunted. ‘That’s an extremely long time to be living with CFS. You’ve managed it very well.’
‘I also have multiple borderline psychotic personality disorders that balance it out.’
‘Is that right? And how do they manifest?’
‘Compulsive behaviour. Addiction to success. Inability to stop despite the deep and aching fatigue in my bones.’
‘Perfectionism, then?’
‘In all but my choice of study partners.’
Eli chuckled. ‘That’s enough history. Let’s begin the physical.’
Kelly’s breath caught in her chest. What would he do? How would he touch her?Wherewould he touch her? Would he be crude and obvious or gentle and subtle? She actually found herself longing to find out. Desperate for his touch. Giddy with the anticipation.
For fuck’s sake, I’m behaving like a teenage girl.
But when his hand gently rested on her forehead, a wave of warm comfort flowed through her body. Her limbs became simultaneously dense and weightless, and her mind zeroed in on the unexpected roughness of the skin on his hands.
‘No temperature,’ Eli said. ‘That’s a good start. Let’s check your pulse.’ He placed two fingers on her throat.
Kelly willed her heart to beat steadily but she could feel it begin to race.
‘Mildly elevated pulse,’ Eli said. His lips remained slightly parted when he stopped talking and Kelly could see his chest rapidly rising and falling with his shallow breathing.
He shook his head in a short, violent burst, as though he was snapping himself out of a spell. ‘All right, let’s check your reflexes.’ His voice was hoarse and he cleared his throat as he took his fingers away from her throat.
Gentle and subtle. That’s what Eli had chosen. Kelly realised that’s what she’d wanted, and, despite the fragility of his touch, his choice had driven her to the sharp point of extreme desire. She had no more patience for his chivalrous examination.
Kelly snapped her arm out and grabbed Eli’s T-shirt collar in her fist. She twisted it and dragged him towards her face. His eyes flew wide in shock, possibly fear, but when she held him a whispered breath away from her, he smiled.
