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“What does that mean?” Jason asked slowly.
Dr. Mendella smiled widely. “It means you have a chance of overcoming your aversions to touch.”
The time passed quickly as his mind reeled and his skin tingled almost painlessly. Could the doctor be right? His grandpa too? He could overcome it? The possibility seemed too incredulous after the years of struggle.
By the time the doctor was ready to apply ointment, Hannah had pulled her hand away from his. “Sorry, your hand’s a little sweaty.”
He looked at his palm, wet with moisture. “Uh, sorry. I guess I was as nervous as you.”
She chuckled and looked away.
While the doctor finished up, Jason stared at his hand, unable to process what he’d just done. For ten, maybe twenty minutes, he had willingly held onto someone. His grandpa would be so proud.
As a little boy, he had refused to ever hold his parents’ hands or anyone’s. He ran away from adults wanting to hug and kiss him, and quickly became a social pariah in his own home.
Emotion thickened in his throat as he touched his hand, trying to remember the exact sensation. At first, her touch had been painful, and then numbing, and then soft. Her tiny hand in his had been... comforting. But how?
“Should we go?”
He looked up and saw that the doctor had left the room. “Already?” Jason asked.
She nodded. “Yep, and I’m feeling loads better. I’m sure the pain will kick in soon, but while it’s gone, I’m going out for lunch. I haven’t been able to eat anything all day. Do you want to come with me?”
Another war in his mind: his desire to explore new feelings and his selfish impulses to hide in his car and decompress during lunchtime.
But she wasn’t backing down. She paused, seemingly not breathing as she waited for his answer.
“Can we go outside?” he asked.
“Sure, I love the sun. There’s a perfectly quiet spot I saw the other day.”
He glanced at her hand. It shook involuntarily. “Is your lunch under your desk?”
She nodded. “Yep, it’s a sandwich day.”
“I’ll get it and meet you at the front doors.”
She raised an eyebrow, but agreed. He waited for her to leave, then counted to twenty before heading to his office.
“Is everything okay?” Brandy asked, stopping him in front of his office. He leaned back against the door and nodded. “She’ll be okay. She’s incredibly brave.”
“I think the two of you... work really well together. She really complements you.”
He pulled at his collar and then straightened his tie. “I’ll be taking my lunch outside. If anyone calls for me, take a message.”
“Have fun,” Brandy sang. He didn’t like what her tone implied. He was incapable of becoming close to anyone, much less dating them. He shuddered at the thought of someone constantly touching him.
He hurried inside the office and shut the door with a snap. Then he collapsed against it and took deep breaths. His heart skipped at the image of Hannah’s hand in his. Strange. Touching her hadn’t been excruciating. He had helped someone out, and now he felt happy. It was normal for that to happen, right?
But if not... it meant there was hope that things could change. That one day he could hold a woman’s hand, hug her, have a normal relationship. A shiver rolled through him.
When Jason finally worked up the nerve to leave his office, he carried both brown bag lunches out with him.
Instead of waiting for him at the front doors, Hannah was laughing with two of the receptionists at the front desk. She froze when she spotted him. Had they been talking about him?
Feeling self-conscious, he nodded to all three of them and headed out the front doors, not even bothering to see if she followed. But too soon, he heard her behind him.
“I was wondering when you were going to emerge.”
