Page 12 of Dark Obsession

As he drove through town, he waved to a few people, the blasting air conditioning repelling the worst of the August heat and humidity. He felt better, but in a tentative way. He sang along to some classic rock with just a bit less of his usual gusto.

After parking in the structure attached to the side of Parson’s Hollow Memorial Hospital, Cody went to the emergency department. He joked with the clerk behind the glass as he checked in, a woman he guessed was in her sixties, and she told him he was a bit of a cad.

“Just a bit?” Cody replied. “I must be having an off day.”

She laughed and shook her head, waving him toward a seat. “I’ll let Dr. Baldwin know you’re here.”

After listening to people around him cough and sneeze, Cody got up and grabbed a mask from the box near the entrance. He took a few selfies wearing the mask, chose the best one, and sent it to Demmy with the message, Does this mask make my dick look bigger?

The clerk called his name and triggered the secured doors. Zenona waited on the other side. She still appeared too thin, but her face was smooth and relaxed, eyes bright and sharp. She smiled before she turned to lead the way back into the depths of the emergency department, and he fell into step beside her.

“Were there coughers in the waiting area?”

“What?” Cody fluttered his eyes. “You don’t think it brings out my eyes?”

“It brings out something.”

He chuckled and removed the mask. “How are you, Zee?”

“I’m doing well. How are you? How are the wounds healing?”

“You know me, I’m like Wolverine.”

“Cranky and prone to violence?”

“Ouch. I was going more for advanced healing.”

She led him to the last curtained area that was used for triage.

“Remove your shirt and let me examine the wounds.”

“No small talk first?” Cody sat on the bed to pull off his shirt, wincing as he raised his arms.

“You realize you’re in an emergency department, right?” Zenona pulled on gloves as she approached him. “Other people here are experiencing health emergencies.”

“Yeah, all right.”

She leaned in close, her attention on the scratches across his chest. He took the opportunity to study her. Zenona’s cheekbones were more sharply defined, but the skin of her face appeared softer and smoother, especially around her eyes. Even when she squinted slightly as she palpated the skin around his wounds, the lines didn’t cut as deep as he remembered. Zenona must have stepped up her skin care routine.

“We saw you out driving late last night,” he said.

A subtle shift in expression as her forehead furrowed, and her brows came together. “Oh?”

“Yeah. We were checking out an abandoned house for a client and found a zombie.”

She straightened up and stepped back. “Zombie? Again?”

“He was in pretty rough shape, even for a zombie, so we’re pretty sure he’d been wandering around the woods since last year.”

“How awful. Well, it’s good you took care of him.” She turned away as she removed her gloves. “Do you get a lot of calls about stuff like that?”

“That was only the second one. The first one was a guy who thought a werewolf was living in the woods by his house. We went out during a full moon but didn’t see anything.”

“Well, it’s good of you both to keep checking things like that out.” She glanced over her shoulder as she rubbed sanitizer onto her hands. “Where did you see me?”

Cody pulled his shirt on. “Driving back into town along 118. We dropped the zombie off at Eternal Rest and saw you zip past.” He cocked an eyebrow as he ran a hand through his hair, trying to get it to lay down again. “You were going pretty fast.”

She blushed. “I’d been out for drinks with friends in Harriettville and was trying to get home to bed because I had an early shift today.”