Page 65 of Clinically Awkward

“So what’s the plan?” Fitz asked.

“There is no plan. There’s only death and suffering.”

“Okay, but what if,” Nathan said slowly, “you framed it as a medical emergency?”

We all stared at him.

“Explain,” Fitz said.

“Well, you’re a doctor, right? So you tell Julien that Vivian was experiencing... I don’t know... acute loneliness? And you had to administer emergency companionship?”

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” I said.

“I’m workshopping!”

“Workshop harder.”

“What if you got him drunk first?” Hayden suggested. “Really drunk. Like, ‘I can’t remember my own name’ drunk.”

“Julien doesn’t drink,” Gabriel said.

“He does now. Have you seen his life? Triplets and a Wiccan wife? The man seriously needs alcohol.”

“Still not helpful,” I muttered.

“Okay, okay,” Fitz said, standing up and pacing like he was trying to solve a complex medical case. “What if you told him in a public place? Somewhere he can’t murder you without witnesses?”

“Like where?”

“The clinic?”

“Absolutely not.”

“A restaurant?”

“He’d stab me with a fork.”

“A church?”

“I’m not religious, and neither is he.”

“A police station?”

I stared at him. “You want me to confess to sleeping with Vivian at a police station?”

“They have holding cells. Very safe. Lots of witnesses.”

“I’m not confessing to a crime, Fitz. I’m confessing to dating his sister.”

“Same thing in Julien’s eyes,” Nathan said.

Hayden raised his beer. “What if you just... didn’t tell him?”

“That’s not an option.”

“Why not?”

“Because I—” I stopped. Because I what? Because I cared about Vivian? Because I wanted to actually date her, not just hide in the shadows like some kind of guilty secret? Because the thought of sneaking around behind Julien’s back made me feel like a complete asshole? “Because it’s the right thing to do,” I finished lamely.