"It's nothing really, just a little accident on the road today. My car got scratched up, that's all."
"How did you end up in a car accident?" Baldrick's voice was thick with worry.
"A scar on your face would be such a hassle for a young woman like you."
Claire laughed. "I'm a doctor, remember? I'd never let myself get a scar. So don't worry about it."
“Oh, right, I keep forgetting." Baldrick smiled. "Still, even a doctor has to be careful."
A girl's face shouldn't have to go through that, he thought. Honestly, he didn't really care if his future granddaughter-in-law had a scar, but he worried about how people would stare if Claire went out like that. The Green family wasn't exactly society's elite, but they moved in wealthy circles, and those people loved to gossip and judge.
"I know," Claire said obediently. She never talked back to Baldrick. "But don't just fuss about me. Let me check your pulse."
The moment she said that, Baldrick instinctively tried to pull his hand away.
"Did you sneak a drink?"
"No way," he said quickly. "I swear, I haven't had anything except that medicinal wine you gave me."
"Did you go over the amount I told you to have?" Claire pressed. "That medicine is part liquor, part remedy. You can't just drink it like you want."
Baldrick looked away, just for a second.
Sometimes, when cravings hit, he really couldn't help it. That wine was supposed to ease his pain, after all. If his leg hurt, surely one extra sip wouldn't matter.
“Grandpa, really?" Dane sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. He couldn't keep an eye on Baldrick every second, but he honestly hadn't expected him to sneak the medicinal wine. It was medicine, for crying out loud.
"I just took a little more than I should have... I was just feeling a bit greedy." Baldrick admitted, still avoiding Claire's eyes.
Claire let out a helpless sigh. “That wine is medicine, not just a drink. With your health, you can't be reckless like that. Promise me you won't do it again. If you end up in pain, rolling around in bed, won't give you acupuncture next t time."
Baldrick pouted. Rolling around in bed? No way. But he held back any retort-he was a patient, and patients never win against their doctors. Especially when their doctor is as skilled as Claire.
"Did you hear that, Grandpa?” Dane chimed in, not willing to miss the chance to remind him.
"I heard, I heard. You two are so annoying."
Baldrick looked more like a grumpy old kid than the stern man who first came to Apex. Claire couldn't help but laugh.
Baldrick shot a glare at Dane. Great. Now Claire was laughing at him.
After checking his pulse, Claire
tweaked his prescription and gave him another round of acupuncture "Now you only need these treatments once every three
months. You're getting stronger, the cold in your bones is gone Next Winter you won't feel that chill anymore. But don't start thinking you're young again-wear warm clothes, don't try to tough it out. Getting older means you take care of yourself, okay?"
It wasn't exactly pleasant to hear, but everything she said was true.
at
"I know, I know." Baldrick accepted her nagging with a kind of quiet pride. If this was what it was like to have a granddaughter-in-law living home giving him a hard time every day, he couldn't complain. It was definitely better than Dane's grumpy face.
By the time Claire finished with the acupuncture and headed home, it was already
ten o'clock at night. But someone was still waiting for her.
It was Karla.
"You just got back, Karla?” Claire asked, noticing she hadn't even changed clothes and looked exhausted.
"I got home about half an hour before you," Karla said, managing a tired smile.