Leave No Trace

Chapter 26

Mira

She was sitting in the hospital cafeteria, staring out the window, when Derrick slid into the booth, sitting across from her.

She looked up “Hey Derrick.”

“Ally is about to go home with Nolan.” He explained. “Danielson called, he said a reporter from CBC wanted to do a TV interview with the young heroine of the story.”

“You mean Ally?” she asked, frowning, lost in thought.

“No, you moron.” He grinned. “You, stupid.”

“Call me stupid one more time…” she said threateningly.

He stuck his tongue out at her.

“You know what?” She asked, glancing down at his hands.

“What?” He asked, mildly amused.

“I’ve noticed something.” She said cautiously.

“And that would be?” He asked.

“Around me, you act a lot like Tim does when he’s around Kate.” She threw it out there, trying to gauge his reaction.

He stared at her, refusing to back down. “And…?” He was so unfazed, she had to force herself to pull off the same attitude.

“And nothing. It was just an observation.”

He leaned in, smirking. “That’s BS, Neal.”

“Says you.” If someone were to ask the exact color of Derrick’s eyes, she was sure she’d be able to tell them- hold up, Neal she thought. Chill. She stood. “Look, has Ally finished being discharged??”

He snapped his fingers. “That’s right! That’s why they sent me down here. I was supposed to come tell you that Dr. Beckett is done examining Ally.”

“And you waited an entire conversation to tell me?” She asked, annoyed.

He turned red. “It’s not like they actually sent me, I volunteered.”

“Good for you.” She stood up, her voice cool.

“Mira” He said, rushing to where she stood. “They said they’d meet the two of us in the lobby….”

“Yeah, so we should go.” She turned and started walking towards the door. She could feel his hesitation and something else… something different…. Radiating off him in waves. Something was up with Derrick. She had sensed it last night in the kitchen when he’d wanted to tell her something… but hadn’t. He’d kept silent about it.

She was confused, but she turned back, just in time to see him walking to catch up. His hand brushed against hers, and she fought the urge to hold it. They walked down the hall, towards the lobby. He wanted to say something, she could feel it.

“Mira-.” He said softly, and she turned to look at him. The look on his face was not entirely foreign to her, it was the look he made when he was looking at something he valued. But he was looking at her.

“We should go.” She said, her voice barely above a whisper. She was not the type to fall into romantic entrapments, but he was almost irresistible in his actions.

“There you are!” Nolan called, her arms crossed, mildly annoyed. “I was waiting for the two of you, what took you so long?”

“Derrick tried to get into a conversation with me and then remembered why he came to find me in the first place” Mira called back, trying to keep her voice light.