Only Your Touch

Chapter Five

"You look tired." I jumped when Vic's voice came out of nowhere. I had just walked into the clinic. He was standing at the receptionist desk with a stack of papers in his arms. His eyebrows were drawn together in concern. I shook my head.

"I'm fine." I lied. He came over to my side.

"You don't need to lie to me. I can already see right through you." I followed him into his office. He set the papers on his desk before turning to me. "Was it your nightmare?"

"Yes." I didn't really want to talk about it.

"Let's get out of here. This place is very....boring." He grabbed his jacket off his chair. I watched him struggle to put his long sleeves in. They kept crumpling up.

"Let me help." He stopped struggling. I slipped my gloved hands up his jacket to grab his sleeve. Then I pulled it down. I did the same to the other side. He held my hands afterwards.

"Would you take these off today?"

"Why?" I took my hands back defensively.

"Trust me. I wouldn't do anything to hurt you."

"It's chilly outside. I don't want my fingers to get cold." He nodded in understanding. He threw a black scarf around his neck.

"Then let's go." He guided me out of the clinic, nodding to the secretary. Then when we got outside he put a beanie on his head. My heart picked up when he smiled at me.

"You're not going to get in trouble, are you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well...." I played with my fingers. I looked down at the ground nervously. "You left work. With me. Don't you have other people who see you?" He motioned for me to start walking with him.

"I have Daniel, Jennifer, Christian, Claira, Xander, and Kasey."  We stopped at a crosswalk and watched in horror as Vic calmly pressed the button. "But today, I wasn't even supposed to be in."

"Oh." That was the only thing I could think to say. I just had to fill the slight silence. But now, I had absolutely nothing to talk about.

"Are you going home for the holidays?" I sighed in relief as Vic broke the quiet.

"No. I haven't really spoken to my family since I moved here. What about you?"

"Mike and I will probably do something for Christmas. Maybe. Most likely. Actually, who the hell knows these days." We made our way across the street. "We might go with Dad but I know my mom will try and get back in touch. Mike can do what he wants but I'll stay home and eat my feelings." I couldn't help the small giggle that came out at that last statement. "What? Don't make fun of me." I dodged his nudge. I saw him frown at the action.

"I wasn't making fun of you. It actually.... sounded like a lot of fun."

"Well, maybe you would be able to join me." He shrugged like it was nothing. That was a big deal though. That meant that I would be going over to his house or worse, he would be at mine. "Don't think too much on it. If anything, consider it a joke." 

"So you're willing to be alone on Christmas?"

"Isn't that what you have been doing?"

"Yeah. But that's because I don't have anyone." He stopped in his place. He looked over my body. He pulled his scarf off and wrapped it around my neck. It was warm. And it smelled really amazing. Like Vic. A rich spice and cleanliness.

"You have me. I'm here for you."

"Aren't Doctor-Patient relationships taboo?" He shrugged.

"Well, that depends on the relationship. If we're friends or we're just using each other for sex or if we actually like each other." He nodded his head to get us to walk again. "The last two are the ones that aren't really accepted."