Declassified

Declassified Part 24 It's Not Too Late

      Dan laughed and slid another drink towards Thalia. "You are a cheap drunk, Thal."
      Thalia laughed and stirred her new drink with a straw. "I am a cheap drunk." She agreed, finding it funny. "Finally something good about being pint sized!"

      Dan laughed. The bar had closed for the night, and Thalia's friends had left after he promised to make sure she got home safely. The bouncers were getting the last stragglers out, and Thalia was finishing up her second sex on the beach, courtesy of Dan.
      "Hey, Berg, you drinking tonight?" He asked as his friend approached the now empty bar.

      Thalia turned to see who he was talking to. "Hey! It's my bouncer friend!" She laughed. "Can I buy him a drink?" She asked Dan. "Whatever he's drinking."
      Dan laughed and Berg fixed her with an unwavering blue stare. "You're not causing problems, are you, Thalia?"

      "No problems at all." Thalia promised, eyes wide and innocent.
      Berg smiled as he leaned on the bar next to Thalia, accepting the water Dan handed him. "You're at least over eighteen, right?" Dan was surprised to hear the hopeful tone in his friend's voice and he realized Berg was interested.

      "I'm twenty four." Thalia insisted, taking a sip of her drink, oblivious.
      "Sure you are." Berg shook his head at Dan as if he didn't believe it. "And you're a doctor. That's the worst backstory I've ever heard." He smiled, and Dan tried to see what Berg was seeing. What Alex saw.

      "She is twenty four. And she is a doctor, believe it or not." Dan said after a moment.
      "Sure she is." Berg shook his head again.
      "No, she really is." Dan insisted, sitting on a stool beside Thalia.
      "You know her?" Berg asked, suspicious.

      "I told you about her." Dan raised his eyebrows. "Alex's girlfriend."
      Berg looked at Thalia in shock. "You're dating Alex?" He sounded surprised.
      "You know Alex?" Thalia asked, her eyes wide.

      Berg laughed, his body language changing as he realized Thalia was taken. "Yeah, we've been friends forever. We play on the same hockey team."
      "I thought Alex played football?" Thalia said to Dan.

      "We play a lot of sports." Dan informed her, smiling. "Especially violent ones. If it's a contact sport, we probably play it."
      "We call them collision sports in the medical field because there are so many injuries." Thalia told him, shaking her head. "I don't know how you can play them. Way too painful."

      "I don't know how you do your job, Thal." Dan laughed. "Now that's painful."
      Berg looked dubious. "I thought you were a doctor." He pointed out, giving Dan a suspicious look. "That's not painful."

      Thalia laughed. "I am a doctor. But different doctors do different jobs." She pointed out. "Mine can be painful sometimes."
      Berg didn't look convinced. "Okay." He said, deciding to drop it. "Hey, will Alex be playing next weekend?" He asked Dan, changing the subject.

      "If he's around." Dan said, shrugging and looking at Thalia.
      Thalia frowned. "I hope he is." She said sadly, stirring her drink with her straw. "I'm not ready for him to go back to work. He heals way too quickly."

      "Shouldn't you want him to be better?" Berg asked, frowning. "It must have been a really bad fall to keep him out of commission for so long."
      Dan and Thalia's eyes met. "Yes." Thalia said finally. "I'm glad he's doing so well." She admitted. "I just don't want him to go back to work."

      "I guess that makes sense." Berg shrugged, not noticing her melancholy. "I bet Alex isn't looking forward to the end of his paid vacation either." He joked.