"So, the next appointment will be in three weeks’ time," Doctor Jacqueline Brown said after finishing Faye’s checkup.
Faye nodded, collected her file, and rose from her seat. She was already heading towards the door when she suddenly stopped and turned around, as though she had only just remembered something important.
"So, Doctor, how is life treating you, huh?" she asked with a friendly smile.
Jacqueline looked up from her desk, her fingers pausing over the keyboard. She studied the young Omega for a moment, wondering what had suddenly inspired such friendliness. Faye had never struck her as someone who would return to a doctor’s office just to exchange pleasantries.
The truth was that Faye wanted some tea, and she happened to know a little secret about the doctor. Now that she had an opportunity to satisfy her curiosity, she was not about to let it pass.
Jacqueline eventually turned her attention back to her monitor, deciding to entertain the unexpected conversation while she continued working.
"Life is going great. Right now, I am supposed to be on leave, but this hospital has its own surprising way of changing doctors’ schedules," Jackie replied, her eyes fixed on the screen.
"Really? I thought becoming the side snack of the hospital director, or whatever position she holds in this forsaken hospital, would reduce your workload."
Jacqueline’s fingers stopped moving.
She slowly turned her head towards Faye, who was looking at her with an expression of complete innocence. The Omega appeared far too pleased with herself for someone who had just made such a bold remark to a doctor.
"Nope, my workload has doubled, though I am not complaining. I am just worried that I disappointed my niece. I promised I was going to help run the store while she was away, but all the workload has fallen on her girlfriend."
By the time Jackie finished explaining, Faye had already pulled a chair towards the desk and settled into it comfortably, as though she had booked an appointment specifically for gossip rather than a medical checkup.
"I thought Tisha was your little sister," Faye remarked, tilting her head.
"No, she is not, but I do see her as my little sister, and she sees me as her big sister. The truth is, she is actually my brother’s daughter, which makes her my niece," Jackie explained.
She glanced at the file on her desk before checking the time on her wristwatch. Her lunch break was approaching, and she had spent enough of the morning attending to patients to know that she needed something to eat before returning to work.
"It’s my lunchtime. Do you want to have lunch with me?"
Faye did not need to be asked twice. Before long, the two women found themselves in the hospital cafeteria, sitting across from each other with their meals in front of them. What had started as a casual question in the doctor’s office had somehow turned into a lunch invitation, and Faye seemed perfectly happy with how things had worked out.
Jackie turned out to be more fun to talk to than Faye had expected. As they ate, the doctor told her about her days at the hospital, from the exhausting shifts that left her with barely enough time to rest to the happier moments that made the work worthwhile. Faye listened, occasionally responding with a comment of her own, although her interest in the doctor’s daily routine had its limits.
There was one particular subject she wanted to discuss, and she had been waiting for the right moment to bring it up.
"So, do you plan on being her snack forever?" Faye asked, finally getting to the tea she had wanted to hear about all along.
Jackie paused with her cutlery in hand, then gave the young Omega an amused look. She had a feeling Faye’s sudden friendliness had not been entirely innocent.
"Silvia and I are taking things slowly. Dating a married person is not a habit of mine, but it happened, and I got to see the real her. I understand why she became who she is now. Being around her makes me feel like I am in a better place, and I am her safe place," Jackie explained.
Faye’s mouth fell open. People really did fall for the Petrova family far too easily. She wondered whether it was because of their sexy bodies or because they were secretly sirens who knew how to charm their victims into falling in love with them.
There was Beam, who was in love with Kiara, and then there was Bambi. Even Princess had once been in love with that bitch. Yet here was Doctor Jacqueline Brown, sitting across from her and claiming she had seen the real person hiding behind Silviana Petro’s troublesome personality.
Faye honestly did not know what to make of that.
"That is really hard for me to believe. The Petro sisters are weird and maybe annoying, but you saying you saw the real person in that bitch is yikes..." Faye said, shaking her head.
Jackie let out a quiet laugh, seemingly unbothered by Faye’s opinion of the sisters. Instead, she leaned forward slightly, lowering her voice as though she were about to share something that was not meant for everyone in the cafeteria to hear.
"You know what I am, right? So, it is easy for me to figure it out..." Jackie whispered. "Silviana is really a kind-hearted person. She loves her family, especially her sister. Right now, she has made plans to help her sister get rid of the demon inside her..."
The moment those words left the doctor’s mouth, Faye’s expression changed.
The amusement disappeared from her face, replaced by a seriousness that Jackie could not have missed.
"What plans?"
"She was waiting for Princess to find a Kings who is going to help with the imprinting. I helped her find a distant relative who matches what we are looking for, and this Thursday, we are going to begin the process," Jackie explained.
Faye’s face hardened once again.
Her thoughts immediately turned to Perico. She could not understand what they were planning to do with her, and the more she considered it, the less comfortable she became with the idea.
"I really don’t think it’s necessary to do that," Faye said.