He Hid His Omega Heat, His Rival Exposed Him on Court novel · Chapter 2 of 24

Chapter 2: Intake Form

At the clinic Noah asks for true answers, gives Raven the rule that nobody lies on the form, and the team wins and gets a forest trip; the tents are assigned and Raven's pill case is not in his bag.

The follow-up form was four pages long, and Raven came to the clinic on Thursday with a plan for every page.

He hobbled in on one crutch with a box of doughnuts under his arm.

"A bribe," he said, and set it on the desk. "For the nurses. Not for you."

Noah looked at the box and then at Raven.

"I'll note it," he said. "Sit down."

Noah's sweater today was the same cream cable-knit, and the wool socks were the same, and he had a pen behind each ear.

Raven sat on the exam table and the paper crackled under him.

"Question one," Noah said. "Have you taken any medication this month that this clinic didn't prescribe?"

"Vitamins."

"What kind?"

"The orange ones."

Noah wrote that down.

"Question two. Does anything run in your family that I should know about?"

"My father's in perfect health, my mother's in perfect health, and my golden retriever is in the best shape of his life."

"Is the dog an alpha?"

"The dog's a beta. He's very relaxed."

Noah's mouth moved slightly, and then he put the pen down on the clipboard and waited.

"Question three," he said. "How are you sleeping?"

"I'm fine."

Noah drew a small neat line on the margin.

"That's one on this visit," he said. "Five total."

"You can't count the ones from last time."

"I can count whatever I like. It's my form."

Raven looked at the ceiling tiles for a long moment.

"What if there's a question I can't answer?"

"Then you write 'pass.'"

"Pass."

"A pass is honest," Noah said. "I can work with it. 'I'm fine' tells me nothing, so it goes on the list. Nobody lies on this form. That's the only rule I have."

"Only one?"

"Only one I need."

Raven wrote pass on question three, and then on four, five and six.

He felt lighter by the sixth one and had no idea why.

"Shirt off," said Noah. "Your shoulder took an elbow on Saturday."

Raven pulled the sweater over his head.

The air in the room was cool, and Noah's hands were not.

He pressed along the collarbone and rolled the joint, and then he laid his whole palm flat on the middle of Raven's chest, over the breastbone.

"Breathe in."

Raven breathed in.

"Out."

Under Noah's hand his heart was going hard and heavy, and it would not slow down for anything he told it.

Noah did not comment on that.

He only kept his palm there a little longer than the exam needed, and Raven felt the heat climb up the side of his neck toward the tape.

The tape held.

"Pulse is a hundred and four," Noah said, very evenly. "Better than last time."

"I'm learning."

"You're learning to sit still while I hold your chest. That's a different skill."

Raven laughed, and his voice came out lower than he meant.

Noah took his hand away, wrote on the form, and then got up and pushed the door shut.

The latch clicked.

"Mr. Grandwell."

"Raven."

"Raven. Whatever's on the other side of your passes, I don't need it from you today. It isn't my business until you decide to make it my business."

His head tilted, and his hazel eyes were steady.

"The door in here has a lock," he said. "I'm only telling you it's there."

Raven's throat was suddenly dry.

"Do you say that to everyone?"

"I give everyone the form," Noah said. "The lock I don't give to everyone."

He handed Raven a prescription for the ankle, a paper cup of water and the box of doughnuts back.

"For the nurses," he said. "They're worried about you."

On Saturday the team won again by fourteen.

Raven played the last quarter in a brace, and afterward Coach stood on a bench in the locker room with a clipboard of his own.

"We've got a forest trip," he announced. "Two nights, state park, sixty miles out. Tents, fires and no phones after ten."

The room howled.

"The medic comes with us," Coach said. "Jones has volunteered, so be nice to him or he'll give you the cold pack."

Thompson stood at the back, jacket zipped, orange bottle in his hand.

"Section 4.1 allows a team trip only on a Friday," he said.

"It's a Friday," said Coach.

"Then it's allowed," said Thompson, and drank.

Coach read the tents out loud.

Two teammates to a tent, and he went down the sheet fast.

"Grandwell and Jones. Medic stays near the injured."

Raven felt his face stay perfectly pleasant.

Out in the lot, the bus was running and people were throwing duffels into the hold.

He stood beside his bag and put a hand into the inside pocket, where the pill case lived.

His fingers found a lighter, a pack of gum and a receipt.

His phone buzzed in his other hand.

DAD (BOARD): Did you take the case? It was on the dresser this morning.

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