I unlock the door, figuring that it’s just a clock that lost power and started flashing or something, but as soon as the light from the hallway meets the darkness of my waiting room, the figure of a woman sitting in one of the chairs becomes clear.
“What are you doing in here?” I ask the person sitting there looking up at me, and I flip on the light.
“Jesus, boss,” Yuri says. “Give a girl some warning before you blind her.”
“Let me amend my question,” I say. “What the fuck are you doing in here, Yuri?”
“Nothing,” she says. “I just like to come in here sometimes. You know, there really aren’t that many places a person can be alone in the city.”
“What about your apartment?”
“Oh, that place is a fucking dumpster fire,” she says. “It may be quiet, but that doesn’t mean it’s comfortable.”
“And, you’re smoking in here,” I sigh. “That’s just fantastic.”
“I’m not smoking,” she protests. “I’m vaping. There’s a difference.”
“Whatever,” I tell her. “I don’t even let patients do that in here.”
“Oh, it’s not like you can even smell it or anything. It’s peppermint.”
“Yuri, what are you doing here?”
“I wanted to talk to you,” she says. “I kind of figured you’d be in before too long.”
“Why do you say that?”
“You’re always here when Grace is here,” she points out. “I was hoping that you and I could talk for a little bit.”
“What do you want to talk about? What is there to talk about — you know, other than you busting in here to get stoned.”
“Will you close the door before you start saying crap like that? I just wanted to fill you in on a couple of things that have been going on around here.”
“Like what?” I ask.
“I think you should be careful with Grace,” she begins. “You wouldn’t believe what the trial docs are saying about her.”
“Unless it’s something to do with her condition, I really don’t care in the slightest what they’re saying,” I tell her.
“What if it was about you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You really need to rethink whether you want to keep dating a patient,” Yuri warns.
“It’s fine,” I tell her. “We’re not doing anything wrong.”
“Maybe not right now, but you and her got together before she was in the trial. That’s kind of an ethical no-no, isn’t it?” she asks.
“It’s nobody’s business,” I tell her.
“Be that as it may,” Yuri says, taking a puff from her vaporizer, “people love making other people’s personal lives their business.”
“So, you’re telling me I should break up with Grace because we were doctor and patient at the beginning of our relationship?” I ask.
“You’re still her doctor,” Yuri says. “The other ones are shutting you out a bit for now because they don’t want you interfering with the trial, but you’re no less her doctor now than you were then.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I tell her. “Grace and I have a good thing going, and I’m not about to throw that away because some people in the trial are talking.”