Beasts Within (6 page)

             
It was disconcerting how well Camilla could read him, and he found himself wondering if he was really that transparent or if she was just observant. Allie and the other nurses were always telling him that he needed a nice young lady (“or young man if you prefer, Karic, dear”) to look after him, that he was getting closer to thirty and needed to settle down, but he’d always brushed that off because he could take care of himself, and he usually was the one who did the looking after anyway. But there was a part of him that really did want companionship, and he warned himself not to get too attached to the strange lion girl who he’d found. She would be leaving as soon as she could, and he would be alone again. Which was fine. Yes. Perfectly fine with him. The way he preferred it, really.

             
When he returned with her clothes, Camilla looked regretful. “I’m sorry if I said too much,” she said as soon as he walked back in. “I’m bad sometimes at knowing when to stop talking, and I didn’t mean to upset you. Or imply that your life isn’t good enough. What do I know, right?”

             
Karic snorted, but shook his head. “No, you’re fine. I’m just not used to people being able to read me so well. It’s…disconcerting. But I’m sure you know a lot more than you give yourself credit for.”

             
A shadow seemed to pass over Camilla’s face, and she hung her head a little, letting her curls hide her face. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…I’m sorry.”

             
She sounded truly remorseful, and once again, Karic got the feeling that there was something he was missing in all of this. “Hey. It’s really okay. Some people are just perceptive, right? Or maybe I’m just an open book, who knows? Either way, I’m not upset about it, so don’t beat yourself up.” He cast around for something else to talk about. “Here. Why don’t you get dressed and we’ll go get ice cream or something?”

             
Camilla looked at him bemusedly. “But we just had breakfast less than two hours ago.”

             
“So? Is there ever a bad time for ice cream?”

             
“Well, no…”

             
“Good. Then get dressed, and we’ll go. No use sitting around here all day, right?”

             
“…I guess.” Her eyes darted to the window again, and Karic finally had to say something.

             
“I know you’re probably worried about them finding you, but this is a pretty big place for all it doesn’t look it. And even if they do, I wouldn’t let them have you. If they’re smart at all, they wouldn’t try to grab you in broad daylight, either.”

             
“You don’t know the lengths they would go to,” she mumbled back, but she was getting up, collecting the bundle of her clean, dry clothes and taking them and her bag up to the bathroom to change.

             
Karic let out a sigh once she was gone. It probably wasn’t hard for her to identify with being alone, even if she had come from a pride. Camilla had said that she didn’t have any bonds there, and Karic couldn’t imagine what it would be like to live with a group like that and not have anyone to call a friend or family or something. And to have been there for as long as she said he had… He shuddered and was suddenly even more determined to make sure that she got out of town safely and didn’t have to go back to those assholes she had been with before.

             
Nodding resolutely, he climbed the stairs and went to go get dressed himself, ready to go out and do something with someone else for the first time in quite a while.

Camilla felt like her head was spinning.

              It had been such a strange day, but strange in a much better way than the day before it. Karic was sweet and kind, and she felt a little bad for how much of him she had read when she’d taken his hand the night before. She hadn’t really had another option. Not if she’d wanted to really know that who she was going with wasn’t someone who was just going to deliver her right back to Paul, but the more she talked to Karic, the more the pieces of his life seemed to mesh with what she had seen, and she just wanted to hug him and make him be happy.

             
Oh, sure, he played at being happy well, but Camilla could tell. She knew that there was a sadness in him that he couldn’t fix on his own. He didn’t know how.

             
But that wasn’t her place, so she didn’t bring it up. Instead she enjoyed talking with him about things that were less emotionally demanding than her pride or his family. They went for ice cream in the afternoon and sat outside, enjoying the clean, crisp smell of the world after a rain storm. Things were still damp, but the sun was shining, and the pistachio ice cream cone she had went a long way towards making things a bit more okay.

             
It was sort of hard to believe that she had never done anything like this before, just sat out with someone and enjoyed the day. So much of her life had been missed out on because of what Paul had demanded of her, and it made her even more determined that she was going to make herself a good life without him.

             
They had gone grocery shopping after that, and Karic had told her to pick out foods that she liked and put them in the cart. “You’re going to be here for at least a couple more days, and trust me when I say you’re not going to want to come to work with me every day. You might as well have something to eat while you’re there,” he’d said, and Camilla had promised that she would have a hot meal waiting for him when he got home from work.

             
The smile that lit his face was oddly endearing, and Camilla had to work to push back another pang. It wasn’t right that someone like him thought he had to isolate himself from others just because of what he was or the things he believed.

             
She liked him, that much was obvious, but after the story he had told her about his mother, she knew she had to get out of his life as soon as possible. Her pride
would
find her if she stayed, it was only a matter of how soon they would do it, and there was no way she was going to drag him into that. Not when he had already lost so much because of group dynamics. It would have been a terrible way to pay him back for all he had done for her so far.

             
Once they had gone back to the house and put all the groceries away, there had been just enough time for Karic to hop in the shower and change into his scrubs before they had to leave for the doctor’s office. Karic filled her in about the ladies he worked with as they drove, already warning her that they were going to be unnaturally interested to see that he had brought a girl with him.

             
“You can tell them as much or as little about how I met you as you want,” he’d told her. “In fact, you can pretend to be someone I know from back home, if you’d like. They’re all really sweet women, but they’re nosy and very mother hen-ish. And I’m sure as soon as I walk in with you, they’re going to be hearing wedding bells. It’s just how they are.”

             
Camilla had to laugh at that description. Karic said it like it was a common thing, women who were nosy and wanted young men to settle down, and yeah, in some of the books she had read and the shows she’d watched on television they were, but it was sort of amazing to her that people were actually like that. Man, she really needed to get out more, it seemed. People were all so varied and diverse, and Camilla wanted to submerge herself in that and find out what kind of person she was finally. Twenty-one years old and all she knew was what Paul had made her.

             
The doctor’s office was smaller than Camilla had expected, but it seemed large enough to suit the needs of the town. It was nearing twilight when she and Karic walked in, and instantly Karic was swept into a hug by an older woman wearing pink scrubs.

             
“Carmen!” Karic certainly did look happy to see her. “When did you get back from vacation?”

             
“Vacation?” the woman scoffed. “Is that what you’re calling it?”

             
“Well, you did get to go to Florida. That’s a vacation spot.”

             
“If you’re a child or someone on the way to the grave, maybe,” Carmen said back. “And my daughter is neither, so I don’t know why she chose there to settle down. Hot as all hell and so damned
wet.
”

             
Karic laughed delightedly. “Oh, it’s good to have you back. How’s the new baby?”

             
“Cute as anything. My family has good genes, and the man my daughter married, he’s a looker if there ever was one.”

             
“I think I’m offended.”

             
Carmen cackled and patted his cheek. “You’re a looker, too, doll, never worry. And one day some…” she trailed off when she seemed to finally catch sight of Camilla. “Oh, excuse me. Did you need something, dear?”

             
“No, I…” Camilla flushed and looked at Karic who grinned at her.

             
“She’s with me, Carmen. Camilla this is Carmen Greene, she’s one of the nurses here. Carmen, this is my friend Camilla. She’s staying with me for a couple of days.” 

             
“Oh,
really
?” Carmen said, and her dark eyes seemed to light up. “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Camilla. And what a lovely name that is. Certainly suits as you’re a lovely young lady.”

             
“And here we go,” Karic sighed.

             
Camilla flushed at the sudden attention, not at all sure how to take it, even though she had been warned beforehand that this could and probably would happen. “Oh, um. Thank you very much. It’s nice to meet you.”

             
“Likewise, likewise. So you’re a friend of our dear Karic, hm? That’s good. We were beginning to wonder if he had any friends at all. Spends all his time around us old ladies, and that’s not good for a man that handsome,” Carmen said, grinning and moving closer to her. “Don’t you think he’s handsome, dear?”

             
“Um…I…”

             
“Carmen,” Karic said sharply, saving Camilla from having to answer and make an even bigger idiot of herself than she probably already was. “Leave her alone. She’s not here to get wrapped up in your matchmaking game. Come on, Camilla. Let’s get you to an exam room, and we’ll take a look at that ankle, okay?”

             
Camilla nodded eagerly, uncomfortable and embarrassed. The truth was she did think Karic was handsome. She had seen plenty of men, the ones in her pride and the ones who came to do business with Paul, and some of them had been attractive. But there was just something about Karic that made her like him. Something about the way he smiled at her and the way those green eyes sparkled when he was actually happy. She hadn’t known him for long at all, but the more time she spent with him, the more the things she had seen when she touched his hand made sense to her.

             
The exam room was just down the hall, and her ankle had been feeling better all day, so she didn’t have to limp much before they got there. Karic closed the door behind them and motioned for her to get up on the table, which she did, boosting herself up easily.

             
“I’m really sorry about that,” he said softly. “I didn’t know Carmen was going to be here today, and she’s the worst of the lot. Her daughter got married to this rich, handsome dude that she introduced her to, so now she thinks she’s the consummate matchmaker. I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

             
“It wasn’t your fault,” Camilla replied with a little smile. “It seemed like that’s just…how she is.” Of course, her cheeks were still burning from the way the woman had scrutinized her and put her on the spot, but she wasn’t going to make a fuss about it.

             
Karic sighed and drug over a machine that Camilla assumed was for the x-ray. “Yeah, it is. And right now she’s probably telling Allie and Pat all about you. We’ll just make it clear that there’s nothing like that going on between us and hopefully they’ll get the message. I mean, it’s really silly for them to assume we’re together anyway.”

             
“Right,” Camilla said, lowering her eyes and watching Karic fiddle with the machine. She couldn’t decide if that hurt or not. It was hard not having a good idea of whether or not she was attractive. No one had ever really complimented her appearance before, and Paul called her pretty but Camilla had always known that he meant it in that way that people called their boats or cars pretty. She was something to use, not something to admire. To her knowledge, no one had ever been interested in her that way anyway, so she supposed it didn’t really matter. Maybe wherever she ended up at the end of this, she would get asked out or something. That would be nice.

             
When she looked back up, Karic was gazing at her with something she couldn’t decipher in his eyes. “What?”

             
“I…didn’t mean it like that, you know,” he answered.

             
“Um…like what?”

             
“Like it would be ridiculous for me to be with you. I meant that it was ridiculous for them to jump to that conclusion based on no other evidence than the fact that I’m a guy and you’re a lady and we walked in together. But that doesn’t mean that you’re not…that I don’t think you’re…” he trailed off, cheeks going pink. “You’re beautiful, so that’s not the issue at all.”

             
For some reason, that boosted her mood instantly. That was as good as him saying that he
did
think he was attractive, and she shot him a smile. “You’re kind of silly,” she said, wanting to reach out and pat his hand, but refraining for obvious reasons. She didn’t need to pry any more than she already had. “But thank you for that. No one’s ever…said things like that to me.”

             
Karic frowned. “Really? That’s dumb. People should tell you stuff like that all the time because it’s true.” He gave her a smile and then turned his attention back to the machine, firing it up. “Prop your ankle up for me?”

             
“Huh?” Camilla had gotten stuck on the first part of his words and had to shake herself when he gave his instruction. “Oh. Right. Sorry.” She pulled her leg up onto the table, and held still while Karic worked the machine over it. She couldn’t help but watch the way he worked, how intense his focus was as he moved part of the machine over her ankle and tapped keys on the computer part. It wasn’t hard to see why all the ladies thought that he should have a girlfriend or something. Karic was unlike anyone she had ever met, and he seemed like he would definitely make someone happy one day.

             
Out of nowhere there was a pang in her chest when she remembered that it wouldn’t be her. She had to leave, and even if he did think she was attractive, there was no guarantee that…

             
No. It was silly to think about it anyway.

             
She’d had enough disappointment in her life, and now it was time to look forward to bigger and better things. And to get out of here before she got attached and found it even harder to leave.

             
“Well,” Karic said, squinting at the monitor on the machine. “Everything looks good. Definitely nothing broken and the swelling’s way down, so I’d say you’ll be good as new in a day or so. We probably should have iced it last night, but I didn’t even think about that.”

             
“It was really late,” Camilla pointed out. “And it’s fine, really. I was walking on it today and everything. Just a little sore.”

             
He smiled at her. “That’s good. Just to be safe, I’ll give you a wrap for it, and you can stay off of it tonight for the most part. We’ll see what it looks like tomorrow and how it feels, and then I can probably declare you fully healed.”

             
Camilla grinned, her face lighting up. “That sounds really good. Thank you.” And she tried to make sure that he knew that she wasn’t just saying thank you for this, but for everything he had done for her so far. There was no way she could ever repay him for all of this.

             
“Don’t mention it. It’s my job, you know?”

             
“Really?” she teased. “Is that why you wanna be a doctor? To help girls you think are pretty?”

             
His eyes widened, and she flushed lightly. She hadn’t meant for that to come out sounding as flirty as it had. “No,” Karic answered slowly. “I mean, to help people, yeah, but the pretty girls are just a perk. And not one I get to enjoy all that often. I mean, most of the ladies who come in here to be treated are old enough to be my mother.”