“How old are you, Marie?” Dr. Grey asked.
Marie was tired. She had spent most of the last two days being questioned and prodded by Professor Xavier. She didn’t want to answer another question as long as she lived. Her chair scraped the floor as she dragged it closer to Logan’s bed and laid her head down on the papery white sheet. “Old enough,” she whispered.
“Old enough,” Dr. Grey repeated. “The medical examiner in Anchorage has given a press release. He concluded that Jose Treviño was mauled by a bear. Is that what happened, Marie?”
She turned her face into the sheet, listening to Logan’s heartbeat, the rush of blood through his body, the breath filling and escaping his lungs, the beep of the machines monitoring him. “I already told the Professor everything,” she mumbled into the sheet.
“I’m not asking the Professor. I’m asking you.”
Marie looked up just in time to see the doctor sweep her vivid red hair behind her shoulder. She was without question the smartest, most sophisticated woman Marie had ever seen. She dressed like someone out of a magazine. Marie was a little bit jealous, but mostly just in awe of her. I wanna be like that, she thought.
You’re fine how you are, darlin’.
Marie took a deep breath and blew it out. “Yes, ma’am,” she said in monotone. “That’s what happened.”
Don’t call her ma’am. She’s no better than you.
I’ll call her ma’am if I want. It's good manners. And she’s about a zillion times better than me. “It was, um, a very big bear.”
That’s the bitch who stiffed you at the restaurant. She’s not near as nice as you. And just so you know, she doesn’t have big gorgeous eyes and pouty lips like you, baby. She doesn’t smell as good as you.
Oh, hush, Logan. You don’t want me gettin’ attached to any of these people, do you? “It musta been rabid or something.”
I found you first, he said almost petulantly. This isn’t how I wanted it, damnit. You were supposed to come stay with me. Just me.
I will, she promised, not for the first time. Just you, Logan. Just us. “If Logan wouldn'ta been there, he woulda killed me.”
Oh, Marie . . . wish I could touch you. Touch me, baby.
“He?”
“Uh, the bear.” Marie took Logan’s big hand in both of hers.
Jean pursed her lips, and Marie could tell she didn’t believe a word of it. Marie didn’t care. If Professor Xavier didn’t want to tell his people the entire truth, that was his business. Logan trusted the Professor, and Marie trusted Logan.
Jean set her clipboard at Logan’s bedside. “Alright. Well. I’ll leave you. Just ring the bell, and Hank or I will be here if you need assistance.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The doctor stared at their joined hands. “Mind his claws, Marie. Logan isn’t a safe man to get close to.”
“I’ll take my chances, ma’am.”
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