“You won’t have time for a social life.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s not a problem.” I’m still getting a lot of mileage out of remembering the way that tatted guy named Cormac banged me and made me come in the hotel a few weeks ago. That memory and my dildo should hold me over for the next two years.
No one can top what he did to me.
Dad sits back and twists his pen. “Your financing will have to be reactivated.”
“I already called the bank.” I sit up straighter. “They’re reinstating my private loan once the school confirms my enrollment. Then the funds should clear in a few days.”
Dad starts to sweat. “I’m still in debt, you know.”
“Dad, it’s okay.” I can’t make him feel bad for using my medical school savings to keep my mother alive. “I want to do this myself.”
“I respect that.” Then, voice lowering, he says, “Though, it’s still a regret that I didn’t plan better.” He studies me for a long, uncomfortable moment. “You seem different.”
“Because I am.”
He nods, seeming to be happy. “I’ll speak with Dr. Lin and tell her to fit you into her mentor program.”
Dread heats up my spine. “Is she going to give me hell?”
“Absolutely,” he says with no hesitation.
“And you’ll let her?”
“Yes.”
I sigh. “Great.”
“You don’t need leniency. You need rigor. Rigor makes a good doctor.” He glances at his phone, like perhaps he has a meeting and I’m getting in the way. “What about housing?”
“I can stay with Regan,” I say smoothly. “Just until I find something else.”
He watches me closely. “You can’t move in the middle of a semester. You’ll be busy with classes, labs, and studying.”
“I’ll find something sooner than later.”
He gives me a warning look. I bite back the instinctive sting. Because he’s not wrong about how a move while juggling schoolwork and labs would be very bad timing.
“There’s a student-friendly building with an available studio on First Avenue, down by the UN.” I scroll on myphone and show him the building.
My father’s eyes bulge out. “No, absolutely not. There is some kind of mafia war going on in that neighborhood. Plus, with shit-for-brains?—”
“Pierce,” I remind him.
“No.” He shakes his head. “I don’t want my daughter starting the hardest year of her life in some walk-up tenement house with no doorman where Langston can bother you. It’s out of the question.” He stands up and paces behind his desk. “I’ll get you into campus housing. It’s perfect for studying and writing papers that you’ll need to get into a good residency program.”
It’s also terribly crowded and designed for freshmen. Four students get shoved into one ten-by-ten room. I’m over that.
“I’ll work it out. I’m twenty-five.” My throat tightens unexpectedly. “I promise to have all this taken care of before classes start next week. I just need you to sign off on the reinstatement. The registrar said they forwarded the paperwork to you.”
“I’ll look for it and approve it immediately.” He comes around the desk and rests a hand on my shoulder. “I’m proud of you for coming back.”
I swallow hard. “Thank you.”
“And Scarlett?”
“Yes?”