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"You're sending me away?" Carissa shrieked.

She barely reined in her sudden panic as Doctor Swafford enveloped her hands in his. "It's not that simple," he said, shaking his head with the faint impression of a smile on his lips. In fact, it was always there. It was one of the reasons the man was so easy to get along with in the first place, but perhaps now Carissa would have to reconsider.

At the moment, his smile made him look vaguely mad.

Still frantic, she asked, "Is it because of what I said about the captain? I swear I didn't know he was your friend–"

"Carissa!" He said, laughing a little. "It's not a punishment, it's an opportunity."

"An opportunity for punishment?" She countered, deflating a little when he seemed less than amused. "I just don't understand why," the woman added contritely, and the smile returned to Doctor Swafford's lips.

"Because when I was your age, that's what happened to me. My mentor decided to sail with Frederic's father, and I was on his crew for years before moving to the Capital. I'll grant you, settling down and having Piper did make the choice easier—not that you have to do the same," he corrected sheepishly when her eyes widened. Clearing his throat, he rallied and continued: "You will learn so much more about medicine, about how people and the world around us coexist, more than could ever fit in a book. Why do you think that I've written so many of them? After this, we'll teach students medicine from the books you'll write, I'm sure." He said, but her frown remained stubbornly present. "In truth," Laurence added, "I've been thinking about this for some time but the right ship hadn't come along."

"I'm not surprised, considering I haven't managed to antagonize any other airship captain that's come through here," she said, glancing down for a moment as she flittered between panic and mortification. She looked up again, comforted by the fondness she found so readily in the doctor's eyes.

"That's not strictly true," he replied, slipping his hands into his pockets. "There was that Yuleni captain with the broken wrist who wanted to make you his third wife."

"It was just a sprain and he was crying," she protested hotly, the subject clearly a familiar one between them by how he laughed. Carissa couldn't help a small grin in return, and when she sighed some of the tension bled away from her shoulders. "So what you're trying to tell me is," she said slowly. "You've wanted to get rid of me for a while." Carissa tried to go for levity but there was still a trace of anxiety lingering in the curl of her lips. Doctor Swafford gently shook his head.

"And go back to doing my own paperwork? I'm not that much of a masochist," he said, finally managing to coax a real smile out of Carissa along with a roll of her eyes. He let her hands fall away from his sides and gripped her shoulders instead. "I think you need this, and if that boy is anything like his father was, you'll both be the better for it."

Carissa's smile faltered. "Why, what was his father like?"

He squeezed her shoulders briefly and raised an eyebrow at her. "He didn't stand for excuses, like you're giving me right now."

"What about my work?" She gestured to the hospital walls around them. "My classes, I'm only halfway through my apprentice studies," she protested.

"As the lead physician here at the hospital and a councilor on the school board of our college," he had the nerve to look smug. "I'm fairly certain that you'll get a pass."

"My healer’s license?"

"I know for a fact that you updated it last month on your birthday. First time I'd brought a cake to the Imperial Commissions building, won’t forget that anytime soon," he said, his eyebrow raised as if daring her to try again. Carissa frowned, pursed her lips as she gave it some thought and finally gave him a look.

"What about my roommates?"

"Ah," Laurence paused, leaning back and crossing his arms at an obvious loss for words. He chewed on his bottom lip for a moment before actually looking away. "I'm sure Piper will forgive us."

"I don't know, your daughter has your same flare for the dramatic as you do, Mr. Swafford," she said, chuckling. Her smile stayed for a moment before it flickered and she looked at him apprehensively once more. "You really want me to do this."

Laurence nodded, smiling again. "You've never known anything outside of Tremont," he said. "And I know you're meant for greater things. Besides, if you well and truly don't like it, consider it a paid sabbatical and come back on the first airship home. Just promise me that you'll give it an honest chance."

Without warning, she threw her arms around his neck but he was already there, arms open to catch her. When his daughter had made an unlikely friendship with the studious girl in her classes, he would never have imagined that he would care for her like he did but sure enough, Carissa had become a part of his family, just as Frederic had once been. He held the faint hope that if he couldn't be there for the man in this difficult time, he could at least rely on someone else to look after him. "On a serious note, though, let's not tell Piper until we have to," he added, and he was rewarded with a brief laugh before the panic snapped back into Carissa's expression.

"I'll have to get my credentials in order. Thank goodness I just updated my work license. I'll have to pack. Drat, I haven't washed this week." In truth, it had been Piper's turn that week but she knew that Carissa would do the chore if it sat around long enough. The apprentice wanted to laugh as she realized her sudden list of priorities. Turning her life upside-down in five minutes, and all she could think about was her laundry.

Laurence cleared his throat, grounding her long enough to stop her spiraling before it began.

"Remember to dress warmly," he said in the somber tone of experience. "It may be summer, but that stops to matter once you're flying high enough." Carissa frowned, clearly doubting him without a word. Laurence chuckled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leading her down the hospital hallway as they talked back and forth.