Where Nerves End

know.”
He switched to my other foot, and curiosity got the best of me.
“Okay, I have to know,” I said. “My foot? When Im here for my shoulder?”
He nodded without looking up. “Im concerned about the medications youve been taking and their effect on your liver and kidneys. So this will stimulate them and help them flush out some of the toxins.” He positioned the needle about an inch below the base of my first and second toes, right between the bones.
“Uh…” I furrowed my brow. “Isnt…isnt the liver… not in my foot?”
“The liver channel begins in the feet. Stimulate and unblock that channel”—he paused to tap the needle into place—“and it helps to soothe and decongest the liver.”
“Soothe? Decongest?” I shook my head. “Youre the expert here.”
“Trust me on this.” He glanced up, and Ill be damned if the son of a bitch didnt wink. “I know what Im doing.”
Somehow I doubt you know all of what you’re doing, Dr. Whitman…
As he continued with the needles, I couldnt decide what was more fascinating: the needles themselves, or his long, nimble fingers manipulating them with expert precision. I had no doubt there was a complex technique to all this, one hed spent years learning. There was probably a time when he was clumsy, uncertain, and awkward, but now he made it look easy. Effortless. Like he intuitively knew where to put each needle.
After hed finished putting needles in my feet, he stood. “Okay, now for a few in your shoulders.”
“What about these?” I gestured at my feet. “How long do you leave them in?”
“Come back in a week and Ill take them out.”
We locked eyes, both of us keeping straight faces. Then the corner of his mouth twitched, and I laughed.
He chuckled as he turned away to pull out a drawer from the cabinet beside the door. “Ill let them stay in for ten or fifteen minutes, then take them out.” Something rustled and clattered. “Usually Id leave you to relax and let them do their job, but Im thinking your shoulder needs a slightly more…active approach.”
“Active? In what—”
I stopped when he turned around again, and I damn near groaned aloud.
The receptionist just had to mention a car battery, didn’t he?
In one hand, Michael held a plastic box about half the size of a phone book. Several knobs stuck up from the top, and one side had about ten places to plug in peripheral cables. In his other hand, he had a handful of thin red and black cables. On one end, plugs to connect them to the box. The other ends? Miniature fucking jumper cables. Of course.
“Do I get a choice between this and waterboarding?” I asked.
Michael rolled his eyes. “Nathan loves telling people that.”
Eyeing the machine warily, I said, “Yeah, but he said minus the car batteries and waterboarding.”
“Dont worry,” he said. “These just put a mild electrical current through the needles. Problems like what youre experiencing sometimes need some extra stimulation to get the Qi flowing properly.”
I stillwasnt so sure about this thing. “Why do I get the feeling they didnt have those three thousand years ago in China?”
He smirked. “Well, even Eastern medicine has made advancements, you know.”
“So has the CIA.”
Michael laughed. “Relax.” He set the machine on the table beside me and laid the cables on top of it. “The worst you might feel is a dull ache.”
“Ill take your word for it,” I said.
“If its too intense,” he said, “or it hurts, just say so and Ill either turn it down or remove the needle. I dont want you to be in pain.”
“Much appreciated.”
He rested the heel of his hand on my shoulder, and I took in a sharp breath.
“Is that tender?” He lifted his hand away.
“No,” I said. “Youre fine. I just”— shouldn’t like you touching me like that —“wasnt expecting it.”
“Sorry.” His hand rested there again. A second later, he pressed the plastic tube against my skin again, which meant the needle would follow shortly.
I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on the impending sting and the ache that would follow. Even when he tapped it, and it stung, and it ached, I was only half-focused on the weird sensations. My tingling nerves were too busy following the warmth of his hand wherever he touched me.
I never thought Id be disappointed when a man was finished arranging needles in my flesh, but admittedly, I was. He lifted his hands off me and reached for the box and its cables.
I couldnt see what he was