by Lynn Galli
A nurse appeared in the doorway and called his name. I swallowed a lump when I noticed the slow way he stood and his careful steps to the doorway. It was an all too familiar gait. I sent up a silent prayer that he was already in recovery like me.
He looked back and waved with a sweet smile. I patted my heart twice and gave him an encouraging thumbs up. The least I could do was assure him that some people went through similar heart problems and came out all right. Mostly all right, anyway.
“You have an admirer, I see.” Lena had put down her magazine. She watched as two other families came in the door.
“Jeffrey’s cool.”
“Do you pass each other notes before all appointments?”
“Don’t you have a friend to visit?”
Her mouth stretched wide. “Am I bothering the only person I’ve ever met who never seems bothered?”
“No,” I grumped, not happy that she sounded rather proud of herself.
“Glory,” Dr. Pickford’s nurse, Stacy, greeted from the doorway. When she saw I wasn’t alone, she added, “Would you like to bring your friend back?”
“No,” I said as Lena said, “Yes.”
I faced her as we stood, placing both hands on her arms. “No, thank you, but no.”
Lena considered me for a moment then relented. She dropped back into her seat and flipped open the magazine again.
I watched in confusion. “I’ll call when I’m done. It shouldn’t be longer than a couple hours.”
“I know. I’ll just finish this article. Call me when you’re done.”
With another long look, I turned and followed Stacy back to Dr. Pickford’s office. She was in a perky mood, talking about her weekend plans. She’d recently gotten divorced and was looking forward to her first date in eleven years. I let her yammer on, assuming she was happy to have someone to speak with who wouldn’t want a lollipop from her when the appointment was over.
She showed me inside and pointed out the gown. I was beginning to hate that gown. I’d worn one like it too many times this year. Not having a choice, I stripped off my shirt, undershirt, and bra and put the thing on.
“Hey, Glory,” the doc greeted when he came into the exam room. “How’s the new valve?”
“Working.”
“That’s what we look for in a good valve.”
“Could I really ask for more?”
“Like having it zap all the cholesterol from your arteries?” he guessed.
I leaned back on the table and watched as he attached the electrodes to my chest. He did this easily and with no fuss, almost like he was brushing a piece of lint off my shoulder not staring at my bare chest spoiled by the vicious looking, wide pink scar dividing my torso. He bent to check the three new incision scars on the side of my rib cage.
“I believe some doctors in Estonia are looking into that.”
Keeping my mind off what he was doing, I asked, “How are the winters in Estonia?”
“About like here without the wonderful ski resorts or award winning heart surgeons.” He stood back and attached the electrodes to the EKG machine to run the first test.
“Awards? Am I being charged more now that you’ve won awards?”
“I’ve always had awards, and you’re one of my favorite $3,000,000 women.”
Despite knowing I had to stay still for this test, I choked at his figure. I knew he’d just pulled it off the top of his head, but thinking back, it wouldn’t be hard to come to that number given the now seven heart surgeries I’d gone through with two valves, one shunt, four stents, and annual monitoring. Cardiac surgeries these days were equal to the purchase price of a home in a city. These tests weren’t cheap either. Thankfully, my dad had chosen his health insurance option well before I’d been born. A small co-pay for everything while the insurance picked up the rest. I should feel guilty that I was one of the reasons health care was so expensive for people. They were not making any money on me. Then again, my dad had paid premiums his whole life and he rarely went to the doctor.
“Everything sounds and looks good on that one,” Dr. Pickford interrupted my thoughts on the current health care status in this country. He turned back to reach for the wand and gel for the next test.
My shoulders lifted off the table when he squeezed the cold gel onto my chest. The wand pressed down and glided over my skin. Images of my heart popped up on the machine. Pulsations turned the light shades lighter. He’d once shown me what a normal heart looked like on an ultrasound. The difference was remarkable between a heart with four functioning chambers and mine with one side working and the other not.
He watched the monitor with no comments. He liked to do that. Like it was a game to keep me in suspense. “Valve is clicking away.”
“Yeah.”
“Does it bother you?”
“Sometimes I’m really aware of it, but probably because I’ve been tuned in to my recovery. My friends tell me they can’t hear it. I’ll just have to get used to it.”
“Good.” He clicked off the machine and took the wand away. Stacy handed me a wipe and headed out of the exam room. “Things are progressing nicely. I’m clearing you for everything but aggressive physical activity.”
“Fight Club is out?”
He turned back from writing in the chart and smiled. “Definitely. No sex for two more weeks either.”
“Won’t be a problem,” I muttered, pulling my gown back together and sitting up.
“Really?” His brow rose. “Stacy mentioned someone sitting with you in the waiting room.”
“Stacy has a big mouth.”
“You should hear her gossip about my six-year-old patients. One of them wouldn’t share his toys with his sister in the waiting room just yesterday.”
“Scandalous.”
“The someone?” he insisted, not letting up. He had asked about my work and hobbies and friends all throughout my life. He liked to keep abreast of my life. One more thing that made him a great doctor.
“A friend.”
He patted my arm and stood. “I’ll see you back in three months.” He headed to the door and turned before he left. “A little love will do your heart good, Glory.”
“Thanks, Dr. Phil.”
“That’s sarcasm, right? I don’t get much of that with six-year-olds.” With that he left me alone to get dressed.
On my way out, Stacy put a hand on my shoulder to stop me. “She’s pretty.”
I felt my brow knit. She spotted my confusion and tipped her head toward the waiting room. I leaned to look around the wall and through the reception window. Lena was sitting in the waiting room. I checked my watch. An hour and a half had passed. She’d sat out there waiting for me.
“How long have you two been together?”
I felt like telling Stacy that I’d only just realized her name was Stacy not Sydney. It might make her doubt she had the right to pry into my life. It wouldn’t be kind, though, not when she looked so happy to be talking about grownup stuff. “We aren’t. She’s my friend. See you in three months, Stacy.”
Lena looked up when I came through the door. She dropped her magazine onto the table and stood without a word. We fell into step together heading toward the elevator.
Out in the parking lot, I asked the obvious because it just didn’t make sense, “You waited?”
“I had to catch up on all the Hollywood breakups.”
“Brad and Gwen?” The doc’s magazines were seriously out of date.
“It’s shocking, isn’t it? I thought they’d last forever.” She unlocked the doors and we got into her car. “You must be hungry. You’ll like my friend Barb. She’s going to meet us at the restaurant.”
If I weren’t starving from fasting before my appointment, I would probably protest busting in on their reunion. I couldn’t pass up lunch, though.
She made her way back into the city without once checking her directions. She’d probably had time to memorize them waiting on me. Driving past the Brown Palace hotel, she head
ed toward Union Station. When she parked, I had a good idea we’d be eating at the old brew pub around the block.
Before she got out of the car, she turned and asked, “Healing nicely?”
I liked how she’d waited almost twenty minutes to ask. “Everything’s fine.”
“Fine as in you’ll be able to climb Snowmass Overlook with me this weekend?”
I laughed at the idea. “That’s always going to be out of my range unless you want to give me a piggyback ride for most of it.”
She reached out and grabbed my arm. “What? I thought…shouldn’t a valve replacement be like new after you’ve recovered?”
My brow furrowed until I realized that she’d gotten her initial information from Jennifer, who only knew I’d had a heart problem that required surgery back in high school “The valve was only one of my issues.”
“You mean the other three might need to be replaced?”
“The other one that functions hasn’t given me a problem yet, but I’m down to two chambers and a rerouted vascular system to compensate. I’ll never have the energy or stamina that you have.”
Her mouth nudged open, concern filling her eyes. “I shouldn’t have taken Jennifer’s word for anything. I’m sorry for being so insensitive.”
“You didn’t know. Most people don’t.” I looked down at her hand on my arm. “Thank you for coming with me today and for waiting. That was very kind of you.”
“You mean a lot to me, Glory. Next time, maybe I’ll muscle my way into the exam room with you.”
A thesaurus of emotions rolled over me. Fear first that she’d see me so exposed, ending with exhilaration that perhaps my doctor had been right.
Chapter 30
Despite winning district last year, the volleyball team didn’t have a lot of support for their games. Brooke, Mei, and I were there to watch Ashlyn and Brooke’s daughter, Izzy, in their first game of the season. I always tried to catch one of Ashlyn’s games for every sport that she played. Her teams weren’t always great, but she was an incredible athlete.
While the team was warming up, I spotted all the mothers of the kids on the team. More than half were my clients. I waved to each as they found their seats and did what everyone did in a small town, looked around to see who else was here.
Footsteps sounded from behind coming down the bleachers. A hand pressed down on my shoulder as Lena settled into the space next to me. She’d said that she might be at the game, but I felt my stomach flutter at the sight of her. “Hey, guys. It’s great that you’re supporting the kids.”
“Mandatory for me,” Brooke groaned. She didn’t like sports, but her daughter played three well. She was in for another two years of sporting events.
“You don’t fool me, Brooke,” Lena teased her. “You’d watch Izzy knit for two hours if that was her thing.”
I was happy to see that they’d become good friends since their first meeting at my house. Lena had been keeping to herself and work for the first couple of months in town. Now she was more social with plenty of residents and friends with quite a few. While it took her off my porch more often, I was glad that she was getting more ties to the area with these friends.
Ashlyn headed back to the bench with the team after warm-ups. She looked up and spotted us, waving wildly, knowing we’d come to see her. I was eager to see if the summer camp improved her already impressive skills.
“I don’t know how good she was last year,” Lena said about Ashlyn, “but I’ve peeked in on their practices and she’s very good.”
“She’s been varsity since freshman year.”
“I can see why.”
Brooke elbowed me and nodded her chin in the direction of my former clients, Keith and Wendy. Their son was in the band and being excessively rich, they spent a lot of time hovering over him. Their faces swiveled back around as soon as my gaze hit theirs. They waited three beats before turning back to see if I was still looking at them. I could feel the condescension laser through me as their gazes bounced from me to Lena. What idiots.
“I, for one, am glad they dropped us.”
“They dropped me, Brooke. You were just swept up in the wave. I am sorry you lost their business.”
Lena tilted to look down at them. “Those the bigots?”
While uttered at a whisper, I still looked around to make sure no one overheard her. She was speaking the truth, but in a small town it wasn’t a good idea to make enemies. As the principal who would be in charge of every kid in town, she definitely couldn’t afford to anger the locals.
“The former clients, yes.”
She gave me a full wattage smile at my politically correct phrasing and rubbed my arm. Someone gasped behind me. We turned to see another of my clients staring at us.
“Glory,” the woman greeted then immediately looked away.
“Rumors,” Lena murmured. “Just what I need.”
“Welcome to a small town,” Mei sighed.
“Celebrate them. That’s what I did when David and I first got together,” Brooke said. “We started more rumors about ourselves than anyone in town. It was fun to hear all the conflicting stories running around and see what the folks did when they heard the complete opposite of the rumor they’d been spreading.”
“Twisted pup,” Lena accused.
“I collected some of those rumors,” Mei said. “I thought I’d compile them and have them made into a little book for Brooke and David’s twentieth anniversary.”
“Illustrated?” Brooke kidded.
“Graphic novel,” Mei shot back.
Mitch and his son skated along the bleacher in front of us. “How are you feeling, Eiben?”
I tipped my chin and smiled. “I’m well, thanks, Mitch.” Very close to a hundred percent and looking forward to no more heart issues for a long time. Gone now was the constant nagging in the back of my mind at the knowledge that I’d eventually have to have my tissue valve replaced. Without that worry anymore, I felt incredible.
Several others followed Mitch’s precedent and asked after my health. It took ten minutes before I finished with the inquisition and was able to turn back to my friends.
“How’s she doing? Such a poor thing. She doesn’t deserve this,” Mei mimicked in a low voice.
“Sweet girl. Too bad about the heart thing,” Brooke added.
Lena stared wide eyed at their joking nature. She hadn’t gotten to the comfort level of ribbing me about health problems yet. I just hoped she’d stick around long enough to get there.
“You’re not going to stroke out before you finish my tax return, are you?” I reiterated the best one I’d heard in all my time in town.
“What?” All three of them asked.
“Sensitivity-challenged Billy posed that one during tax season this year. He apparently heard about my stent procedure but wanted to make sure I finished his taxes first.”
“Moron,” Brooke snorted.
“I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure,” Lena commented then turned to me. “Stent procedure?”
“Uh,” I started, wondering if she’d yell at me again. “You’d just moved to town.”
Her eyes scorched mine. “Book club week?” She didn’t wait for my confirming nod. “I knew something was going on that week.”
“She keeping things from you again?” Brooke teased. “She does that. You’ll get used to it.”
“Brooke,” I said, exasperated.
“Won’t happen again, right?” Lena asked. It wasn’t a question.
“Go, Izzy!” Brooke yelled suddenly as the team sprinted out to take their positions, ready to start the game.
“And she doesn’t like sports,” I joked to Lena.
She smiled and brushed her shoulder against me. “I’m glad you’re here. It’s so much easier to avoid parents when I’ve got a friend around.”
I was, too. What started out as a support night for Ashlyn turned into a fun evening with friends. The possibility that one friend might be something more just added t
o the enjoyment of the evening.
Chapter 31
We’d spent the evening on Lena’s deck. Another barbeque, this one attended by our friends, neighbors, and my parents. That Lena hosted was yet another step to cementing her stay in town. More and more people would stop her around town just to chat. She was becoming a real local.
“We’re helping, Spence,” Mei was telling him as I went back onto the deck after clearing plates.
“I’ve got it covered, guys. Head home. Thanks for coming.” Lena gestured them off the deck empty handed.
I looped my arm through Mei’s and started off the deck with her. Lena gripped my shoulder after two steps and, still making polite noises to Spence and Mei, managed to keep me in place.
“This cookout was your idea, missy. You’re helping.”
Spence turned and walked backward throwing me a gloating look. He always got out of things in town. Everyone thought the mayor was too busy for the trivial things that made life go round. Little did they know he had a very good staff and worked efficiently. More nights than not he was home before me.
I watched the front door close behind them, leaving me as the last party guest. “It was your idea.”
“You’re always saying I should invite people over and get to know the town.”
“That doesn’t mean this was my idea.”
A ghost of a grin drifted over her face. “You were going to offer to help anyway, so get over it.” She tossed a towel at me.
“I’ll wash.” I tossed the towel back at her because I knew it would irk her just a little to have her plan slightly disrupted.
It didn’t take long, our system now locked in place after many dinners together. The ease of motion around each other felt great. I’d known Brooke far longer, but I didn’t feel nearly as comfortable in close proximity to her. That should tell me something.
We took some wine into the living room after cleaning up. It was an unconscious motion. We didn’t have to think. We just grabbed the open bottle and two glasses and headed into the living room. I knew I was welcome. That I could stay as long as I wanted.
“That was fun. I really like Brooke and David.”