AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He gave me a sympathetic smile. “Maeme believes you have a broken rib or two, but if I could see for myself…”
He didn’t have an X-ray machine, but I figured being rude and pointing that out wasn’t the best thing to do.
“Okay,” I agreed.
He nodded to the bed. “I left you a gown to slip on. Then, Maeme will bring you to the examination room.”
Wait, what? My focus swung to Maeme, who just smiled as if what he had said made complete sense.
“We will be right down,” she informed him.
He gave another nod, then headed for the door to leave. I watched him until the door closed behind him, and then I looked back at Maeme.
“Go on and slip that on. It’s like any hospital gown. Leave it open in the back, and you can put the robe over it. Then, we will take the back stairs, so no one sees you.”
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“The basement. We’ve got the equipment down there already set up that Drew will need to examine you.”
I shook my head, confused. “You…you have an X-ray machine in your basement?”
She gave me a bright smile. “The boys get hurt on those horses so often that it’s just easier to have it available to us.”
Her explanation still made no sense. King had told me about the horses, but where were they? All I had seen outside were pecan trees.
I nodded though, deciding this wasn’t really my business. I should be thankful that they had something like that available for me to use. When Maeme didn’t move to leave, I figured she was going to wait on me to slip on the gown. I picked it up from the bed, then went back to the bathroom to put it on.
When I walked back into the bedroom, she was standing beside the door.
“Let’s go,” she said, opening it, then waving for me to exit the room first.
We went in the opposite direction of where we had earlier. A narrow set of stairs was tucked away at the end of the hallway behind a door that was unnoticeable since it blended in with the walls.
I followed her down the stairs that led into a brightly lit area with white walls, ceramic tile flooring, and three brown leather sofas that were set up in a U-shape with a rustic hand-carved table in the center. A flat screen television covered the wall the sofas were facing.
We walked past the seating area and came to two doors. The one on the right was open, and Maeme went inside. Glancing back, I scanned the area to make sure there was no one else down here. I found my curiosity was getting the best of me.
The room I followed Maeme into was small, sterile, and did in fact have an X-ray machine in there, along with an examination table and a wall of cabinets.
“You can hang your robe over there on the hook,” Dr. Drew informed me. “Then, if you will, come stand right over here. I’m assuming there is no chance you could be pregnant.”
I shook my head. “No. I get a Depo-Provera shot every twelve weeks.”
He nodded. “Good. When did you have it last?”
“Seven weeks ago,” I told him with more certainty than I felt. I had kept track of it on my calendar at home and I wasn’t positive about the timeline without looking at it. But then it wasn’t like I had to worry about getting pregnant anytime soon if ever.
“Go ahead and step outside, Maeme,” he instructed. “This won’t take long.”
I stood in front of the machine and moved my arms the different ways he asked. The more his bushy eyebrows came together in a frown, the more I felt my anxiety building. By the time he let out a heavy sigh and told me we were finished, he appeared to be scowling.
“You have a broken rib and a fractured one. I expected as much. But this isn’t the first time. There are multiple healed fractures on your clavicle and humerus, as well as your third and fourth ribs,” he said, studying me.
I said nothing. He was a doctor, and he was going to want me to go to the police. File a report on a dead man. One that I had left to lie in our house, bleeding out, alone.
“There is scar tissue, some things that should have been seen to properly, and it’s clear that it was not. Are your ribs and face the only areas I need to be checking? What about past injuries? Your head? Anything that might cause you issues later?”
I shook my head. He was going to mention the police. My hands fisted in my gown, and I struggled to come up with a reason why I couldn’t do that. Why I wouldn’t.
