But he didn’t have time for that. He needed to get to Marley. Now. He left without saying another word to the others. He’d never heard Marley sound so scared. So alone. He was supposed to be with her.
Marley was standing on the porch waiting for him in a matching sweat suit when he got there. Her eyes looked puffy. Like she’d been crying.
“Do you think I screwed something up? Maybe I’ve been too active,” she said the moment he climbed the porch stairs.
He gave her a little side hug, then a quick kiss on the lips. “Let’s see what the doctor says.”
She nodded, leaning into him for a moment.
On the drive downtown, she was mostly silent. He didn’t know what to say. His instinct was to say everything was going to be okay, but he didn’t know if that was true.
“According to Google,” she said suddenly, “this could either be an infection, a hematoma, or a seroma. Or, I suppose, a broken implant.”
“You suppose?”
“Google said that was unlikely.”
He knew she shouldn’t be relying on a Google diagnosis, but the last thing he was going to do now was mansplain her breast pain.
“It started in the middle of the night,” she continued. “I couldn’t sleep because of the pain.”
“Why didn’t you wake me?” he asked. He hated the thought of her worrying and hurting next to him while he was sleeping.
She shrugged. “I thought it would pass. When it got worse, I called my mom and she started telling me all about these botched boob jobs she saw on this reality show… Then she said she couldn’t take me to the doctor because she had book club.”
Nikhil exhaled. “I’m glad you called me.”
She nodded. He knew what they were both thinking. Soon he wouldn’t be able to drop everything and come help her. He couldn’t be there for her the way a partner should be there. And after the movie was done, he would be back in LA. And maybe on another film set for months at a time.
He had a terrible job to be there for someone.
When they got to the building, Nikhil parked and put on a beanie and a face mask. He was getting recognized pretty often when he went out lately. Not that he expected anyone would bother him in a doctor’s office, but he needed to be careful. Marley was also wearing a mask—hers so she wouldn’t catch anything.
The waiting room for the plastic surgeon was mostly empty. Nikhil was glad that the doctor wasn’t in the hospital today, because he doubted the hospital would be anywhere near as deserted as this. The office was fancy with leather couches and black light fixtures. This was a plastic surgeon in high demand—of course his office would look posh and…expensive.
After Marley checked in, they sat in the empty corner of the room on a plush leather sofa. Marley was still quiet.
Nikhil wanted to find a way to make her talk like she had in the car, but he didn’t know how to do it. Maybe if they talked about him, instead of her.
“Serena was pissed I left. She said I need to figure out my priorities.”
Marley looked up at him, eyebrows raised. “Wow. After you’ve been rehearsing for weeks and she showed up, what—a week ago?”
Nikhil nodded. “That’s exactly what I thought.”
“Why does she have it in for you?”
“I don’t know. I’d thought she finally liked me, but I guess not. She’s so hot and cold.” He shrugged. “I’m giving my all for this role, and if that’s not enough, there’s nothing I can do to change that. The director will have my back.”
Marley nodded. “Maybe you shouldn’t have left early today.”
He shook his head. “No. You needed me, so I’m here. It’s already killing me that you were up worrying all night and didn’t tell me… I was right there.”
“You can’t always be there for me, Nikhil.”
“I’m damn well going to try.”
“I can’t… Ishouldn’tneed you this much.” She bit her lip, her forehead tense with worry.
