“Y-yes, they’re w-well. D-d-dad is at w-work.”
Grandad has had to work past retirement to take care of everyone. Mom still lives with her parents because of herdisability. Plus, she had me way too young. I was kind of an accident, so I grew up with my extended family. Honestly, I love it. I’m close to all of them, but I’m especially close to my granddad.
“Well, you tell him to be a good kid and to behave himself.”
She giggles again, making me smile. It’s my life’s mission to make her laugh.
“S-stop, y-you’re such a… tease.”
“I do my best! Anything else you need, Mamasita? I’ve got an appointment in a few minutes.”
“N-no, I j-j-just wanted to… h-hear your v-voice.”
“I’ll sing you a song tonight and send it to you, then you can play it back to your heart’s content.”
“Ugh, n-no… y-you s-sing t-terribly.”
“You’re so mean! I thought parents were supposed to love everything about their kids.”
“N-not your… sing… singing.”
I chuckle at that. “I guess that’s fair. Well, I gotta go, Mom. My patient’s arriving soon.”
We say our goodbyes, and as soon as I hang up, my coffee arrives.
“Anything else, your highness?” Don says, smirking.
I take a tentative sip and sigh. “You’re the best, man.”
He bats his lashes like a queen. “Don’t you forget it!”
I chuckle as he walks off to prep for my first appointment.
When Don lets me know she’s ready, I grab the tablet and head toward one of the treatment tables, where my patient is sitting, swinging her legs back and forth.
“Good morning, Miss Pérez.”
“Morning.”
I look through her files to see she’s a sophomore and doesn’t have much of a medical history.
“Can I call you, Liz?”
“Yeah.”
She’s pretty, with sleek black hair and dark brown eyes, though I’m not interested and can’t afford to be.
“I’m Wes.” I scroll through her paperwork, though I’ve already taken a look at her scans. “It seems you’ve got a herniated disc in the C5, C6 vertebrae. The bulge in C5 is causing a pinched nerve to C6.”
She nods and tucks some hair behind her ear. “Yep, I was sparring in my Taekwondo class when one of the other students swung his leg and hit my head.”
“That’s illegal.” I take her right arm and feel around because that’s the arm that would be affected the most. “Did you roundhouse him back? I would’ve.”
She snorts a laugh and bats her eyelashes at me. “Nah.”
Oh, boy. I’ve got to put on my professional panties for this one. “Did you lose consciousness?”
“No, but I fell to my knees and was disoriented for a second.”
