Page 36 of Professor Next Door

I felt my brows knit as I stared down at the paper in my hand. I reached for my tablet, a gift from Galen, and did a search on the syndrome I knew only a little about. An idea was forming, but there was only one record of Kayla having seen the doctor after she gave birth to Rikki.

“Galen?” I asked, still staring at my tablet, reading another purported expert’s opinion on how long gestational diabetes lasted after the mother had given birth. I was finding that opinions varied and there was no clear conclusion on the duration. I took away the idea that gestational diabetes should be monitored far longer than a week or two after birth. Maybe even into the second year of the child’s life.

“Yes, baby?” He’d moved on to a different pile of papers, his reading glasses sliding down his nose in a way that was impossibly sexy. I smiled to myself but ignored the twinge of arousal that shot through me. It was time to work.

“Why did she stop going to her doctor?”

“What?” He glanced up at me but then what back to his papers.

“Why did Kayla stop going to her doctor?”

“She didn’t, she had several appointments after she had Rikki. Quite a few, in fact. It seemed she was going once a week or more at times!” He looked up at me now with confusion.

“There aren’t any more papers after her first appointment after Rikki was born. Are you missing some or did she change doctors without telling you?” I held up the paper I’d mentioned, waving it at him. “That’s the last appointment.”

“I’ll give the office a call.” He went to make his phone call and I made more coffee for us. When he came back into the room he didn’t look pleased.

“They said they sent me everything in her files. That she stopped coming without an explanation after her last appointment. Who was she seeing then?”

I looked up at him, not able to give him any kind of answer. “It’s hard to say, maybe her insurance records will show that?” It was the only answer I could think of.

“I’ll find those then. There has to be an explanation for this.”

Galen dug through another folder and gave a loud sigh a few minutes later.

“Found him.” He didn’t look overly happy about his discovery.

“What is it?”

“He’s a psychiatrist. She was seeing a psychiatrist several times a week just before her accident.” A thoughtful look crossed his face and he put his head in his hands.

“That’s a good thing.” I reached over to touch his hand but he pulled away as though I’d burned him.

“No. I didn’t know she was seeing a psychiatrist. She was hiding it. That means I was the problem, right? She felt like she couldn’t tell me.” I could see the torment he felt in the way he clenched his jaw.

“No, Galen!” I began to reassure him, but he gave me a look so I stopped.

“Come on, Tara! Why would she hide something like that from me?” His head went back in his hands, clasping at the back of his neck like the world was falling down on him.

“I don’t, I wouldn’t...”

“No,” his words muffled against the table as he leaned down to it for support. “You wouldn’t, unless it was me that was the problem. Unless it was me that had sent you over the edge.”

He stood, gathering up a few things as he went, and walked out of the room, leaving without a word.

“Galen? Where are you going?” I ran after him, worried now.

“I’m going... I just need to clear my head, Tara. I’ll be back soon.”

I couldn’t stop him, but the thought flew through my head that maybe those were Kayla’s last words to Galen. He wasn’t... no, he couldn’t be.

“Galen!” I called out and he paused, the door open now.

“Yes, Tara?” He didn’t look back, he just stood there, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

“Rikki and I, we need you, you know? Don’t forget to come home, okay?” I didn’t want to declare that I loved him, not yet. Not without knowing for sure that he loved me and by his walking out I wasn’t feeling assured of it.

“I know, babe. I’ll be back.” He left then, closing the door quietly.