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“I can’t help it,” Mikayla whispered back.
He took her hand in his. “Look at me.” She raised her eyes to his face. “You’re gonna be okay. Whatever happens, you’re gonna be okay. Right?”
She took a deep breath. “Right.” With his hand on the back of her head, he reached up and pulled her towards him, pressing a kiss to her forehead. She closed her eyes, taking another deep breath. “Right,” she said again, almost believing it.
“Mikayla Sinclair.”
Mikayla stood up. She wiped her palms on her pants and followed the nurse into the ultrasound room. The exam was thankfully brief, just a bit of goo and an ultrasound wand. She tried to look at the screen to see if the images meant anything to her. She could definitely see a shadow there, on her left breast. The sight had her stomach roiling again.
Once she’d got all the information she needed, the technician said, “We have about an hour wait until the doctor can see you, so if you’d like to go for a walk, grab a bite to eat or something, you’ve got time.”
“Okay, thanks.” She came back out to the waiting room, something in her face making Rafe push to his feet. “Let’s get out of here for a bit.”
He fell into step beside her without a word and they headed out the door. How strange. The world looked perfectly normal. Just a cool winter’s day, a lazy sun doing nothing to push through the low hanging cloud. A car horn beeping, the driver waving enthusiastically to a couple walking down the street. No looming disaster crackled in the air. That was because the possible looming disaster was inside her.
Rafe linked his fingers with hers as they headed down the main street. “You wanna eat?”
She thought about it for a moment. She wasn’t sure if she felt hungry or sick, but then she remembered that he hadn’t had breakfast, so she nodded. Not really feeling up to sitting inside a busy café, she requested fast food and waited for him to bring it to her in a nearby park.
Watching him walk across the park towards her, Mikayla felt a little stutter in her heart. That was reassuring. Even with the possibility of impending doom, her body could still want him. It still worked. She flashed him a smile when he sat down across from her and handed her one of the bags. Then she couldn’t stop grinning at him when he unwrapped his burger, took the top bun off and held it out to her without a word. She dropped her pickles on his meat patty and swiped some of his chips, stuffing them inside her burger and taking a bite.
The sun made a valiant effort to push through the cloud, spilling gentle light across the park. She sighed with satisfaction; she had been a bit hungry after all.
“What are you smiling at?” Rafe asked, passing her the Coke/Fanta mix he’d just made.
“Nothing much. Just thinking about what an amazing friend you are to me.” She took a bite of her burger, and she contemplated him for a long moment as she chewed. “And how hot you are.”
He grinned at her.
“Would you still want to shag me if I had no boobs?”
“Yes,” he replied without hesitation.
“Oh, you’re pretty certain about that.”
“Yeah, because, firstly, you’re you. And secondly, I’m an ass man.” He pointed a chip at her. “So, look after your ass. It’s spectacular.”
“Aww, thanks!” She grinned at him as she took another bite of her burger, feeling so much better than she could have expected.
The buoyant mood didn’t last, however. She was quiet again once they’d returned to the clinic. They’d just sat down when the nurse came out and called Mikayla into the doctor’s office. Without a word, she pulled on Rafe’s hand. She definitely wasn’t doing this bit by herself. She tried to stop the shaking as she sat down in the plastic chair in front of the doctor’s desk, grateful when Rafe didn’t let go of her hand.
“Hi, Mikayla.” The doctor was an elegant woman, in her mid-forties, dark hair tied back in a neat French twist.
“Hi.”
“And you are?” She looked to Rafe with a friendly smile.
“Rafe.”
“It’s always lovely to see the partners coming along to these appointments. It’s not a nice thing to have to do alone.” She glanced down at the ultrasound results, clearing her throat.
Mikayla’s heart thudded hard against her ribcage. That did not sound good.
“I’ll keep it brief. You’re in the clear.”
Mikayla felt Rafe exhale with relief next to her, but she kept herself ramrod straight in the chair, squeezing his hand tighter than ever.
“It’s a fibroadenoma. No action required.” She smiled again. Her phone rang at that moment. “You’re fine to go. I hope we don’t see you again any time soon.”
