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“I just picked up the phone to call you. What time do I need to pick you up?”
“About that. Andy said he’d take me. You’re welcome to come too, of course.”
“Andy’s taking you?” Thea asked, her tone playful. “Did you ask him?”
“I did not,” I admitted.
“He likes you,” she said triumphantly. “I knew it. Straight-laced Andy is playing caveman, demanding to take care of you.”
“That’s not what happened.”
Although, wasn’t it? Sure, he hadn’t banged his chest and lifted me over his shoulder, but surprisingly, I didn’t hate that visual.
“Really? Well, sounds like he’s got it handled. I’ll let him play doctor with you.”
“I’m getting surgery, Thea, not kissing under the jungle gym,” I chastised her.
“Why not both? Well, good luck. Send me a text letting me know you made it out okay.”
I hung up, my cheeks red. I gathered the prescriptions I’d need post-surgery, carrying them downstairs to find Andy sitting on the couch, phone in hand.
“What are you doing?” I asked, setting the prescriptions on the side table.
“Reading up on what I’m supposed to do post-surgery,” he answered.
The edge of my lip hitched up. “I’m pretty sure the doctor will tell me what to do.”
“I want to ask good questions,” he muttered.
Of course, he did. Andy didn’t like to show up anywhere on his back foot. If he hadn’t already, he’d probably be reading non-stop about the surgery, the post-surgery, and the recovery until the nurses wheeled me out of the operating room. Guilt tickled the back of my neck for not giving him the option of coming with me to the earlier appointments.
“I’m sure you’ll have plenty of questions by the time it’s done, but we should go.”
He set down the phone, looking at me with his sharp blue eyes. “You think I’m going to be able to concentrate on anything while you’re having surgery?”
I laughed nervously. “It’s just outpatient surgery.”
“But, it’s you.” He stared at me dead-on, daring me to counter his argument. I couldn’t. After a beat, he stood. “Let’s go.”
I’d scheduled my surgery for the early afternoon. My stomach rumbled with hunger, and my nerves frayed more and more the closer we got to the hospital. The critical access hospital that provided the bulk of the care for the tiny cities and towns in the White Mountains couldn’t attract a full-time orthopedic surgeon, so I’d been referred to a hospital nearly an hour away.
I fiddled with the radio in Andy’s SUV, thankful he hadn’t opted to take the sports car. I already felt nervous being in Andy’s presence under the influence of post-operative drugs. I didn’t want him to witness me crawling into the passenger seat of the tiny car.
“Why didn’t you ask me to bring you?”
I dropped my hand from the car radio, leaving static crackling in the background, surprised he’d even asked. “I didn’t want to bother you.”
It was an honest enough answer. I already doubted the equity of our deal. I didn’t want to burden him more with doctor’s visits and health concerns, which were exhausting enough for me to deal with.
“You’re not a bother. And if you were, I’d tell you.” He kept his eyes on the road, an indent forming on his cheek as he chewed the words. “So, give me the option, okay?”
“Okay. I can do that.”
“Good. Now, honestly, how are you feeling?”
I swallowed a lie. “Terrified? I don’t really like hospitals, or doctors, for that matter.”
“You don’t?” He raised an eyebrow, as if he couldn’t fathom the idea that someone didn’t like doctors.
