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Chapter Seven
Hodgkin Lymphoma.
Hodgkin fucking Lymphoma.
On Sunday, Jeni had never even heard of it. By Tuesday, she was practically an expert.
Often occurs in patients in their twenties. Has been linked with the Epstein-Barr virus that causes mono.Common symptoms are anemia, cyclic fevers, drenching night sweats. Treated with chemo and radiation. Typically has a good prognosis.
That last part she clung to as if her life depended on it.
Andrew needed one more procedure called a PET scan that would hopefully confirm the doctor’s suspicion that his disease wasn’t extensive.
“When’s Mom getting here?” Andrew asked for the fifth time.
Jeni checked her phone. “She said they’re just passing St. Joseph. They’re an hour out.” She sat in a chair beside Andrew’s bed, her sock-covered feet propped on the mattress.
Andrew scrubbed a hand down his face. “All of them?”
“Do you even need to ask?”
“I keep hoping one of them bailed. Maybe Valerie didn’t want to leave the kids?”
“Her in-laws are helping while she’s gone.”
“Rhonda?”
“Rhonda’s the least of our problems, and you know it.”
Andrew made a noise that kind of sounded like a growl or exasperated grunt of some sort.
“Mom also said the Suburban is giving them some trouble. Maybe we’ll get lucky and it will break down.”
“Unlikely.”
Jeni dropped her head back. “Aw man, I’m gonna have to put them up at my house, aren’t I?”
“Family doesn’t stay in a hotel,” Andrew said, mimicking their mother’s voice perfectly.
She groaned. Even if Andrew wasn’t sick, she was the only one with an extra bedroom.
The door to Andrew’s room opened, and a nurse entered. Her cheeks were flushed, and she had a ridiculous smile on her face, like she’d just heard something outrageously funny. From her seat near the window, Jeni frowned, confused—until Logan followed close on the nurse’s heels. His expression, on the other hand, was smug and confident.
Irritation sparked. This was the second time she’d come across Logan flirting with the nurses over the past two days. He’d spent several hours here yesterday after work and at one point offered to go to the cafeteria to get everyone coffee. He’d taken forever, and Jeni finally left Andrew’s room to look for him. She found him—their coffee getting cold nearby—at the nursing station, laughing and chatting with the women sitting there.
Two days ago, Jeni had actually thought she had a partner in this—someone to help her be Andrew’s caregiver. Not that she’d ever use that term in front of Andrew. His immediate reply would no doubt be that he didn’t need anyone to take care of him. But she’d depended heavily on other people after her accident, and as much as she hated to admit it, she’d needed the help. Andrew was going to need it too.
Logan’s help the night Andrew had come to the ER, and then his silent support for her in the waiting room and late-night text conversation, had lit a small flame of appreciation and hope inside her that she might be able to rely on him. She’d actually started to like the guy.
But that was before he started hitting on every woman in the whole damn hospital. If he was hanging around just to get laid, he could move on down the road. She’d find a way to handle everything, even if it meant asking her mother or one of her sisters to stay.
The nurse turned her attention to Andrew and started chatting immediately, her voice annoyingly high-pitched and chipper. Jeni couldn’t even imagine the sounds this woman would make if Logan worked his magic on her in the bedroom.
Thinking about Logan in that setting made her stomach flip, and she rubbed her eyes, trying to wipe the image.
Logan came to stand next to her and leaned his upper back against the wall. He tilted his head down at her and winked.
Jeni narrowed her eyes, and he grinned.
