Billion Dollar Stranger - Stephanie Brother Page 0,64
amusement. Maybe she told her boss about me, although I can’t imagine why. Maybe it’s just the way I’ve spoken about her that’s told him that there is more between us than friends would actually cover.
When I’m done, I take a seat next to Nicole’s bed as she’s hooked up to machines. She starts to thank me again, and even tells me I should leave her and return to the hotel, as though I would even consider leaving her side at such a time. I use a kiss to silence her and urge her to rest. I fear that any conversation could exacerbate her symptoms.
When she’s wheeled away for the tests, I wait, lost in a sense of despair that I haven’t felt for over six years. When Adrianna told me she had cancer, I felt like the ground had been stolen from beneath my feet. For months I existed in a state of despair, praying for her recovery. Here I am again, my chest feeling like it’s been gouged open, fearing that all my small hopes will be shattered.
Nicole has to be okay. This has to be nothing. Maybe she didn’t eat, or maybe it’s the amount of travel she’s been doing. I don’t want to admit that I could have played a part but if I hadn’t walked away, if I hadn’t kept her waiting, maybe none of this would have happened.
I will never forgive myself if something I’ve done has hurt her.
After the tests, Nicole is returned to the room. She smiles when she sees me, but it’s nothing like the broad beam I know she’s capable of when she’s well.
“Was that okay?” I ask.
“Yeah. Just strange. I wish I was at home…”
“If you want your parents with you, I can fly them over. Just tell me what you need.”
Nicole shakes her head. “Just hold my hand,” she says softly. “Especially when the doctor comes to talk to me. I just need…” She trails off as though she’s embarrassed for asking me to give her comfort when she’s scared.
“Of course,” I say quickly. “Anything you need.”
I shift my chair so that I’m closer to her hospital bed, taking her slender hand in mine. Silence stretches between us because neither of us really know what to say. Isn’t it strange that it’s possible to be so physically intimate with a person and then feel such a sense of awkwardness? I need to do something to take Nicole’s mind off what is happening, but what?
Then I remember what our nanny used to do when we were sick as children. She’d tell us stories from her childhood as a distraction. I remember it making me feel better, so I decide that’s what I do.
I tell Nicole about the time I broke my leg falling out of a tree on our vast property in Texas. I tell her how my nanny bought me a fluffy rabbit to keep my company while I recovered and after read me a story about a boy who had a rabbit he loved so much it became real. I tell her how my father taught me to ride a horse and my mother taught me the piano. I tell her about Robert and how we were best friends growing up and that he wasn’t always an ass. Time passes and her hand relaxes in mine as I share pieces of myself that I’ve kept apart from every woman I’ve met since Adrianna.
When the doctor returns with Nicole’s test results, I’m so relaxed in the past that I’m not expecting the news to be anything serious. That is until his eyes meet mine and I note his expression.
“How are you feeling, Nicole?”
“Good,” she says softly. “Back to normal really, except I’m a little freaked out.”
He nods. “Are you aware that you have an atrial septal defect?”
Nicole shakes her head, her eyes flicking to mine as though she’s looking for reassurance. “I don’t even know what that is.”
The doctor shuffles the paper in his hands as though he feels awkward delivering bad news. “You have very small hole in the wall that separates the left and right atria in your heart. The most common presenting symptoms are shortness of breath, tiredness and palpitations.”
“Her heart?” I say, sitting up straighter. That doesn’t sound good at all. “Will she need surgery?”
The doctor shakes his head. “The ECG showed just a small defect and the heart is not currently showing any bulging. The fact that Nicole hasn’t had this diagnosed before