“I’d like to talk to the doctor. Can I get you anything?”
“Water would be nice,” she croaked out. “My mouth is dry.”
“Sure, babe.” I brushed her lips and stood. I spotted a white coat at the nurses station and made my way over to start with him.
“Excuse me. I’m Julianne Robison’s husband, and I just got here. Are you the doctor treating her?”
“Yes.” He glanced at me for a moment while he signed something on a clipboard. “I was just looking over her chest X-ray.”
My stomach dipped again when his gray brow furrowed.
“She said she may have pneumonia.”
He shut his eyes and nodded.
“She has pleurisy too. Water on her lung. That’s why she’s having so much chest pain. I at least want to keep her overnight until the rest of the tests come back to rule out any other infections.”
“Other infections?” My attempt to keep my voice calm was shit. Even I heard the shrill panic in my reply.
He nodded, an eerie sympathy in his gaze as he studied me.
“She presented with a very high fever last night. With autoimmune diseases, there are too many possibilities, I’m afraid. And I want to rule them all out.”
“Sure,” I said as I glanced back at Julie, clenching her eyes shut as she stirred on the bed. Watching her having this much trouble to breathe made me want to jump out of my fucking skin and scream.
“With lupus patients, the trajectory of illness and treatment is tricky. I don’t want to send her home thinking it’s just pneumonia when there’s something more serious going on.”
“Of course, I get it.”
I got it too much. All those online rabbit holes I’d fallen into while researching lupus complications were always in the back of my mind, and now all my biggest fears were coming true. Julie was sick. Really sick. There could be a million reasons why, and until they narrowed it down, she couldn’t fucking breathe. Rage and terror coursed through me, and all I could do was stand there and nod.
“I’m sure she wants to get out of here and into a regular room. We’re working on that. In the meantime, keeping her calm and comfortable will help.”
I nodded. “She said she was thirsty,” I said, forcing my voice past the lump I couldn’t swallow away in the back of my throat.
“We’ll get her some water. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but all we can do now is sit tight and wait for answers.”
He shot me a sad smile before huddling with one of the other doctors.
I wandered into the waiting area and fell into a chair. I pinched the bridge of my nose as a tear streamed down my cheek. I sniffled the rest back in and took slow breaths in and out to shake off the panic enough to go back to Julie.
My Julie.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket, ignoring all the messages littering my screen before I made a phone call.
“Landon? Hey, what’s up? Is everything okay?”
“No, Dean. Not even close.”
28
JULIE
I’d finally drifted off to sleep once the pain in my chest subsided enough to get sort of comfortable lying on my side. I pretended not to feel Landon’s worried gaze as he stroked my hair. He grazed his fingertips along my scalp, calming me enough to breathe a little easier.
My entire body had relaxed when he arrived, but I couldn’t hold his gaze without wanting to cry. He was always meant for great things, and now they were finally happening. I loved it for him but couldn’t help feeling like an anchor around his neck. Granted, if I’d gone for treatment early, I might’ve avoided becoming this sick, but complications were always possible, no matter what. I’d been feeling good and doing well, riding so high on the new love we’d found—or old love we’d finally recognized—that I didn’t want to taint any of my dreams about the future with harsh reality.
And now, I had no choice.
