“In that case.” I began pawing at his buttoned-up shirt, and in no time we were naked, my back to the couch, Lukas blanketing me.
His tongue danced across every inch of my flesh, sucking, nibbling, turning me into a quivering mess. I was harder than I’d ever been in my life.
When he slid into me, it was the most poetic relief I’d ever felt. The hunger we had for each other never dissipated, but it turned into a dance. He moved; I moved. I arched my neck; he kissed it. He came, and I came with him.
“Best Christmas ever,” I said as we lay tangled on his couch.
He chuckled. “Merry Christmas, Sam.”
January hit Brookridge like a beast.By January second, we were blanketed with three feet of snow followed by an ice storm. Pretty much everything in town was closed as plows tried to clean the streets.
Lukas wanted to ride his boat over, but I thought that was insane and asked him to please wait until the storm ended. He reluctantly agreed, so I was currently curled up on the couch reading, with Bubbles on my lap, when my phone vibrated.
I grabbed it and froze. The screen read Dr. Marin. I’d gotten my blood taken a couple of days prior to Christmas. Usually the doctor didn’t call—he shot me a message saying everything looked good. Him calling me wasn’t ideal.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Sam, it’s Dr. Marin.”
“Yeah, I know. Why are you calling me? You never call me.”
There was a pregnant pause before he continued. “Normally, Sam, I’d ask you to come into the office to talk, and we can still do that after the storm settles. But I also know you have access to your results, and I wanted to contact you ahead of you reading them.”
I swallowed loudly. “What is it?”
“Your M proteins are slightly elevated, Sam.”
I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing. “Could it be a lab error?”
“Possibly, and I’ll ask that you get your blood drawn again when things open up.”
Idly, I continued to pet Bubbles. “And if it’s not a lab error?”
“It’s slightly elevated, Sam, and I assume you’re not feeling any symptoms?”
“I feel fine.” It was true; I felt better than I ever had.
“It’s probably a biochemical relapse.”
I scoured my brain for what that meant but couldn’t find anything. “What’s that mean, and what do we do for that?”
“First, I want you to get the redraw just to see if it was a lab error. If it’s not, and you’re having no symptoms, I’ll want you to get another blood draw in a couple of weeks to see whether or not it’s escalating, and how fast.”
I tried to concentrate on my breathing, but it was difficult. “Yeah, okay, I…the streets should be clear by tomorrow. I’ll get it done, and then what?”
“I’ll reach out and let you know. If it’s a mistake, you keep doing what you’re doing. If it’s not, we redraw in two weeks. Take a day at a time, Sam.”
“Right.”
“I won’t tell you not to worry, Sam. That would be pointless. I’m not going to tell you how to feel at all, just know I’m in this with you every step of the way.”
Static emotion hummed under my skin as I was trying to take in everything he was saying. I had to get off the phone.
“Thanks, Dr. Marin.”
“Bye, Sam.”
I disconnected and let the phone slide away. It landed on Bubbles’s side, making her hiss and dart away.I should apologize to her, I should what? What can I do?
