“No, Theo, I don’t blame you.” Reaching up, she stroked her fingers down his cheek.
“I blame myself.”
“You shouldn’t. My father is the one who wrecked our lives. But not anymore.”
Theo threaded his fingers into her hair and palmed her face. “Not anymore, no. From now on, it will all be great.”
She wanted to believe that but knew it might not be true. “I can’t promise that. I spent lots of time completely anxious and depressed, not to mention in a fog, even with the medication.”
After kissing her carefully on the tip of her nose, Theo’s face grew hard. “I want to have someone take a look at those pills. Angie’s friend, James, works at Paxton Labs and can probably figure out exactly what they are. Until then, we stay far away from them. I have a feeling your father wasn’t actually helping you.”
“I want to believe you, Theo. I’m still scared I’ll turn into my mom, slowly dwindling away until there’s nothing left. What good will that do Jordan? I don’t want her to lose me the way I lost my mom.”
“Whether you have some sort of disorder or not, we’ll deal with it. If we have to get the best doctors to help, we will. But Jordan and I need you in our lives, Chelsea. You’re imperative to our happiness.”
“Thank you.” Having Theo by her side and determined to help was amazing. Yet there was still that little voice inside her that said at any time he might get tired of her inability to cope and kick her out of their lives.
“Chelsea Lapierre?” the nurse called into the crowded waiting room.
Theo stood and gripped her elbow. “Hope you don’t mind that I used my last name. They know me here.”
It had been a few days since the car accident. Chelsea needed to see a doctor, but she didn’t have one in Maine. She’d admitted she’d never had a regular doctor that she could remember. After the results James Yoshita had gotten on the pills she’d been taking, he understood why.
“I appreciate your calling your family practice to get me in. I don’t know where else I would have gone.”
After walking down the hall, the nurse ushered them into a room, took Chelsea’s temperature and blood pressure, then said, “Dr. Pasdar will be in to see you in a few minutes.”
“Is this your doctor? I noticed there were a few listed on the sign.” Her eyes roamed the room, taking in all the pamphlets and medical posters.
“No, she’s Jordan’s doctor. Figured you might want to see a woman. I usually see one of the male doctors.”
“That’s sweet to think of that.”
A knock sounded on the door, and it eased open. A petite woman with dark hair tied back in a bun entered and smiled at them.
“Good morning, Theo. I see you’ve brought me a new patient.”
“Yes. Chelsea, this is Dr. Pasdar.” He rubbed his wife’s shoulder. “This is Jordan’s mother, Chelsea.”
Dr. Pasdar tilted her head and chuckled. “Yes, I can see that. Quite a resemblance. Welcome, Chelsea, and please call me Roshni. I’ve been trying to get Theo to do that for four years, since I met your beautiful daughter when she was only days old.”
Sitting on a rolling stool, Dr. Pasdar—he’d never get used to calling her by her first name—opened a small laptop and started asking Chelsea health questions. He took note of her answers. It bothered him that he knew very little about so many aspects of his wife’s life, but he was learning more every day.
“Now, it says here you had a car accident a few days ago. Once you called, I had my staff contact MDIH and get the hospital records sent over. Let me take a moment to scan them.”
Her eyes flew over the screen, and Theo rubbed Chelsea’s back. If she hadn’t seen many doctors in her life, and the only ones she remembered had been instrumental in her father’s deceit, it was no wonder she seemed anxious.
“How are you feeling today?” The doctor asked as she leaned in to examine the small bump on Chelsea’s head and the scratches and bruises on her face. “Any headache or nausea?”
“A small headache every now and then, but the nausea is gone, thankfully. My nose still hurts, especially if I forget and accidentally touch it.”
“Or when Jordan forgets and hugs her mom too hard,” he added.
“The nose might take a while to feel fully better. Sorry. I’m going to look in your eyes. The light might hurt a tad.”
After checking out her eyes, nose, ears, and mouth, the doctor listened to Chelsea’s lungs and heart and had her lie down and lift her shirt enough to check the few bruises on her stomach and sides.
“Everything seems to be coming along fine. Is there anything you’re concerned about?”
