“Alright, let’s see it,” Doctor D says. I pull up my sleeve, and she unwraps the bandages. She inspects them for a long time, paying particular attention to the outer edges, even pulling out a magnifying glass. She puts everything back. “You’re at a good point for the next surgery. It looks like your progress has stopped, so if we go in…”
She starts explaining the details of the surgery, and I sort of zone out. Not because I’m not interested but because my brain is hung up on her words.Your progress has stopped.
She did tell me there was a very slim chance it would heal on its own, but I had high hopes. At least that it would healmoreon its own.
When Levi speaks up, I snap to attention again. He asks intelligent, thoughtful questions, and then taps his phone screen like he’s taking notes. He asks how I’m doing compared to others with the same degree of burns. He lets her know money is no object, and that if there are any specialized surgeries that can be done, we will be getting them whether insurance will cover them or not. He even asks about special centers to take me to if it comes down to it, and mentions a specific one that I’ve never heard of before.
This man has done his homework.
Levi’s right. If the doctor wasn’t already in here, she might be walking in on something if he keeps talking like this. My eyes burn with tears.
Levi suddenly looks over at me. “What’s wrong, babe?”
I shrug. “I’m sad about the progress stopping,” I say, even though it’s partly a lie. The truth is, Levi’s attention to detail hasreally gotten to me. I’ve been afraid to look too much into my burns. Worried I’d find out I’d look like this forever, so I just went along with whatever the doctor said.
Levi has taken it to a place I hadn’t imagined, though.
“There’s still progress to be made,” Dr. D explains. “I can see if your case is a good fit for any of the burn centers in the nation. But they’ll still want you to have this surgery first and see how that goes.”
“When can we get it then?”
The doctor opens her laptop. “Let me check the schedule.” For a few moments, she’s silent while she searches. Levi comes over and holds my hand, squeezing it.
“I have an opening next week.”
“Let’s do it,” Levi says, peering down at me. “The sooner we get it done, the sooner we’ll know what happens.”
“Absolutely,” I agree. “I want it as soon as possible.”
“Great,” the doctor says. “Let me tell the receptionist to schedule it all and then you guys are good to go. She’ll give you more information and we’ll call later for a pre-op.”
Levi and I shake her hand, and then she leaves. Levi grabs my hand and holds me back when I start to follow. “Hey, are you okay with that? I didn’t want to speak for you, but those were just my thoughts.”
“Were you taking notes?” I ask, even though I’m pretty sure that’s what he was doing.
“No, I was texting my other girlfriend.” He rolls his eyes. “Obviously, I was writing everything down.”
“I’m about to tell Raeann she’s fired.”
“Didn’t she make notes?”
“Probably, but she’s not as good-looking as you.” He swoops in, giving me a kiss that has me holding on to him.
I’m not saying I couldn’t do all this by myself, but it feels good to be taken care of. To know that Levi has my back. That he’s there for me.
Right after the fire happened, I wondered if I’d ever find someone to love me looking like this. Now, I can officially put that fear to rest.
“Thank you for coming.”
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
22
Levi
My fingers shake as I craft a text to Gridiron Gods. If there’s one thing I can count on, it’s the backing of my buddies. They may poke fun and tease, but they can help with this.
Me: I need to meet. Davis, your restaurant okay? Maybe before opening?
