“I don’t have it,” she said. She’d deleted anyone’s number she’d dated when she got married. Why keep it when she thought she’d have happy ever after? “Do you have mine?”
“Probably not,” he said.
“There you go.”
He pulled his phone out, unlocked it and handed it over. “Send yourself a text from my phone so you’ve got it. I mean it. If you’re in a bind, call me. Or you know, call me again for another game of one on one.”
Farrah hesitated the briefest of seconds, then reached for his phone, put her number in and sent the text. “I’ve got to return to work. It was good seeing you.”
She slipped out before his doctor saw her there and went to her next patient.
It was crazy for her to even consider it. She had plenty of time, and she was positive she could find someone else.
5
OFF HIS CHEST
What hell did he just offer to Farrah? He could barely sort out his own life and yet he just suggested to watch a kid?
He turned his head when the door opened, thankful it was his doctor and not Farrah again, fearing he’d throw some other crazy suggestion out for a chance to see her again.
“Hi, Jayce. I’m Dr. Reyes. What brings you into the office today?”
He was never so thankful he got in with a doctor in his parents’ practice rather than Farrah when he called last week for an appointment.
He’d said it wasn’t an emergency but something he’d like to get checked out and was back in the area. If he had to go to urgent care, he would have, but would rather not. He could even drive back to Charlotte to his primary there, but that would be a pain in the butt.
“I’ve been having pain in my stomach and chest. I thought it was stress related. I’ve recently left my job and hoped it’d get better.”
“What are your symptoms?” Dr. Reyes asked.
“After I eat I get this burning pain right here.” He put his hand on his upper abdomen. “When my stomach is empty it happens too. It feels as if it’s a no-win situation.”
“How are you treating it?” Dr. Reyes asked.
“Lots of antacids. They work for the short term. I’ve tried changing foods I eat, not much is making a difference.”
“Lie back on the table,” Dr. Reyes said. His stomach was pressed on, Jayce jumping at a tender spot, but only once. The rest of the exam was finished and he sat up. “It says here you had frequent headaches, what are you taking for them?”
“Ibuprofen. Lots of it. Though since I’ve been home, that’s stopped mostly.”
“That’s good about the headaches, but it’s possible you’ve got an ulcer from overuse of NSAIDs. I’m going to schedule you for an upper GI and we’ll have a better idea from there. Until then I’m going to put you on a PPI, which will help reduce stomach acid. No headaches at all now?”
“Not really, or not enough for me to feel I have to take anything,” he said.
At least that much helped since he’d been home. There wasn’t the stress of his job and everything else with the team weighing on him. But if a hole had been eaten in his gut, he didn’t think it’d heal on its own as much as he wanted it to.
“Take nothing other than acetaminophen for a headache if you have to. Once we get the results from your test, we’ll have a better idea. I’ll have them call and see if they can get it scheduled tomorrow or Thursday at the latest.”
“Thanks,” he said.
“You can get dressed if you want,” Dr. Reyes said, typing notes into his computer while he did that. Jayce sat back down before the doctor was done typing. “Come on down with me and we’ll have them call and set this up now.”
Damn, that was more efficient than he thought it’d be. He figured he’d be at home waiting for it.
“Can I get your name?” the woman asked when he approached her.
“Jayce McCarthy.”
