Solomon couldn’t help the twitch in his lips. “No, you don’t. We had a little adventure on Saturday, didn’t we?”
“Ugh.” Kenya covered her face with her hands. “Not the kind of adventure I like to go on, if you can believe that. At one point I thought I made it all up, hallucinating from the pain. But then I look at my foot and remember one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.” She peeked at him through her fingers. “And now I’m back here with probably the worst thing that has happened to me to date.”
He grinned and perched on a chair in the corner of the room. “Something worse than falling at your cousin’s wedding? You have me intrigued. Can I ask what caused this additional tearing in the calcaneofibular ligament to give you a lateral sprain?”
“Oh, it sounds so nice when you say it,” the blond friend purred, her eyes flitting between the two.
“Dedra, don’t forget your boyfriend.” Kenya rolled her eyes. “Excuse my friend.”
“Excuse me? I only commented on the way he said the name of the muscle. I’m not trying to hit on the man.”
Perhaps they’d suddenly forgotten he was still in the room. Either way, he could thank God and his parents that his dark skin hid the blushing he knew spread across his face.
“Anyway”—Kenya cut her eyes at the smirking Dedra—“I got nauseous this morning at work. And then I rolled my ankle on the way to the trash can.” She groaned.
Solomon raised his eyebrows. “You went to work today? Based on how you felt on Saturday, you probably should have been at home with this elevated. Didn’t you receive discharge papers detailing recovery protocols? I’m surprised you weren’t set up with an outpatient therapy appointment.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Kenya responded at the same time as Dedra’s “I told you!”
“I don’t remember what I got. Maybe my mom stuffed the papers into her purse?” She shrugged, fiddling with the knit hospitalblanket and keeping her eyes trained anywhere but on his gaze. “I just couldn’t do all that anyway, Dr.—”
“You can call me Solomon.”
“Oh, first name already.” Dedra sat back in her chair, smirking. She might as well grab a bag of popcorn while she was at it. She had more interest in this unfolding conversation than the top trending movie on Netflix.
He glanced at Kenya, chuckled at the slight tinge of rose on her cheeks. “Solomon is much easier to say than Dr. Anruchi. I think as many run-ins as we’ve had over the past few months, it’s okay for us to be on a first-name basis.”
When had he become so bold? Or so eager to invade someone else’s personal space. Kenya stared at him. And, awkwardly, he stared back, fascinated at her ability to disarm him but concerned at her narrowing eyes. Maybe the recollection of their brief shared past would move her to discard him altogether, kick him out of the room and her business.
But to his pleasure and surprised relief, instead of telling him off like he expected, she repeated his name with a whisper, as if she’d forgotten everyone else was in the room and she savored a new taste on her tongue.
“Okay, Solomon Anruchi,” she said, and he quite liked the way his name sounded when she said it.
After the words left her mouth, she grinned, obviously pleased at his reaction.
“So, uh, why didn’t you take a day off?” he sputtered.
Kenya shrugged. “I had a presentation to give. I didn’t have the luxury to sit around feeling sorry for myself while someone else took this opportunity from me.” The last words held a certain vehemence that he felt across the room.
But he still wasn’t convinced it had been the right decision. “I understand and applaud your drive, but you also don’t want to exacerbate your injury by moving quickly through recovery.”
“Too late.” Dedra raised an eyebrow and glanced at the phoneshe pulled out of her purse. “That’s her MO, Dr. Solomon. You are looking at one of the best event planners in the region. She moves fast and efficiently all the time, and usually no one can keep up. Kenya is the best in our agency. Along with all the other events she is doing, she has a tour coming up in a few weeks that is the first of its kind for the Huntsville area, including Hope Springs.”
“Dedra, is that supposed to make me feel better?”
Dedra shrugged. “And that is why I brought her straight here. She needs all the goods so she can get back on her feet.”
“Ahh.” Solomon could sense Kenya’s frustration. He couldn’t forget how bubbly she’d been when she talked about her work. It had allured and invigorated him and also stirred a level of commitment that he wasn’t ready to deal with then. But was he ready now?
“You probably need to be prepared for how long your recovery will be.”
“How long, Doctor?” Kenya’s eyes looked so forlorn that he almost didn’t want to tell her—or correct her in order to hear her say his name again.
“First, I’m sure they will keep you in here until this bag of fluid is gone.” He looked pointedly at the IV bag next to her. “The type of sprain you have is a lateral one, a third-degree sprain, so—”
“Sprains have degrees?” she wailed. “Even my ankle is smarter than me!”
Solomon couldn’t help the laugh that burst out right alongside Dedra’s giggle. He peeked out the door to make sure they weren’t drawing attention and glanced back at Kenya with a grin. But she didn’t join their laughter. He was surprised at the look that flitted across her features. As soon as her eyes refocused on him, she masked that strange expression, giving him a tight grin.
