Page 15 of Just One Kiss

But itwascrucial that everyone knew that. At least to Carly. If anyone thought she’d taken Josh back after everything he’d put her through, she’d be mortified. As if she could ever be that stupid.

“How you feeling, Jaden?” Dr. Willette asked.

Jaden shrugged. “Just a little tired.”

“You’ve had quite a day.” The doctor smiled.

“What do you think?” Carly could feel herself growing impatient. Josh reached over and put a hand on her arm, as if to say “calm down.” She shrugged it off and moved closer to Jaden, leveling her gaze with the doctor’s.

“Well, we need to rule a few things out,” Dr. Willette said. “Could be nothing, but we want to give you a Holter monitor.”

Carly’s mind raced through her mental medical word bank.Holter monitor.“To determine if Jaden has an irregular heartbeat?”

“Yes,” Dr. Willette said. “I also want you to keep a diary of your activity over the next forty-eight hours. Then, Tuesday we’ll see you back here, and we can take a look at what we find.”

“So we’re looking at a possible arrhythmia?” Carly said.

“Just ruling it out.”

“So, Jaden, that diary is really important.” Carly looked at her son. “You need to record any symptoms you might have and what you’re doing when they occur.”

“I don’t have symptoms,” Jaden said.

“Your chart says dizziness, shortness of breath, one other fainting spell,” Dr. Willette said.

“Yeah, but that’s normal stuff,” Jaden said. “Lots of guys have those things.”

“Jaden,” Carly said.

“I didn’t think it was a big deal,” he said.

“It probably isn’t,” Dr. Willette said. “But we just want to be sure.”

Lots of people had irregular heartbeats. Probably no big deal.

Could be a really big deal.

She hated that the voice in her head had turned negative and repetitive.

“Dr. Willette, he’s an athlete,” Carly said. “A skier. He’s training nonstop. Is this going to interfere with that?”

The doctor met her eyes. His smile reminded her of Alisha’s. The poker-face smile. It gave nothing away.

And yet, it said everything.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he said. “So, we’ll bring the Holter monitor in and get you all fixed up. Then we’ll make an appointment to see you back here after the holiday. Sound good?”

Carly nodded as the doctor exited the room, leaving the three of them alone with thoughts none of them wanted to have.

5

After Jaden was fitted with a Holter monitor, a small rectangular device that he could wear around his neck and that would record the rhythm of Jaden’s heart, Carly’s family (including her dad’s friends) flooded the small hospital room.

Josh was pretty sure they weren’t supposed to have that many people in a hospital room at once, but nobody seemed to notice. Or care.

They asked questions Josh hadn’t thought of or didn’t know to ask, and Carly answered like the nurse she was. If she felt emotional over any of this, she hid it well.

But then, she’d always hidden her emotions well, hadn’t she?

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