Page 41 of Crazy in Love

“Uh-huh. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I thought she was your best friend.”

“She is. Which is why I know her so well.”

“Why wouldIget hurt?”

“You tend to get in serious relationships that start off great but eventually fall apart. Faith’s never had a relationship go past two months. Neither of you seems cut out for forever.”

“You’re acting like I want to marry her. Calm down.”

“I’m just saying, dating Faith is a terrible idea. She’s your polar opposite, she never wants to leave GVF, and she’d drive you crazy. It’ll blow up, and I’ll be stuck in the middle.” She paused and then muttered, “déjà vu.”

“How many times do I have to say it? I’m not interested in Faith.”

Tess grunted in response. She dropped him off at the doctor’s office and left to do some shopping. Nick hoped this guy had better news than the last.

“This is healing nicely,” Dr. Butler said, poking around Nick’s chest.

“That one seems all right,” he said. “It’s my leg that’s still giving me trouble.”

“How so?”

“I thought it would feel better by now, but everything is still painful—stretching, the PT, walking too far, sometimes evendoing nothing at all. It’s more than a muscle thing. It’s like the bone hurts. Is that possible?”

“I wonder…” Dr. Butler went to the counter and pulled out an X-ray. “We had the doctor in Boston send this over with your file.” He hooked the large film onto a lighted box and pointed to a particular spot.

“I don’t see anything,” Nick said.

“It’s small. That’s why another doctor might have missed it, but look here.” He used his pinky to circle a minuscule black dot. “I think a fragment of bullet or bone is still floating around near your femur.”

“Would that explain the pain? How do we verify it? And what happens if you’re right?”

“Yes, and I’ll order a CT scan. You can head over there now, and we should get results tomorrow or the next day. I’ll call as soon as they’re back. If I’m right, you’ll need another surgery to remove it.”

Nick sighed in frustration but had to admit, one good thing about small-town doctoring was availability. No way things would move this quickly in the city.

“Let’s go for the scan. Anything to make sure I get better. Would you mind if I got a second opinion?”

“Not at all. I can send the CT results via email. Just let my receptionist know where. In the meantime, you know what might help?”

“Please don’t say—”

“Yoga!”

“Of course,” Nick mumbled.

He texted Tess to advise her he would be longer than planned then followed the doctor’s directions to the lab.

Either the doctor gave him bad information, or he’d taken a wrong turn because he ended up in the children’s ward. At least that was what he assumed from the cheerful cartoon jungle animals painted on pastel green and yellow walls. As he turned to go, he heard a familiar laugh.

Jerking his head to the sound, sure enough, it was Faith, laughing with a little girl while doing something to her hair.

“Can I have a fancy braid like Elsie’s?” the child asked.

“Of course,” Faith said. “I’ll make it like a crown, since you are a beautiful princess.” The girl beamed up at Faith.

Nick stopped at the nurse’s desk. “Can you give me directions to radiology?”

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