Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49034 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 245(@200wpm)___ 196(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49034 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 245(@200wpm)___ 196(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
Allegra and I almost hadn’t been able to get back to the exam room where Nic and Sophia had been taken, but I refused to allow a simpering nurse who couldn’t be more than a couple years older than me to keep us from them. Allegra looked on approvingly as I begged and pleaded, cajoled and threatened—and ultimately used the DeLuca name to get what I wanted.
“You will take us to my fiancé,” I growled at her, a hint of menace in my tone. “And you will do it immediately unless you want to face the wrath of the DeLuca family once she’s well. Don’t think for one moment that I’ll forget the time you’ve made us stand here when we could be back there comforting Sophia.”
“It’s fine, Sandra,” another nurse chimed in, stepping forward to intervene, her eyes wide as they darted between Allegra and me. “I’ll take Mr. DeLuca’s mother and fiancée back.”
“Fine,” the other nurse huffed, stomping away.
Sandra. I mentally marked the name down for consideration later. I hadn’t been issuing empty threats while I’d been talking to her. The sound of Allegra’s low chuckle had me jerking my head her way.
“What?” I asked defensively.
“You’ve been hiding some fire beneath your nice girl exterior,” she answered approvingly
“She’ll need it to be married to him,” the nurse mumbled as she opened the door to a spacious exam room.
“I thought they fixed it when she had surgery two years ago. Why is she having problems now?” Nic roared at a tall dark-haired man in a white lab coat. “And why has it taken so damn long for you to figure out what’s been going on with her?”
I hurried to his side, tugging his hand into mine and jerking my head towards the exam table where Sophia lay, watching her dad and the doctor with wide, tear-filled eyes.
“Niccolo,” Allegra tsked. “You can’t blame Dr. McGowan for Sophia’s condition.”
“He’s the only one who’s here,” he grumbled.
“Because you’ve probably managed to scare everyone else away,” Allegra chided, eliciting a snort of laughter from Dr. McGowan, confirming how true her words must have been. “Remember, she’s only been seeing him for a few weeks, which is hardly enough time to get the results back from all the tests he’s run.”
“Actually,” Dr. McGowan interrupted their argument. “Most of her tests came back this morning. If you’ll stay with Sophia for a moment, I’d like to speak with her father in the hallway.”
Nic gave Sophia a gentle hug and dropped a kiss onto her forehead before following Dr. McGowan into the hallway. I followed suit, pausing to whisper in her ear. “Love you, sweetie.” Her tiny hands gripped my back as she leaned up to reach my ear. “I love you too, Anna.”
I hurried after Nic, tears streaming down my cheeks at her admission. Both men turned to me when I joined them in the hall, shutting the door behind me.
“As I was explaining to Nic, Sophia’s refractory hypertension has become unresponsive to her drug therapy. When they operated two years ago, her condition was considered improved because her blood pressure was within normotensive range.”
“And now that they aren’t?” I asked, making Dr. McGowan pause and consider me assessingly.
“You must be the Anna I’ve heard so much about from Sophia.”
He moved forward to shake my hand, and Nic tugged me closer to his side. Dr. McGowan sent him a quick grin and took a step backwards, dropping his hand to his side. It was as though he completely understood why Nic didn’t want another man in my space. Some of the tension left Nic’s body. Apparently, they were united in their caveman-ness or some such ridiculousness.
“To answer your question, Anna, I’ve recommended another surgical intervention for Sophia. Her previous surgeon performed an aortorenal bypass with a vein graft, but the conduit has since undergone aneurysmal deterioration. I’d like to go in and use the internal iliac artery as a free graft. They’ve since become preferred for aortorenal bypasses.”
I gripped Nic’s hand more tightly, most of what the doctor had said going straight over my head. I glanced up at Nic, and the blank expression on his face made me think maybe he didn’t understand any better than I did. “Could you repeat that, maybe in English this time?”
“Sorry,” he replied wryly. “Sometimes I slip into doctor-speak and forget most people have no clue what I’m talking about. Basically, the method her previous surgeon used has failed, and I want to reconstruct her renal artery using one from her pelvic region. Recent studies have shown outcomes are much better this way.”
“What are our other options?” Nic gritted out.
The grave look on Dr. McGowan’s face was answer enough, but his words confirmed it. “She needs to have this surgery, Nic.”
I moved even closer to Nic and wrapped my arm around his waist, trying to lend him what little strength I had.