Emotionsran rampant as the tears sprung to my eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Kenny,seriously. It's not a big deal. Just text me the time and place and I'll meetyou there.”
Andso, with a smile on my face and a gentle warmth tickling at my heart, I did.
***
“Youdidn't tell me you had something going on with yourheart,” he hissed,as we found a couple of seats in the waiting room.
“BecauseI don't know that there is,” I reminded him. “That's why I'm here, to findout.”
“JesusChrist. I can see why you wouldn’t want your mom here,” he muttered, wiping ahand over his beard. “And this is because you’re pregnant?”
Ishrugged, trying to make myself comfortable in the chair. “I guess. I mean, mydoctor didn't act like it was uncommon or anything.”
“Krystaldidn't have to go to afreakin' cardiologist.” It wasthe first time I had ever heard her name, and when I turned to him with aquestioning glance, he confirmed, “My ex-wife.”
“Well,all pregnancies are different, I guess,” I replied, repeating the same thing Ihad read countless times on Doctor Google.
“Iguess,” he muttered.
Gooseslouched deeper into his chair and started chewing on his thumbnail, while Istared ahead at the door and waited for a nurse to emerge and lead me to theexam room. My fingers fidgeted with the drawstring on my sweatshirt, frayingthe exposed threads just a little more. When the door finally opened, bothGoose and I sat up straighter, stiff as boards, and waited to hear her call myname.
“KendallWright?”
“Righthere,” I said, standing abruptly and dropping my open purse from my lap,spilling its contents all over the floor at my feet. “Goddammit,” I muttered,as my face grew hot with embarrassment and anxiety at the sight of the mess I’djust made.
“Igot it,” Goose said quietly, bending to collect my things.
“Allgood?” the nurse asked, smiling as though she hadn’t just seen the used tissuesand candy wrappers that usually dwelled in the bottom of my bag.
“Yeah,”I muttered, struggling to find my own smile.
“Allrighty! Just follow me,” she replied, tucking herclipboard under her arm. When she saw Goose stand beside me, with my purse inhis hands, she added, “Your husband can come, too.”
Panicreached down my throat and grabbed my tongue as I stammered, “O-Oh, he's not,we're not married. He's just a, uh ...” I turned to look up at Goose and sawthe expectant raise of his brows. I smiled nervously in a way that strained mycheeks and said, “He's just my friend.”
“Well,then yourfriendcan come, too,” she corrected with a smile.
Wefollowed her through the door and down a hallway, where she pushed a door open.“Okiedokie, Kendall, you can sit on the table, whileyour friend takes a seat over there.”
So,we did as we were told and I sat on the paper-covered exam table, while Goosemade himself comfortable on a chair in the corner. He held my purse in his lap,like it was the most natural thing in the world and asked if I wanted him tohold my sweatshirt, too.
“No,it’s okay,” I told him, only to be interrupted by the nurse.
“Well,actually, I'm going to need you to take that off, so I can attach these leadsand get your EKG done,” the nurse instructed in a friendly, bubbly tone.
Iwas only wearing a tank top beneath my hoodie, and the thought of taking it offfelt no better than getting naked in front of this guy who had only justrecently become a friend. But I did as I was told, moving slowly as my cheeksrapidly heated, before handing the sweatshirt to Goose’s waiting hands, notquite meeting his eye.
Thenurse instructed me to lay back and apologetically asked that I also pull mytop up, over my bra. With some hesitation, I began to do what she asked, whenGoose told me he'd turn around, to give me some privacy, and I wondered if itwas more for his or my benefit. Then the nurse stuck sticky electrodes tovarious parts of my body and attached the leads, before watching the monitorfor a few seconds that felt more equivalent to hours.
“Okay,you're all done,” she announced, quickly removing the electrodes with the leadsstill attached. As I righted myself, she exited the room, leaving us with theinstructions to wait for the doctor.
AsGoose handed me my sweatshirt, he asked, “How youdoing?”
“I’mokay, I guess,” I muttered in reply, pulling the shirt over my head, as Iwondered how okay I really would be if he hadn’t been there.
“Shedidn’t seem too worried,” he offered.
