His voice softened as he reached for my hand. “You’re not in this alone anymore. That’s the other thing that’s changed. For the last twelve months, you’ve been going through this alone, and I’m sorry. I didn’t know, but if I had known …” His thumb traced circles on my palm, sending shivers up my arm. “I would’ve knocked down your front door and held your hand through the entire process. I would’ve gotten you the best doctors in the industry on your case, and I wouldn’t have accepted no for an answer until we got to the bottom of this.”
He squeezed my hand gently. “So, let me take over now. Let me shoulder this burden for a while. Let this become my fight.”
“Blake …” I looked away. “I don’t want this to be your fight.”
“Let me take this from you mentally and emotionally,” he insisted. “You focus on your work and whatever else you want to focus on in your life. All I ask is that if I need to run a test, you let me run it. That’s it.”
Blake took my chin, tilting it up.
“Let me put this another way.” His voice was low and intense. “I will not stop until I get answers. It will become exceedingly more difficult for me to do that without your cooperation. So, have some compassion for me. Cooperate.” His thumb brushed my jaw. “I will be investigating this with or without your help because I will not let you drown in this ocean, Tessa. And I can promise you this: I will not rest until I figure out what’s hurting you.”
I swallowed hard, the intensity of his gaze leaving me breathless. His eyes dropped to my lips, and for a moment, I forgot to breathe. My heart thundered in my chest, a surge of affection mixed with a flicker of fear. Was I just a medical mystery to him? I didn’t want to be just a case for Dr. Blake Morrison.
“Even if I considered this,” I started, “I wouldn’t be comfortable with this going on indefinitely. There would need to be an end date.”
He seemed to consider this. “A year?”
I laughed. “I was thinking a week.”
“Test results alone can take two. And I might need follow-up testing. Six months?”
“One.”
“Tessa.”
“One month, final offer.”
He let out one deep-ass breath. “Fine. One. Give me four weeks. You go about your normal life. Run your business, go outwith friends. Do everything you want to do. Just give me four weeks.”
I chewed on my lip, considering his words.
Four weeks. To either find answers or finally close this chapter of my life. And all I had to do was agree to work with the one person who could complicate everything.
I met his gaze, finding both determination and something else there. Something that gave my body a whole bucket of symptoms that had nothing to do with my medical condition.
“Four weeks,” I whispered.
His answering smile was both a victory and a promise.
If only I knew the side effects that were about to come along with this …
21
BLAKE
“Stacy, is it?” I ducked into what had to be the most depressing basement office in Mercy Harbor.
The redhead spun so fast that her glasses nearly flew off. “Dr. Morrison? I mean … you’re actually …” She fumbled with her frames. “What can I do for you?”
“Heard you’re the billing wizard around here.”
“I … manage the department, yes.” Her cheeks turned the same shade as her hair.
“Perfect. Need you to look up a patient.” I leaned against her desk, pretending not to notice how she edged her chair back. “Tessa Kincaid.”
After I spelled it out and rattled off her birth date, Stacy’s fingers flew across the keyboard like she was defusing a bomb.
“Here’s what I need.” I dropped my voice. “Every bill that goes to her address? Show a discount. After insurance, make her portion exactly 1.64%. You’ll send the difference to me.”
