8. Harley
Chapter Eight
HARLEY
“Harley?” a woman's voice called.
I stood from the chair in the waiting room at the doctor's office. “Right here,” I called as I hurried toward the reception desk where she was waiting.
She smiled at me. “Hi, I'm Dr. Quinn's medical assistant, Carla.”
“Hi, I’m Harley.”
She gestured to a door beside the desk. “Follow me,” she said as she held it open.
I followed her down a short hallway into an examination room. I liked Carla. She had an easy, comfortable manner to her. A few minutes later, she'd run through all the basics with me. I'd explained that I already knew what was going on with my heart.
“So, your previous doctor didn't prescribe any medication?” She cocked her head to the side, her gaze curious.
“I wanted to try to manage it without medication,” I said, my words halting.
She nodded. “Well, that's definitely an option. How often are you having these episodes?”
I wanted to lie. I really did. “Maybe once a week,” I finally said, forcing myself to be truthful.
She simply nodded and typed something. “Dr. Quinn should be with you in a few minutes,” she said before departing.
I waited alone in the room with anxiety spinning in my chest. None of my family or friends knew I had been diagnosed with a heart condition, supraventricular tachycardia, or SVT. That was a really long way of saying I had an erratic heartbeat, typically extra heartbeats.
Since I was a little girl, I’d experienced times when it felt like my heart went way too fast. Roughly two years ago, I’d passed out at work. Fortunately, I was alone at my desk where I worked for a tech company on graphics.
After the third time something like that happened, I'd finally gone in to see a doctor. They’d had me wear a heart monitor for two weeks and gently recommended I consider medication.
My family would freak right out and worry like crazy if they knew anything about this.
I didn't want anybody to know. I hated any sign of weakness. It was beyond frustrating that Grant had come in after I’d fainted the other night.
I still thought I had plausible deniability if he mentioned it to Diego. I would just say I had low blood sugar. I thought that was a good line of bullshit. A few minutes later, there was a light knock on the door.
“Come on in,” I called.
The doctor who entered the room was surprisingly handsome with amber hair, eyes to match, and a fit build. He smiled over at me. “Hi, Harley. I'm Dr. Haynes. You can also just call me Quinn.” He tapped his fingertips on his name tag, which read Quinn.
“Dr. Quinn, the medicine man,” I quipped.
He chuckled at that. “You'll see me in the grocery store, so it’s easier to go by first names. Looks like you work out at Walker Adventures.”
I nodded. “Yep. My brother is one of the pilots there, Diego Jackson.”
“Ah, I know Diego. Small world. I go to Gemma’s yoga classes too.”
I smiled. “I love her classes.”
He sat down on a wheeled chair that had a curved desk with a computer screen mounted on it. He tapped a few keys. “So, it looks like your prior doctor diagnosed you with SVT?” I nodded. “Let's cover the basics,” he added.
He checked my heartbeat, my lungs, and so on before returning to his chair. “I appreciate you making sure these records were sent over ahead of time.”
“Sure.”
“What prompted you to come in?” he asked.
“Uh, I had another episode.”
“You're having those about once a week?” he asked.
“Uh-huh.”
His eyes were trained on the computer monitor. “It says here you wanted to see if you could manage this without medication.” His attention lifted to me.
I took a breath. “Yeah. I’d prefer that.”
He nodded before looking back at the computer monitor and then at me. “Based on the monitoring report from before…” He lifted a hand, wiggling it back and forth in the air. “You're on that line.”
“What line?”
“The line where I'd like to recommend medication. I’m concerned that these episodes are occurring weekly. You're young, and I want you to be comfortable with medication before we do that. It looks like this last round of monitoring was from two years ago when you were diagnosed.”
I braced myself for the lecture. When none came, I let out a sharp sigh.
“You can look up at me. I'm not going to lecture you,” he said dryly. “Most people are nervous about going to the doctor and even more so when they have an actual medical issue. SVT is manageable. I want to see what's going on for you now. Are you comfortable wearing a heart monitor again?”
“Of course.”
“Good. I’ll get you set up with one before you leave.”
“You have one here?”
“There are some downsides to being rural, but an upside is when I order things, I keep a small stock so I don't have to send you somewhere else.”
“Well, that's handy.”
He flashed me a grin. “We'll schedule an appointment in two weeks and discuss your options when we get that report back. Sound like a plan?”
I nodded. “That's it?”
“That's it. I'm curious, though. Your records don’t indicate any known family history of cardiac issues.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know of any.”
“Have you ever asked?”
“No.” My cheeks felt hot.
“If you feel comfortable asking, these things are good to know. They help us make informed decisions.”
“I'll ask,” I said quietly.
“You don't have to, but it would definitely be helpful.”
He stood, holding his hand out. “Good to meet you,” he said as I shook his hand. “Hope to see you around town or maybe at a yoga class.”
“Thank you,” I called as he departed the room.
Moments later, I walked quickly to the waiting area. The receptionist smiled up at me. “Carla is getting your monitor ready for you.”
A woman came through the doorway behind the reception desk. She had auburn hair and a lithe build. She smiled at me. “Hey.”
“Hi,” I returned.
“This is Lacey, Quinn's wife,” the receptionist said.
“You don't have to announce it every time I come out. I was just stopping by to print something. My printer broke,” Lacey explained.
The receptionist grinned. “Your printer has been broken for over two months.”
Lacey let out a sigh. “I'll get it fixed, I swear.” She glanced at me. “You look familiar, but I'm not sure why.”
“I moved here just over a year ago. Quinn said he goes to Gemma’s yoga classes. I go to her class in town maybe once a week.”
“Oh, that's probably where I've seen you,” she replied.
“I'm Harley, Harley Jackson. I work out at Walker Adventures and do online stuff for websites, graphic design, that kind of thing.”
“Oh, that's awesome. My sister, Marley, does tech stuff too. Oh, hey, your names rhyme,” she commented.
I laughed. “I actually know Marley. We’ve met a few times. She sends us customers, and we do the same in return.”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you. Wait a sec. Are you Diego’s sister?”
I held a thumb up. “Good guess.”
The receptionist handed Lacey a sheaf of papers as they finished printing. “There you go.”
Lacey disappeared with a smile and a wave.
Carla came out front and briefly reviewed how to use the heart monitor.
I still wasn't thrilled with this heart situation, but I liked my new doctor.
As I began the drive back to Walker Adventures, I tried to think of how to ask anyone in my family about their health history.
I had three sisters in Texas and Diego here.
They all had opinions. I didn't want anyone to worry.