Chapter 21
Tab
The dizzying amount of information that has been going through my head lately is disconcerting.
Sort of like my whole life is off kilter.
I still don’t understand it, but how many times have I watched some murder show and said the same thing?
People kill for less than what I might have been set on fire for.
Walking into the doctor’s office, the only good thing I can muster up is that I can focus on this right now. Something concrete. Something I understand.
Raeann holds my hand. “Aww. He really wanted to see your scars? I didn’t know Levi had it in him. I mean, I always liked him. I like all of Micah’s teammates, but he might be my new favorite.”
“Don’t tell Micah that.”
“Oh God, no. I just like that he’s treating you so well. Besides, if Micah wanted to hear what I talked about day-to-day, he’d find a way. In fact, he might be listening to us right now. And, if Levi is anything like him, it’s highly likely he knows I just said that, too.”
I laugh, and when I look up, everyone in the waiting room is staring at me. “Sorry,” I whisper, then I go up to the receptionist and check in before finding Raeann in the waiting room again.
“Hey,” she says when I sit down next to her. “Remember when you kept saying you wanted a hot football player like Micah? Now you got one!”
My stomach squeezes in a good sort of way. “I almost can’t believe it.”
“Well, believe it, and also, I’m so happy. You’ll officially be accepted into the WAGS.”
“WAGS?”
“Wives and girlfriends,” Raeann says. “Briar, Charley, Jo, and some others you haven’t met yet. For the next home game, we want to bedazzle our own jerseys.”
I make a face, but secretly, it sounds awesome.
“I’m so glad Levi handled the whole dating show thing. I’m sure McNally was pissed.”
“Wait, what?”
“The dating show.”
My brows furrow, and Raeann looks more confused than I am. “He didn’t tell you?”
“No, he didn’t say anything.”
“Oh, that’s weird.” She pulls out her phone to check her messages. “Micah just said he handled it and that he might have found something else to prove McNally is trouble.”
“What the hell?” I ask. “Levi never said a word. I didn’t even realize he saw McNally recently.”
Raeann turns toward me. “I wouldn’t be worried. I got the feeling that whatever he did, he did it so he could be with you publicly.”
“Well, that was the game plan, but he could’ve said something to me.”
“Oh, I know what this is,” Raeann says. “This is him thinking that he has to take care of everything because you’re too stressed out.”
I roll my eyes. I don’t like being left out of the loop, but in reality, this was his thing to take care of. I would’ve been happy to have been kept up to date though. Did he pick someone? Did he somehow get out of it? “Maybe he just hasn’t had the time to tell me yet.”
“That would make sense. They’re playing their league rivals this weekend, hence the bedazzled jerseys.”
“You really like those girls, don’t you?” Honestly, it makes me smile. When Raeann moved here, she was so quiet and timid. She hung on to me like glue, which I never minded. I liked her instantly. But to see her grow, that’s special.
“I do, and you’re going to love them. I can’t wait to tell them Levi was the next to succumb to looove.” She gasps. “The heart.”
“What?”
“The heart he made with his hands at the game. That was you!”
I grin, feeling my cheeks burn.
“You know…” She peeks over at me and smiles. “We’ve sort of all told our stories about how we bagged the big, bad football players. Tough, but they’re all ooey gooey inside for us.”
“Well, count me in for bedazzle night. I just have to get a jersey.”
“Levi will grab you one.”
“Levi will grab her what?”
I spin around to find Levi walking toward me. He leans over, pecking me on the cheek, and hands me a small bouquet of lilacs. “Hi, beautiful.”
“What are you doing here?”
“You thought I was going to miss your appointment?”
A nurse comes out in white-and-pink scrubs, holding the door open with her foot. “Tabitha?”
Levi turns to Raeann. “Do you mind if I take this one?”
Raeann grins. She reaches out to grab the bouquet from my hands. “You got it. I’ll be right here.”
Levi places his hand on the small of my back and leads me toward the nurse. I can’t stop staring at him, and his lip tugs upward like he knows.
We’re led to a sterile exam room. The posters on the walls are all about burns and skin grafts. One shows the progression of a burn healing.
I sit on the exam table while Levi grabs the only other chair in the room. The nurse proceeds to ask me questions about my progress so she can prep the doctor before she comes in.
When she leaves, I peer over at Levi. “I can’t believe you came. I only mentioned it in passing.”
“I told you I wanted to be here for you, and I meant it.”
A warmth spreads through my chest. “Aren’t you supposed to be at practice?”
“I got a pass for today.”
“I’m glad.”
Levi grins. “Stop looking at me like that, or your doctor is going to be walking in on something.”
I shake my head. “Hey, I need a jersey. Your jersey,” I say, to be exact.
“The bedazzle party. Yeah, it’s covered. It’s on your bed.”
“Really?”
“You act so surprised.”
I shrug. “You’re already out-boyfriending my other boyfriends.”
“You mean your past boyfriends, right? I’d hate to go to prison for murder when I have a bright future ahead of me.”
“Yes, my past boyfriends.”
I’m about to bring up his dating show when my doctor walks in. Levi changes attitude immediately. He sits up straighter, and when I introduce him, he shakes hands with the doctor. “Her only boyfriend,” he says, as if I conveniently left that part out.
“Alright, let’s see it,” Doctor D says. I pull up my sleeve, and she unwraps the bandages.
She inspects them for a long time, paying particular attention to the outer edges, even pulling out a magnifying glass.
She puts everything back. “You’re at a good point for the next surgery.
It looks like your progress has stopped, so if we go in… ”
She starts explaining the details of the surgery, and I sort of zone out. Not because I’m not interested but because my brain is hung up on her words. Your progress has stopped.
She did tell me there was a very slim chance it would heal on its own, but I had high hopes. At least that it would heal more on its own.
When Levi speaks up, I snap to attention again.
He asks intelligent, thoughtful questions, and then taps his phone screen like he’s taking notes.
He asks how I’m doing compared to others with the same degree of burns.
He lets her know money is no object, and that if there are any specialized surgeries that can be done, we will be getting them whether insurance will cover them or not.
He even asks about special centers to take me to if it comes down to it, and mentions a specific one that I’ve never heard of before.
This man has done his homework.
Levi’s right. If the doctor wasn’t already in here, she might be walking in on something if he keeps talking like this. My eyes burn with tears.
Levi suddenly looks over at me. “What’s wrong, babe?”
I shrug. “I’m sad about the progress stopping,” I say, even though it’s partly a lie.
The truth is, Levi’s attention to detail has really gotten to me.
I’ve been afraid to look too much into my burns.
Worried I’d find out I’d look like this forever, so I just went along with whatever the doctor said.
Levi has taken it to a place I hadn’t imagined, though.
“There’s still progress to be made,” Dr. D explains. “I can see if your case is a good fit for any of the burn centers in the nation. But they’ll still want you to have this surgery first and see how that goes.”
“When can we get it then?”
The doctor opens her laptop. “Let me check the schedule.” For a few moments, she’s silent while she searches. Levi comes over and holds my hand, squeezing it.
“I have an opening next week.”
“Let’s do it,” Levi says, peering down at me. “The sooner we get it done, the sooner we’ll know what happens.”
“Absolutely,” I agree. “I want it as soon as possible.”
“Great,” the doctor says. “Let me tell the receptionist to schedule it all and then you guys are good to go. She’ll give you more information and we’ll call later for a pre-op.”
Levi and I shake her hand, and then she leaves. Levi grabs my hand and holds me back when I start to follow. “Hey, are you okay with that? I didn’t want to speak for you, but those were just my thoughts.”
“Were you taking notes?” I ask, even though I’m pretty sure that’s what he was doing.
“No, I was texting my other girlfriend.” He rolls his eyes. “Obviously, I was writing everything down.”
“I’m about to tell Raeann she’s fired.”
“Didn’t she make notes?”
“Probably, but she’s not as good-looking as you.” He swoops in, giving me a kiss that has me holding on to him.
I’m not saying I couldn’t do all this by myself, but it feels good to be taken care of. To know that Levi has my back. That he’s there for me.
Right after the fire happened, I wondered if I’d ever find someone to love me looking like this. Now, I can officially put that fear to rest.
“Thank you for coming.”
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”