Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 118733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 594(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 594(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
For the first time since he’d approached Palmer with his idea, he regretted it. He could’ve taken his sabbatical and stayed with her in San Francisco, close to where they’d have all the medical care she’d need. Instead, he came up with this crazy plan to fulfill her bucket list, which was probably costing time and comfort.
Palmer moaned. Kent moved lightning fast to be by her side. He looked her over for any signs of distress and saw none.
“Kent,” she mumbled.
“I’m here.”
“Hurts.”
“What hurts?” he asked before moving from the bed to his medical bag. “Is it your head?”
“Feet.” Kent paused. Her answer caught him off guard. He looked at her and asked again. “Feet?”
Kent went to the bathroom, turned the faucet on, and started filling the tub with hot water. He then brought the desk chair into the bathroom and positioned it near the tub. He shut the water off and went back to Palmer.
“Are you awake?”
She moaned her answer.
“I’m going to pick you up. Okay?”
“’Kay,” she mumbled.
After moving the covers, Kent scooped Palmer into his arms and carried her to the bathroom while mentally running through his research on GBM. He couldn’t recall anything about lower extremities except paralysis, and he prayed it wasn’t that.
He sat down with Palmer in his arms and set her feet into the water. She hissed when the hot water touched her feet, and he felt horrible for not checking the temperature. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Let me add some cold water.”
Palmer shook her head.
He held her, with her back to his chest and his arms around her. Kent rested his head on her shoulder and tried not to cry. This was going to be the hardest thing he’d ever done. He was a trained medic, but he patched people up enough to get them to the professionals. Kent was the professional now. They could quit and go back home, but that thought tore at him. He’d promised her this trip. He’d promised he’d take care of her.
“Does anything else hurt?”
“No,” she said as she woke up.
Kent felt her shiver in his arms, and he tightened his hold. “Want me to get you a blanket?”
“Don’t move,” she pleaded. “This is perfect.”
“But you’re cold.”
“I’m not.”
They stayed like that until the water chilled. Palmer lifted her feet and rested them on the opposite side of the tub. “I don’t know what that was,” she told him. “It was like they were on fire or something.”
“We did a lot of walking today. Maybe we should use the chair?” He hated suggesting the wheelchair because he knew how much the thought of it made Palmer feel degraded.
“Not yet,” she said. “I think, maybe, I need some new shoes.”
Kent hadn’t thought of that. When she’d said she was in pain, he’d automatically thought about the tumor and what it was doing to her. “Are you being dramatic?” he asked with a hint of laughter.
Palmer cackled and shook her head. “I think I am.” She turned and looked at him. “I blame my brain. It said ‘pain’ and went into extreme overdrive, and I thought nothing of it.”
Kent shook his head and dropped it to her shoulders. “You scared me.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
“I know you didn’t. Come on, let’s go to bed,” he said. “There’s a place I want to take you before we head to New York tomorrow.”
“What is it?”
“It’s something you mentioned in passing, but I want to keep it a surprise.”
Palmer walked out of the bathroom on her own and crawled back into bed. She pulled the covers to her chin and rolled onto her side and looked at Kent. “If I haven’t said it before, I’m grateful for you. You didn’t have to do this for me.”
Kent sat on the edge of his bed and faced her. “Palmer, you have no idea how much you’ve helped me heal. I needed this trip and the time away as much as you did. Asking you to do this was the best decision of my life.”
“You didn’t really ask,” she pointed out.
He shrugged. “Semantics. You could’ve said no.”
“I tried, but you won me over,” she said in a hushed tone. “Best decision of my life.” She rolled over before Kent could react. The temptation to drop to his knees beside her bed and kiss her was great. He yearned for her, and he didn’t know how to stop his feelings. He was in way over his head and was certain there wasn’t anything he could do about it.
Kent woke and moved about the room before waking Palmer. He wanted her to get as much sleep as possible. He called the valet for their car and packed his things. He shook Palmer’s leg and called out her name.
“Sleep,” she grumbled.
“In the car. It’ll be nice and warm when we get downstairs.”