“Mrs. Gallagher.” A female doctor appeared, a pleasant smile on her face and a file in her hand. “So nice to see you again.”
Again? Lane glanced at his mother. She merely smiled serenely and nodded. “I hate to bother you, Dr. Knoll, but you know how it is when you have overprotective children who think you’re on your deathbed.”
Dr. Knoll turned her attention to Lane, thrusting her hand out toward him. “Gina Knoll. Nice to meet you.”
“Lane Gallagher.” He shook the woman’s hand. She had a pleasant, soothing aura about her. Dark-blond hair, kind blue eyes. She was tall and thin, her body encompassed by the white coat she wore. “And what do you mean by ‘again’?”
“Ah, your mother was brought in here, hmm . . . ” Dr. Knoll opened up the file, her gaze narrowing as she read it. “Two months ago. Racing heart, dizziness. Thought she was having a heart attack.”
“Mom.” He turned to her, his tone accusatory, but he couldn’t help it. In typical fashion his mother waved off his concern with fluttering fingers. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It was no big deal. We blamed the summer heat.”
The doctor ignored their conversation and asked Lane to step back so she could take his mom’s vitals. He moved out of the way, watching carefully as his mother chattered on and Dr. Knoll examined her, taking notes in the file, her expression neutral, her demeanor pleasant.
All the neutral pleasantries were making Lane antsy. Wren and West were blowing up his phone, but he ignored them. He’d told them both he’d text them as soon as he knew something and so far, he didn’t know squat. And he was still pretty pissed that his mother had been in the emergency room before yet never told anyone. Not that they all talked on a regular basis.
And didn’t that just make him feel like absolute shit?
“I’m going to request a series of tests,” the doctor said to his mom, her gaze downcast as she scribbled something else in the file. “I want you to go in over the next few days and have them completed.”
“Do I have to?”
“Absolutely.”
“My husband’s out of town, and I have no one to take me.” His mother hesitated. “I don’t like to go to those sorts of things alone.”
“You have four grown children. I’m sure one of them could manage to take you.” The look the doctor sent him was pointed. “Mr. Gallagher, could I speak to you for a moment?”
Without a word he followed the doctor, worry making his heart knock against his ribs. It was only when they were far away that Dr. Knoll turned to face him, her face etched with concern.
“I’m glad you’re here. I’m concerned about your mother.”
“That makes you and me both,” he agreed. “What brought her in here last time?”
“Same sort of symptoms. Dizziness. Feeling faint. Though last time she mentioned her heart and how it felt like it was trying to beat out of her chest.” Dr. Knoll’s smile was faint. Grim. “Your father brought her in. He was . . . rather noncommunicative.”
A complete understatement. “He’s hard to talk to, yeah. But what about my mom? What do you think is wrong with her?”
“I’m not sure. She’s anemic. I gave her a prescription for iron pills the last time.”
Huh. Guess he’d been right about that one. “What else could it be?”
“I ordered the tests so we can figure that out. At first I thought she suffered from anxiety. She has all the classic symptoms. But I want her to be tested to rule out anything else first. If it’s something serious, we need to know.” Her gaze was intent as it met Lane’s. “She needs to have these tests completed righ
t away.”
He nodded. “I’ll make sure she goes in tomorrow.”
“Will you be taking her?”
“I have to work, but I’m sure my sister will do it.” She was the one who’d noticed something was wrong with mom in the first place.
“Good. I’m sure we’ll be able to figure out what’s wrong.” She smiled. “Thank you for bringing her in. You’re a good son.”
Yeah, he was going to have to disagree with that. He didn’t feel like a good son.
He didn’t feel much good at anything.