“I believe my mother had mentioned it on occasion. So, are you going to stand there all day?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. How was he going to get through to her that she really needed a doctor to examine her?
As though in answer to his thoughts, her face grew pale. She pressed a hand to her stomach before rushing out of the room once more. His concern for her health intensified.
When she returned a little bit later, she was still pale. “Well, don’t just stand there. I have to get ready.”
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At last he was making progress. “Don’t take long. I had to call in a favor to get this appointment.”
“I won’t. I have work to do. And so do you.”
He was already reaching for his phone again as he headed for the door. Once the bedroom door was closed, he started texting his assistant. He told her to cancel any meetings that didn’t have to do with the new store launch. And then he had her push back his remaining meetings.
She asked him if anything was wrong. It wasn’t like him not to come into the office first thing in the morning, much less cancel important meetings. He assured her that everything was fine. At least, he hoped so.
* * *
He was making a big deal of nothing.
And that’s exactly what Pepper told the doctor a short time later. The man was older, with silver hair and observant eyes behind his gold-rimmed glasses. He was a quiet man who only spoke when he needed to, but he appeared to listen to everything Pepper nervously said.
It wasn’t that she was worried there was something wrong with her. She knew it was just stress—lots of stress. Who wouldn’t feel the pressure in her situation? And that’s exactly what she told the doctor.
“So you see,” she told the doctor. “I’m just stressed out. Simon is worrying about nothing. If you could just tell him that, we can get out of your way.”
“We’ll just wait for your test results. It won’t be much longer.”
Simon was out in the waiting room. She could just imagine him pacing a hole in the carpet. Who’d have guessed Simon was such a worrier?
The doctor started for the door.
“Could you have someone show Simon back here?” she asked.
The doctor nodded in his quiet way.
Besides, it would help to have someone distract her. Otherwise, she would soon be climbing the walls, wanting to get out of here. Her grandmother had come to the doctor for one thing and walked out with orders to have tests done for something else entirely.
Was that what was going to happen to her? Surely not. She was just letting her imagination get the best of her. It was this place. It gave her the creeps...
The door opened and Simon poked his head inside. “The nurse said I could come back.”
Pepper sat on the edge of the paper-lined examination table. Her legs dangled over the edge. “I’m almost ready to go.”
Simon stepped into the room and closed the door. “Everything okay?”
She nodded. “I told you. It’s just stress.”
He let out a sigh. “That’s good. You had me worried.”
“You should have listened to me.”
“So what are we waiting for?”
“Your doctor. He’s the kind that likes to dot all his i’s and cross his t’s. I noticed he even has all his charts on paper still.”
“He’s older. He’s set in his ways. But don’t worry, he knows what he’s doing.”