Page 51 of State of Suspense

Terry took off toward the door and nearly knocked the doctor over in his haste.

Harry stayed with him while they went into Lindsey’s exam room.

Upon seeing her, Terry was filled with dread. He’d never seen her so pale.

She held out a hand to him.

He went to her and took hold of her cold hand.

“Sorry to scare you.”

“I’m fine if you’re fine.” He glanced toward Anderson, who was typing on a computer terminal. “What’re we dealing with, Doc?”

“Lindsey is extremely anemic, which is concerning. We’re trying to figure out what’s going on.”

“Is that why I’ve been so tired?”

“Definitely.”

“Have you been sick at all in the last few months?”

“I had a weird virus a few weeks ago that included a high fever for several days.”

“How many days?”

She looked to Terry. “Most of a week.”

Terry nodded.

“That’s good to know,” Anderson said. “It’s possible you wiped out your red blood cells fighting that off.”

“That can happen?”

“Sure can.”

“I like that better than leukemia,” Lindsey said.

“I do, too. Let me dig into the blood work a little deeper.”

“Can I go home?”

“I want to keep you overnight so we can get to the bottom of what’s going on.”

That wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

Terry wanted her right there with people who knew what they were doing. “You’re in the best place to figure out what’s we’re dealing with, Linds.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “We’ve got the state dinner tomorrow.”

“There’ll be others.”

“Terry’s right,” Harry said. “Let Dr. Anderson run some tests and get to the bottom of this so we can get you feeling better.”

Lindsey nodded and used a tissue Terry gave her to wipe away tears that further rattled Terry’s already-shredded nerves. His Lindsey rarely shed a tear. In fact, she teased him about being moved by movies and TV shows that had no effect on her. He said she’d breathed too much formaldehyde fumes at work and had gone numb.

He loved that they had their own language and inside jokes. His relationship with her was like nothing he’d experienced before, a connection so deep, she was truly a part of him.

“Whatever you’re thinking, knock it off,” she said when they were alone in her room.

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