Page 171 of Damaged Protector

My brow creased. “Is that necessary since you removed the breast?”

“It’s called adjuvant chemotherapy, and it isn’t always necessary after a mastectomy. It depends on several factors, but it will destroy any undetected cancer cells. Jennifer agrees with me that we should take an aggressive approach.”

“Whatever you need to do,” I told him. “When can she go home?”

The doctor tilted his head. “She’s still young and otherwise healthy, so I’m recommending she be released tomorrow. I’ll make rounds after my morning surgeries, and if everything is okay, she can go home then. Mastectomies can be very traumatic emotionally, and Jennifer and I have talked extensively about that. She’s going to attend a support group I’ve recommended.”

“I can give her rides to the meetings and the chemo appointments,” Richard said. “I work from home, so my schedule is pretty flexible.”

I wanted to hate the guy. I really did, but he was making it difficult.

“Very good,” Dr. Garcia said with a dip of his head. “Since her last round of therapy, we’ve begun working with a new group that provides wigs for patients that have lost their hair. I have them scheduled to come by this evening for a consultation.”

“That’s good. Jenn lost a lot of hair and ended up shaving her head last time. Most of the wigs she bought were uncomfortable,” I mentioned.

“These ladies do a wonderful job and use human hair from donations. Their wigs are of excellent quality. Just a warning though.” He chuckled and shook his head. “They can be quite… energetic.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“You’ll see,” he said with a vague smirk before leading me back to the recovery room.

My sister was the most amazing person I knew. She shed a fair share of tears against my shoulder in the recovery room before swiping them away and announcing that she was done bitching about it.

Now she was in a regular room, sitting up with a smile on her face. A real one, not a forced one.

“Why haven’t I gotten to meet your girl yet?” she cajoled.

“Well, because you were in surgery,” I pointed out.

Jenn put on her best pouty face. “I’ve been back in this room for two hours now.” She did grabby hands like a little kid. “Bring her to me.”

“I’ll go get her,” I said, standing from my chair beside her bed. “And please don’t call her my girl in front of her. You’ll freak her out.”

She did a weird little salute before shooing me away. Richard had visited with his ex-wife for a few minutes and then left, telling her to call if she needed anything, so Mallori was alone when I returned to the waiting room.

“Hey, Bee. You want to come to Jennifer’s room?”

She looked startled. “Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude or anything. Doesn’t she need to be resting?”

“I’m sure. She told me to come get you. She’s very alert right now. They have something in her IV for pain but not enough to make her drowsy. The nurse said they would increase it tonight so she could get some sleep.”

Mal packed her laptop into her backpack and followed me down the corridor. “I tried to book us rooms online at the Hampton Inn. It’s the closest hotel to the hospital, but it kept saying there was no availability, so I tried some other ones that are pretty close.”

“Any luck?”

She shook her head. “No. They’re all full. I called the Hampton, and they informed me there was an anime convention in town and everything was sold out. They’d just had someone cancel, but it was only one room. I went ahead and booked it. Is that okay? I mean, I can stay here and sleep in the waiting room.”

I stopped walking and faced her, giving her my best scowl. “Bee, there is absolutely no way I’m letting you sleep in a waiting room. We’re both adults. Hell, we slept in a twin bed in your dorm room in September.” My frown deepened. “Unless you’re uncomfortable sharing a room with me for a few nights.”

Mal placed her hand on my arm, and it tingled at her touch. “Of course I’m not. I just thought you might be uncomfortable.”

“Not even a little bit. And if you molest me in my sleep, I won’t even press charges.”

She giggled and swatted my arm as we continued toward Jennifer’s room.

Hopefully there will be two beds to make it easier to keep my hungry hands to myself.

Chapter 51

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