Page 51 of Nanny for the Firefighter

The young woman looks over at me with a smile as she goes to sit down on the tiny stool in front of the computer that’s tucked into the corner.

“She’s doing excellent. I believe the new medications are helping with the high blood pressure and occlusions, and her vitals look good. Let’s check the test results. They just came in yesterday.”

My mother had gone into a special lab a few days ago to have her blood levels checked, and we’ve both been eagerly awaiting the results.

Dr. Anderson runs her eyes over the screen, reading things aloud that make no sense to me. My mother seems a bit more in the know.

Still, I can tell that she’s not quite knowledgeable enough to relax her posture. She’s still perched on the edge of the table, her spine rigid.

“These look much better.” Dr. Anderson turns away from the computer and looks at my mom. “I’m still going to keep you on the medications, and I’m not a huge fan of some of these numbers, so I’m going to start a new prescription today to see if we can really kick those down.”

“Okay, but I’m responding to the medications?”

The doctor nods. “You are. We caught the heart problems early, which is good. Hopefully, we’ll be able to take care of all this with medications and avoid surgery.”

My mom sags with relief, sighing. “Oh, that would be great. I don’t like the idea of being cut open.”

Dr. Anderson laughs as I look over at my mother and scold her. “Mother!”

“Oh, it’s all right. I’ve heard it before. And you know, not many people are thrilled about surgery. If we keep going on this trajectory, we can avoid it. So keep up with the rest, diet, and medications, and we’ll keep checking in on you. Sound good?”

“I think I can handle that, Dr. Anderson.”

Shaking my head, I relax a bit as my mother stands up from the table and manages to get herself down.

“See you in two weeks?”

The doctor nods. “Yup. Let’s stick to that schedule.”

I step up, looking between them. “Do we need to schedule it with the front desk?”

“Umm, you can check, but I think I have you on an auto-schedule.”

Taking Mom by the arm, I follow the doctor toward the door. “We’ll check.”

“And then brunch. I want to catch up with you. I feel like we’ve barely spoken since you got home.”

Rolling my eyes, I smile genuinely. “That is so not true, but fine. Brunch it is.”

The weather is perfect for a day out on the patio of Le Petite Arrêt, and I have to admit that enjoying a bit of time out of the house with my mom is nice.

Really nice, considering what the doctor said.

As we follow the hostess to a table in the shade on the back patio, the sunlight speckles through the tree branches, and I help Mom into her chair.

“Oh, this is lovely. Thank you,” she says to the woman, who informs us that our server will be along shortly.

“So, what are you going to get?” I ask, and my mother gives me a beaming smile.

“I’m getting what I always get, dear. A BLT with truffle fries and sweet tea. You?”

I look down at the menu in front of me. For as easy as this should be, I can’t seem to find anything on the extensive café menu that interests me.

I’m in a good mood. Why is this so hard?

But then it hits me. I’m relieved about my mother, but that just leaves me with theotherthing in town that’s always pulling my focus.

Mason is on my mind too much, and I still have no idea what I want to do about that.

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