Page 67 of If Tomorrow Never Comes

Elliott:??Nah, I wasn’t feeling all that great this afternoon so I figured I should stay in.??

Not feeling great? What did that mean?

Jamie:??Is everything okay???

He waited several minutes for a reply, a nervous energy filling him when she didn’t. Not even three dots to indicate she was typing something.

Jamie:??You still there???

Five more minutes passed with no response. He stood, phone in hand, unsure what he was planning to do from Wichita but antsy all the same. She said she wasn’t feeling well and dropped off the conversation.Had something happened? Sure, she could have set her phone down and gotten distracted, or maybe she took Hank out to pee. But they’d been in the middle of texting back and forth and suddenly ... nothing.

When I’m in that apartment all alone, all I can think about is the fact that if something happened to me while I was in there, no one would know.

What if she wasn’t okay?

He gripped the back of his neck and without another thought, called her.

She answered on the third ring. “Jamie?”

She sounded confused, but fine.

He sank back down into the cushions, blowing a breath through his lips. “Are you okay? I just ... Sorry. I, um, you said you weren’t feeling well and then stopped responding.” He suddenly felt like an idiot. “I just ... wanted to make sure everything was fine ...?”

“Yeah, I’m good. I’m sorry. My mom called, so I was talking to her.”

“Oh.” Well. “That’s good.”

“That was nice of you,” she said, and it sounded genuine. Not the tone of someone weirded out by his overprotective reaction. “I ... didn’t mean to worry you.”

He desperately searched for something to say.It’s okaydidn’t feel right because he probably shouldn’t have worried about her. She wasn’t his to worry over, and he was trying not to come off like an obsessive creeper.I wasn’t worriedwasn’t it, either, because obviously in those few minutes he had been.

They were friends, though, right? Sort of? It was an acceptable reaction ...?

Before he landed on a response, she spoke again, probably wondering why he was just sitting there breathing into the phone. “I don’t think I’m sick or anything; it’s probably just stress-induced. It happens sometimes when I’m close to my next oncologist checkup. I start overanalyzing every little thing.”

He leaned forward and propped one elbow on his knee. That had to be hard as hell, always wondering. “I’d do the same thing. How often do you have to go in like that?”

“Just once a month. My appointment’s on Tuesday.”

“I’ll think boring thoughts for you.”

“Thanks?”

He grinned. “During physicals for baseball, that’s what our coach always said. When it comes to doctor visits, boring’s always best.”

She laughed lightly, and a silly pride filled him at having made her laugh. “Good point, and I hope you’re right. I’m sure everything’s fine, and having Hank here was helpful, actually. He helped distract me.”

“By demanding belly rubs every hour on the hour?”

“Plus two laps around the dog park and the dinosaur leg he’s chewing on.”

“Sounds like he’s got you wrapped around his little finger.”

“He’s so freaking cute it’s hard not to. How do you resist those big brown eyes?”

He laughed. “I don’t. He’s spoiled as hell.”

“I’m not helping matters.”

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