Page 53 of Take Me Away, Cowboy

She needed her friend, her sister.

“Aury? You there, hun?” she asked, realizing she hadn’t heard anything from Aurelie since she’d floated the idea.

“Just a sec. Busy on the computer, hold your horses.”

Paige laughed at how “Americanized” Aurelie’s manner of speaking had become. She had American idioms down, and her cadence was all-American—fast and to the point. She’d fit in great here.

Paige rumbled around for her keys before realizing she hadn’t locked her apartment.

“Aury? I’ve got to go in a bit. I’ve got to use my arms to get me up the stairs to my apartment.”

“Okay, okay, almost there.”

“Almost where?”

Paige wondered if she was talking to the same woman, the change from the first half of their conversation was so dramatic. But then again, that was Aurelie, always cresting one side of the emotional pendulum or the other. Rarely did she linger in the vertex—Aurelie was all or nothing.

“There. You are so impatient, my little Paige. You can pick me up at the airport in Hel-eena next Friday. Two ten in the afternoon. Don’t be late.”

The line clicked, leaving Paige alone at the base of the stairs to her apartment. She squealed, pumping her fists in the air, ignoring the dull pain emanating from her side when she did.

Herbest friend, the only kindred spirit Paige had ever met, was coming to see her. It was all Paige needed to silence the little voice of doubt that popped up every few days to ask why she wasn’t working harder to figure out what came next.

This was the temporary stay of execution she needed.

Gingerly, Paige walked up the stairs, using the handrails her dad had installed so she could regain some of her independence. The better she got, the more she needed to search for jobs, not binge-watching cooking shows with her mom. Now, though, she had a purpose. Get ready for Aurelie. And to do that, she needed to get better, so…

So she needed rest in the form of a two hour nap. Until… her phone buzzed again.

Good gracious. Entire days went by with no one to talk to except herself, making Paige crazier than Banberry ever could. But today, she couldn’t get the universe to shut up.

Dr. Metcalf’s number flashed on her screen, and she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing.

“This is Dr. Connors,” she said. She took every opportunity to remind him that she was a physician, too.

“Paige,” he countered, and she rolled her eyes. He was insufferable. “Dr. Metcalf here. Can you swing by the office when you have a minute?”

Paige’s heart sank. Well, so much for the streak of good news.

He’d never called her in unless he had something crappy to tell her. Her ribs hadn’t healed right with one such call, and she’d needed X-rays to create a treatment plan. Another called her in for another blood draw after the radiation treatment since Dr. Metcalf’s scans didn’t seem to think they worked.

Now, this.

“I can be there in fifteen.”

“Sounds good. I’ll make sure my receptionist pushes my lunch back.” He hung up the phone on her, getting the last word. She scowled at the phone and might’ve thrown it against the wall if her mind didn’t veto that. She needed a ride to Dr. Metcalf’s office, definitely from Brad and not her folks. It killed her to see how her illness affected both her parents. Her mom put on a brave face, but the last time Paige’d fallen asleep at their house, her mom had brushed back her hair, softly sobbing. Paige pretended to be asleep as her mom whispered her fears into Paige’s hair, tears dampening the matted mess.

Her dad tried to be upbeat about the whole thing—You’ll beat it, Paigey, andif anyone’s going to show cancer who’s boss, it’s my daughter—but those platitudes pained her as much as her mom’s silent sobs. Especially since his worry lines grew deeper with each hospital or office visit.

She couldn’t—and wouldn’t—put them through that anymore if she could help it. She’d hear the news herself, process it in the quiet of the drive home her brother was inherently good at giving her, and then share the bare minimum her parents needed to go about their lives. Done.

The phone rang three, four, then five times.C’mon, Brad, she whispered.I need you right now.

When he didn’t pick up, she scrolled down in her list of contacts. The list was thin. Sure, there were colleagues from the various hospitals she’d worked at, the requisite family, but decidedly few friends made the list. Aurelie, of course, but otherwise, just Julia…

And Owen.

It was a big ask from someone she’d just started dating, but at the moment she didn’t have any other options. It was sad, really. She’d lived an exotic life of adventure and leisure in equal measure but had no friends to revel in the memories with.

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