Page 24 of Where Are You Now
Lucas was already sittingat the table when the nurse dropped off Ava at the therapy room.
“How are you feeling today?” he asked.
“The last couple days I’ve felt more like myself.”
“That’s good.” The corners of his eyes creased with his tender smile. “Should we get started?” He gestured for her to take a seat and cleared his throat. “We’ll begin with a global cognitive functioning test. The goal of this test is to assess your memory, attention span, executive function, and visuospatial skills.”
“Well, my memory has been great. In fact, do you know what hit me the other day?”
He met her gaze. “What?”
“Remember that time we decided to take your dad’s fishing boat out on the pond, and you were making me double over laughing, imitating your brother and pretending the rod was a light saber, and you dropped it in the water? We fell overboard trying to reach it, and we laughed so hard we cried.”
The formality in his demeanor fell away, and there it was—the innocent, adoring look she’d gotten so many times as a girl. It almost took her breath away.
“Do you remember that?” she asked.
Lucas licked his lips and then took in a breath of air, his chest rising. “That was a long time ago.”
“Yes, it was. But it’s a fond memory.”
“Well, we’ll test your memory a little more today,” he said, seemingly forcing himself back into doctor mode. “I’m going to call out a list of words, and I’d like you to repeat them to me. Then we’ll wait two minutes and see how many you still remember.”
He was right: It had been over half their life ago, but she felt as if she still knew him. Perhaps she didn’t.
“Ready?” He began. “Apple. Car. Blue. Ring. Fan.”
“Apple. Car. Blue. Ring. Fan,” she repeated.
“Good.” He set a timer for two minutes on his tablet.
“My mom still has my dad’s fishing rods,” she said as the timer counted down. “I think I’m going fishing today after this.”
“Try not to talk while we wait. I don’t want to distract you from the task.”
“It’s fine. Look. Apple. Car. Blue. Ring. Fan. Do you still fish?”
“I haven’t in quite a while.”
Her talking seemed to bother him. She was only catching up like she would with any old friend. And these tests were ridiculous anyway. She was so obviously fine.
The timer went off.
“Apple. Car. Blue. Ring. Fan.”
He marked her score and turned the page in his manual. “Okay, try this one. Seven. Five. Three. Two. Eight.”
Ava laughed. “Now you, of all people, should know that numbers are my strong suit. If I can get random objects, numbers will be a piece of cake. Seven. Five. Three. Two. Eight.”
Lucas didn’t react. He set the timer.
This time, she stared at him silently for two minutes. He avoided her scrutiny, reading the test booklet and marking things down. When the timer went off, she repeated the numbers to him.
Maybe her being friendly came across flirtatious, given how many years had passed? To drive home that she was only being friendly, Ava suggested, “You should take your fiancée fishing. It’s so relaxing.”
A flicker of something crossed his face.
“I don’t have a fiancée,” he said under his breath.
