Page 11 of Thiago
He studied her for a moment in silence. “You have that look about you.”
“I’m not sure that’s a compliment, Doctor.”
“It is,” he assured her.
The direct, interested way he was looking at her made her cheeks flush with heat.
India cleared her throat and sat up straight. “Well, I’m glad to hear I wasn’t having a heart attack. My mother died of heart failure at only twenty-eight years old. I assumed I was about to join her in front of the non-dairy milks and creamers.” She grimaced.
A crooked smile touched his lips. “Not today.” Then he sobered. “I’m sorry to hear about your mother.”
She waved off the comment. “It happened a long time ago. I was only ten at the time, but the reason for her passing stayed with me. I’m very careful about my exercise and diet.”
“As everyone should be, but you especially. I see here you have lupus?”
India nodded. “Complications from lupus killed my mother, and I was diagnosed in college.”
The pain started in her hands, persistent and eventually spreading to her shoulders. The first doctor she went to suggested she might have arthritis but couldn’t find any evidence of the disease. When the pains expanded to her legs, she went to see another doctor who gave her a blood test and noted the elevated markers for lupus. They referred her to a rheumatologist, who confirmed the diagnosis and started her treatments.
With subsequent research, she learned her mother hadn’t died from simple heart failure. Her mother had complained of aches and fatigue for years, and by the time she died, rashes had broken out on her skin. When India searched through her mother’s paperwork, she found the truth: her mother had suffered from lupus, which had inflamed her heart and ultimately caused her death.
Leaning a shoulder against the wall, Dr. Stone folded his arms. “How are you doing now?”
“I’m fine. I had a bad episode about five years ago where I was hospitalized for a while, but I’m better now, thank goodness. Occasionally I have a flare, but nothing extreme. It’s mostly under control.”
“You’re taking care of yourself, taking your meds?”
“Always. Like clockwork," India said.
“Good, but I do need to scold you a little bit. You should not have driven yourself to the emergency room. That was very risky.”
“I know, but I didn’t want to waste time calling 911?—”
“If you were really having a heart attack, you could have lost consciousness and caused an accident, injuring yourself and others.” He interrupted her with a gentle but firm no-nonsense tone.
“You’re right,” India said.
He arched an eyebrow. “That was surprisingly easy.”
“I’m a reasonable person,” she said with a smile.
“So next time you’ll call 911 or have someone bring you to the ER?”
“Hopefully there won’t be a next time, but I will if it happens.”
The truth was, there weren’t many people India could count on in such a situation. There was her best friend, Kiara, but she was visiting her mother out of state, and India didn’t have anyclose family in town. She couldn’t call the man she was sleeping with because of their no-strings relationship.
The doctor straightened. “Do you have any questions for me?”
India shook her head, distracted by her sobering thoughts. All she had going for her was work. How sad. She’d turned into her mother without realizing it. At least her mother had her, a child. India had no one.
“Since you narrowly escaped death, I suggest celebrating with a non-acidic meal.”
“I will,” she promised, thinking about her abandoned cart at Whole Foods. She needed to finish shopping. One of their frozen family meals typically fed her for a few days.
“I know some great places if you ever want a recommendation, or company while you eat.”
His words snapped India out of her ruminations. She was about to ask if he was hitting on her when he extended a white business card.
