Page 6 of Love on the Brain
“The nurse kind who handles things and who knows only a tiny minuscule percentage of symptoms lead to something like this.” He pulled her to his chest. She laid her cheek against his soft sweater and found comfort in the warmth of his body radiating through it. “You’ve got to trust God’s timing, Jane, and His rate of revelation. There’s a reason this is happening now, and we don’t have to understand it or agree with it. We just have totrustit.”
Jane blew out an exasperated breath. “Well, the enemy sure is doing all he can to break down that trust.”
“The enemy has no power over you.” Ryan’s firm reminder was emphasized with a squeeze, and then he stepped back.
She shivered, suddenly cold without his warmth. “I’m trying.” She swallowed, pushing back the lump that ultimately led to tears. “I really am.”
“I know.” Ryan slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Remember what we used to do to distract ourselves when we needed to clear our heads?”
She smiled in spite of herself. “Watch cheesy rom-coms. We can’t do that right now.”
His mouth turned up in a lopsided smile. “No, but wecanlament about what went wrong and how we’d rewrite the parts that don’t make sense.”
“Hmm…” Jane’s gaze traveled down the empty hallway to the door leading to the ORs. It probably wasn’t a good idea to storm in and demand answers. But… “It’s been so long since I’ve watched a rom-com, Ryan.”
“No worries. I’ve watched all the new ones, and all I can say is, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”
Jane frowned. How did she tell him she’d given up watching or reading anything with a romance plot or subplot since Casey died?
“I can see you’re not convinced,” Ryan said. “So let’s start with a classic, and tonight when Noah falls asleep, we can pull one up on Netflix.”
When Noah falls asleep? How late did Ryan plan to stay?
She unfolded and refolded her arms. “Okay.”
“Can’t Buy Me Love.Putting hope in the hearts of geeks since 1987.” Ryan flashed his trademark grin, and Jane couldn’t help but return it.
Jane laughed. “This I want to hear. What do you know about geeks, Mr. Captain of the Baseball Team?”
He snorted and flexed a bicep. “I didn’t start out this buff, you know. If I’d had a thousand dollars, I may have considered fake-dating a cheerleader.”
Jane laughed. “I’ve seen pictures. You were adorable, even when you were a lanky JV’er. And everyone loved you.”
He frowned. “Yeah, but not for the reasons a high school guy wants. When your dad’s the pastor of the church, the girls don’t want to date you.”
They fell into silence, ignoring the elephant in the room that was his ex-wife. Jane knew the story well. He’d been encouraged to date Sonoma “Sunny” Sheridan, a daughter of his father’s colleague from a church across Austin. She’d attended a different high school, and from the way Casey told it, she elevated Ryan’s popularity every time she attended one of their school’s events.
A loud beep followed by a low hum signaled the automatic door opening. Jane spun on her heel and reached for the wall to steady herself. Alec Huntley, the lead surgeon, looked tired, and his mouth was set in a grim line.
“No,” Jane whispered. Her knees wobbled, and Ryan was at her side, arm around her shoulders, holding her steady.
“He’s okay,” Dr. Huntley assured her as he closed the distance between them. “For now.” He rubbed his eyes and looked at Ryan. “I’ve never seen anything like it. The tumor is wrapped around the carotid artery in such a way that we couldn’t find a location to pull enough of a sample without causing potential irreversible harm. We didn’t get the biopsy.”
“Oooooh…” Jane’s hand flew to her mouth and forced back the bile that shot up from her gut. Her thoughts jumbled as she struggled to remain standing and keep her breakfast down, but it was no use. She doubled over and darted to the nearest potted plant.
* * *
Ryan easedJane to the floor as she wiped her mouth with the hem of her shirt. Struggling to keep his anger in check, he kept a protective arm around her and set a hard gaze on the surgeon.
What did Dr. Huntley mean, he couldn’t get enough of a sample? That was hisjob.Failure wasn’t an option. The man had twenty years of experience on Ryan. If he couldn’t get a sample, what was his plan for next steps?
Ryan realized he should be asking these questions out loud. Seeing red, he spat out the only three words that mattered. “What went wrong?”
Dr. Huntley cleared his throat. “The tumor, all of it, needs to be removed. The good news is that it’s been slow-growing, so there’s time. We’ll set him up with an oncologist in the meantime.”
“But—” Jane sputtered. “His bloodwork came back free of cancer markers.”
The distressed confusion in Jane’s voice and in her expression ignited something primal in Ryan.
