Page 38 of The Light to My Darkness (The Light to My Darkness 1)

"You've met my brother, right? He comes up to about here," he said and put his hand against his nose. "The one with no filter and the overtly sexual phrases?"

I shook my head and laughed again. "I'm still having trouble picturing him in a suit and tie all day. But I kind of just assumed he'd tone it down at work."

"I think the board secretly loves him. Besides, our client list is growing faster than ever. Everyone finds him super relatable, I guess."

"He's probably talking mostly to guys then."

"Or flirting with the ladies."

I lightly slapped James' arm. "Is that what you did? You grew your companies by schmoozing rich women?"

"A guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do."

I rolled my eyes. "Fortunately for both of us, you're out of the game."

"Speaking of that, I may need to go to London for a few days. There's a deal that we really need to land. Rob's been flitting around with it for months. So I think it's best if I handle this one in person."

"When do you have to go?"

"Right after the wedding."

"Oh." I wasn't sure why, but I felt disappointed. Weddings were so romantic. I was hoping to spend a few days after the wedding with my head in the clouds. It was hard to do that when he was gone. I hated when he traveled. Scarlett did too. She always cried when he didn't tuck her into bed.

"It's just for a couple of days." He kissed my temple again.

The good I could draw from this was that James must not be too worried about my appointment today. If he was seriously concerned, he wouldn't be flying across the ocean in a few days. I took another slow, deep breath. That was good news.

The car pulled to a stop outside the high rise where my doctor's office was located. A minute later, William was helping me out of the car. Stay calm. This would all be over in about an hour.

***

"Okay, good news and bad news. What'll it be first?" Dr. Wells said as he scooted a chair over to me. His gray hair gave him a distinguished look. He had been doing this for over thirty years.

I bit the inside of my lip. I was going to believe whatever he was about to say. And I was terrified about what the bad news was.

James squeezed my hand.

"Let's just rip the Band-Aid off," I said.

"That's the spirit." Dr. Wells adjusted his glasses and looked down at his clipboard. "Your leak has progressed ever so slightly. Unnoticeable if it weren't for the echocardiogram. Despite your concerns, James, I truly believe that your OB-GYN wouldn't have been able to detect it

with just a stethoscope."

"But shouldn't he have at least been a tiny bit alarmed?" James said. "Penny was having chest pains and he completely dismissed the possibility that something was actually wrong."

Dr. Wells nodded. "I understand. Us doctors all like to think we're right." He winked at me. "It is unusual to feel pain due to a murmur. It could have been a wide variety of things causing it. Your OB-GYN specializes in deliveries. I'm sure he's highly qualified in his profession."

I didn't care about Dr. Nelson right now and whether he was a good doctor. I wasn't even sure why we were discussing him. Dr. Wells had just said my leak had progressed and I really had no idea what that meant. "What do you mean that it progressed?"

Dr. Wells settled the notebook in his lap. "It's just a small amount, Penny. I'd probably classify the murmur as moderate to severe now. Somewhere in between the two classifications."

"That's bad, right?" Just talking about this made my chest hurt again.

"No, not necessarily. This baby is putting extra stress on your heart right now. I have every reason to believe the murmur will go back to being moderate after the birth."

"Before you said that it might go back to being mild after the delivery," James said.

Dr. Wells nodded and adjusted his glasses again. "This is something we're going to have to continue to monitor. But usually murmurs of this severity don't just disappear on their own. As long as you're not experiencing shortness of breath or any swelling in your legs and feet, your heart is working perfectly fine."

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