Page 63 of This Is Love (The Light to My Darkness 3)

I took a deep breath. “That does sound nice. Maybe we can plan a vacation soon.”

“Sooner rather than later.” She rested her head on my shoulder. “What am I going to do with you?”

I ran my hand up and down her back. “I’ll try harder to relax.”

“Having to try hard to relax sounds unrelaxing.”

I took a deep breath, concentrating on going slowly. “I don’t know…maybe I’ll take up meditation.”

“And yoga.”

“And yoga? Now you’re just being greedy, woman.”

She laughed. “We can do it together. I’ve always thought you’d look amazing in a pair of spandex shorts.”

“Naked yoga sounds more appealing to me.”

She laughed again, and I realized that was the sound that relaxed me the most. Of anything in the world, her laughter calmed me best. I took a slower breath this time. “Your laughter relaxes me.”

She immediately sat up straighter and stared at me. “I’ve been stressed out. All of this…” she shook her head. “I was so focused on myself and being scared of you and what we had. I made all of this worse. And even before the accident I wasn’t really myself. I was worried about the baby and my heart. I was so consumed with my own thoughts and fears that I didn’t realize the effect that my reactions had on you…”

“That wasn’t what I was saying.” I squeezed her hand. “I just meant that I love seeing you smile and laugh. I want to hear your laughter more often from here on out, that’s all. This has been stressful for everyone. It’s no one's fault. Well, I guess technically it is. And Dr. Nelson is going to pay for his crimes. But it’s certainly not your fault.”

“I could have made it easier.”

“You didn’t know who I was. Penny.” I grabbed the bottom of her chin and tilted her head toward mine. “Beating yourself up about what happened is the last thing in the world I want. I just want us to go back to the way things were. When we were both so happy that it seemed like we were in this impenetrable bubble.”

Dr. Young cleared his throat from behind us.

Penny’s chin dropped from my hand when she pulled away from me.

“I have all the records right here!” the doctor said. “Sorry it took me so long. All the nurses here are very unresponsive to doctors’ requests.”

I didn’t have the heart

to tell him it was because no one in their right mind would believe he was a doctor.

“And faxing is one of the greatest inventions of all time, but I do wish there was something a little faster, don’t you?”

I just stared at him. Had he never heard of the internet?

“So let’s see…Penny, Penny, Penny.” He flipped through the pages in the file. “Your heart isn’t of concern at all. There is just a teensy tiny murmur.” He walked back and forth while he looked at the pages. “One of your valve leaks, and it may have been slightly worse when you were pregnant, but it should be back to normal now. Let’s have a look-see.” He pulled out his stethoscope and pressed it against her chest. “Take a deep breath for me.”

Penny followed his instructions.

“Your wife knows how to breathe properly,” he said and stuffed his stethoscope back in his pocket. “I could barely even hear the tiny little squeak the murmur makes. This is nothing to worry about, James.”

“See,” Penny said with a smile. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

“There are tons of people out there that have the same size murmur and will never know. You need a special ear to hear the squeak.” He pointed to his own ear. “I hear squeaks all the time. Even in my sleep. But I have mice in my house.” He laughed at his own joke. “But people with this size murmur don’t have to worry what-so-ever. It’s a nothing cardiovascular problem. It’s what we in the biz call a nada cardio issue. I mean, you even went through a major surgery and nothing happened with your heart.” He glanced down at the pages. “A bilateral oophorectomy. It’s been a while since I’ve been in medical school, but unilateral definitely means one. Bilateral would be two. So…” he shook his head back and forth as he thought. “You had both ovaries and both fallopian tubes removed.”

I had wanted to get a second opinion on her bilateral oophorectomy. She had only heard it from some random doctor that didn’t know her records. How could he possibly know without opening her up? I kept thinking that to myself over and over. But here it was. Dr. Young had her records and he was confirming it.

“And I’m fine,” Penny said. “See…there’s nothing to worry about, James.”

We locked eyes for just a moment. And I knew she had been holding out hope too. That maybe, just maybe that other doctor had been wrong.

“Maybe James’ heart will beat a little slower if you’re not in the room, Penny. Nothing like a young wife to get the mister’s heart racing.”

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