Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
The doctor came in, followed by a nurse. Grayson tossed his phone onto the chair where he had left his shirt. He hated looking at his chest. The scar wasn’t as gnarly as it had been, but it was still red in spots and sometimes itched like a bitch. Reid had bought him a cream to put on it, which seemed to work. Except she made him apply the cream instead of doing it herself. He didn’t like that.
“Hello, Grayson. How are we feeling?” Dr. Wynn stood at the computer cart and clicked the mouse what felt like a million times. Grayson almost leaned over so the doctor would look at him but thought better of it. While he asked questions, his nurse took Grayson’s temperature, checked his pulse and blood pressure, and asked him to stand on the scale. She relayed the numbers to the cardiologist.
“Good.”
“How’s the pain?”
Grayson shrugged. “Meh. Comes and goes. It’s more like a shock or stabbing.”
“That’s going to be normal. How are the ribs?”
“They’re good, I think. It’s not like I do anything physical.”
“What are you doing for exercise?”
“A lot of walking,” Grayson told him. Between his mom and Reid, all they did was walk.
“Are you getting outside and enjoying the weather?”
Grayson nodded, even though the doctor wasn’t looking at him. He also didn’t seem to care, because he didn’t ask him to repeat his answer. He came over and smiled at Grayson.
“Scar looks like it’s healing nicely.”
“Thanks. Reid gave me some cream she found. Seems to do the trick.”
Dr. Wynn set his stethoscope to Grayson’s chest. “Let’s have a listen.”
For the first two months after Grayson had received his new heart, he’d had to come to the doctor’s every week for a biopsy to make sure his body wasn’t rejecting his new heart. Knowing his body could quit his heart at any time had put the fear of God into him. He was determined to do right by the gift he’d been given. Even though he hated his new healthy eating, Reid had joined him on the change, and they ate dinner together every night. Grayson liked that it wasn’t just him eating the bland diet; they were doing it as a couple . . . well, a soon-to-be couple, if he had anything to say about it.
Dr. Wynn smiled as he moved the stethoscope around. “I love what I’m hearing.”
“Thanks.”
“Everything sounds as it should, but we’re still going to follow up with an x-ray. I don’t want to take any chances.”
“Me neither, Doc.”
Dr. Wynn sat down on his medical stool. “Any questions for me?”
Grayson nodded. “I’m curious about sex.”
“Ah yes. Probably the most common question I get, and rarely covered during discharge. Generally speaking, twelve weeks is the standard, as long as you feel up to it. If you’re not experiencing shortness of breath or fatigue, I’d say you’re probably okay to engage in sexual activity.”
For a moment, Grayson thought about asking his doctor if he could write that down, but then figured there was no point, at least not yet. He couldn’t even get Reid to sit next to him on the couch like she used to—she was probably afraid she’d hurt him or something. Tonight, that would change. The old Grayson would emerge, the playful, fun-loving one Reid was used to.
And he’d tell her he was interested in her.
Somehow.
After he left, he went down to the lab to have his blood drawn, which he was tired of, and then went to radiology to have the x-rays done. Then, finished with his appointments, he texted his mom for a ride home and counted down the days to when he wouldn’t need a babysitter. They’d given him the okay to do things on his own at six weeks, but his mother had insisted, and he didn’t have the heart to tell her no.
Grayson sat outside on the bench and people-watched. Summer was in full bloom, and by the looks of things, it was surely going to be an amazing one. With a new lease on life, Grayson planned to embrace everything he could. Picnics in the park, romantic strolls, and anything else with Reid were at the top of his list.
When she came into view, he smiled. “What are you doing here?”
“Your mom had some errands to run, and it’s too nice to be at work.”
For the first six weeks after his surgery, she’d been there every night with him. Reid had told Sydney it was easier for her to stay at Grayson’s, since they lived in the same building, and besides, Sydney hadn’t slept in her own bed in a long time.
When Grayson found out his mom had spent every night in his hospital room, he’d had mixed emotions. He loved his mother more than life itself, and he knew she would do anything for him and him her, but he hated knowing she’d slept on a cot or in an uncomfortable chair because of him. As soon as he was able, he’d asked Reid to buy his mom a weeklong getaway for her and Gilbert—a gift they hadn’t yet taken advantage of.