the glass for her. “This is ibuprofen.”
Both of her arms shook a little as she pushed her weight up off the couch and then took the glass and pills from me. “I don’t know what’s happened to me. I felt fine when we went to bed.”
A frown pulled on my lips as the thought crossed my mind that somehow I made her sick by throwing her in the water earlier today. My fingers raked through my hair.
“Don’t do that,” she said.
I stopped and tilted my head. “What?”
She swallowed the pills and chased it down with a gulp of water. “Blame yourself for this. I’m sick. It happens. I’m sure the virus was in my system long before you tried to drown me today.”
Her mind reading ability was uncanny. Sometimes it was easy to forget she knew me just as well as I knew her. “I’m calling a doctor in town first thing in the morning.”
Lane closed her eyes and shook her head. “No. I don’t want to go anywhere. Just let me sleep this off.”
“You won’t have to go anywhere. I’ll have him come here.”
Her fingers trembled as she rubbed her forehead. “Doctors don’t make house calls anymore, Noel.”
The look on her face told me she was in pain. Quickly, I readjusted the pillows. “Lay back down. You don’t look so good.”
Once I had her in a comfortable position, I went to the hall closet and grabbed another blanket for myself. I dimmed the lights from the stairway, and then made my way over to the over-sized recliner next to the couch.
“What are you doing?” she asked as I plopped down and then kicked my feet out.
“Getting comfortable, so I can try to get some sleep.”
“You don’t have to suffer along with me.”
I raised an eyebrow at her ridiculous statement. “Where you go, I go. If you are in misery, then I’m going to be there to help you. Now, get some rest.”
****
Lane wasn’t any better in the morning, so I called the local physician’s office and rolled my eyes when I heard one of the women in the office actually squeal when the receptionist told her who was on the phone. The squealer got on the phone and asked how she could help me. She had that nervous little giggle in her voice that some women get when they talk to me. I tried to be as polite as possible without getting annoyed.
“Well, Ma’am—”
“Tammy,” she corrected while cutting me off with another giggle.
I sighed. “Tammy, my girlfriend is sick and I need Dr. Malone to come to my place and see her.”
“Oh, my goodness, I’m sorry Mr. Falcon, but Dr. Malone doesn’t do home visits. Can’t you just bring her in?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Can you please just check with him? When I moved here, the mayor told me because of my…status he would have Dr. Malone make an exception for me.”
“I don’t know who—”
This chick was going to be tough to crack. A little charm might go a long way with this one. “Tammy, sweetheart, I know you’re just doing your job, but it would be a huge favor to me personally if you could just check with him or even let me speak with him. I will pay him cash. Please?”
There was silence for a moment, but then she said, “All right. Let me put you on hold.”
I did a fist pump. Being a celebrity sometimes had its perks. “Thank you.”
Tammy returned to the line and asked, “What’s the address? He can come out during his lunch hour.”
I rattled off my address and thanked her profusely before I hung up. For a fleeting second it crossed my mind that all the women in that office now had my personal information, and I hoped they didn’t plan a visit themselves.
Back in the living room, Lane’s face was pale, and dark circles had formed under her eyes as she watched television.
“Hey,” I greeted her as I sat down next to her. “How you feeling?”
“Lousy.” She attempted to scoot away from me, but I grabbed her around the waist and slid her back to me. “What are you doing? I can’t get you sick.”
“I