that sounds like a plan.â
âHumph!â
Charlie glanced over his shoulder and then smiled at the nurse glaring at him. âAh, Lexi.â Embarrassment heated his face. âI didnât see you standing there.â
Lexi shook her head. âYouâll never change, will you, Charlie?â
He gave her his best puppy dog expression while his smile turned sly. âCan I help flirting when this office is filled with such beautiful women?â
âSign in right here,â Tammy instructed, her lyrical voice now flat.
Determined not to let the women see him sweat, Charlie scribbled his name and handed over his insurance card before Lexi led him to a room to wait for Dr. Weiner. A playboy at heart, Charlie couldnât stop thinking about Tammyâs idea of playing nurseâespecially if she wore a tight white dress, white fishnet thigh-highs and high-heeled shoes.
Thinking about the fantasy nurse uniform gave Charlie an instant hard-on just as he was sitting down on the doctorâs table, giving Lexi a good eyeful.
âUm.â She cleared her throat. âThe doctor will be with you in a minute.â
Charlie nodded and pretended not to notice her distraction as she walked backward. When she bumped into the wall, he gave her a smile.
âOops,â he said.
Lexi jumped and glared at him again before racing out of the room.
He chuckled. Women never failed to amuse him.
Twenty minutes later, when Charlie had just decided to take a quick nap, Dr. Weiner ambled into the room with his thick, black-rimmed glasses sitting on the edge of his nose.
âAh, Dr. Weiner. Good to see you again,â Charlie greeted.
The hunch-shouldered doctor came in with a thin smile and lifted his rheumy eyes toward him. âAfternoon, Charlie.â
It was the tone that knotted Charlieâs stomach muscles or maybe it was the fact that the chilly room had suddenly grown stuffy. âWhat is it, Doc?â
Weiner drew in a deep breath and closed the chart in his hand as he pulled up a stool and sat down.
Charlie could literally hear the blood rushing through his veins. He didnât like the look of this. He tried to brace himself the best he could, but he couldnât stop being impatient for the news. âWhatever it is, just tell me. I can handle it,â he lied.
The doctor nodded gravely. âYour lab results came inâ¦â
âAndâ¦?â
âAndâ¦It doesnât look too good.â He leveled his serious gaze on Charlie. âYouâre dying.â
Charlie stiffened. âCome again?â
âI know this is coming as a surprise, but the lab resultsââ
âB-but I feel fine.â The doctorâs words hit him like an iron fist. It simply wasnât true. It wasnât possible.
Dr. Weiner frowned. âDidnât you tell me two weeks ago that youâve been exhausted lately?â
âB-but thatâs because of work. Iâve been putting in a lot of hours. Iââ Charlie swallowed. âWhatâs wrong with me?â
âIt looks like you have aplastic anemia.â
âA plastic what?â
âAplastic anemia. It means you have a low count of all three blood cells. I still need to confirm with a bone marrow testâbut with these numbers, Iâm pretty sure.â
The room roared with silence before the doctor at long last said, âIâm sorry.â
Finally finding his courage, Charlie asked, âOkay, how do we treat it?â
The doctor hesitated. âWell, thereâre a few things we can tryâall extremely risky butâ¦.â
âHow long?â Charlie asked.
âIâI canât just give a date.â
âHow long?â Charlie insisted.
Dr. Weiner glanced back down at the chart. âGiven these numbers, Iâd say five to six months, tops.â
Chapter 6
âI donât feel right leaving you here like this,â Anna complained, setting her