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climbing. Lost partial feeling in his face when his jaw broke. He’s tough and practical.”
    “I’ve heard of him. Eric, right?”
    She nodded.
    “He has a good rep. I think I’ve met him at a few fundraisers. I wish you would have told me earlier. I would have gone with you today, Lucy.” Anger rose up, catching him by surprise. “You don’t have to do this alone, dammit! Besides, doctors go the extra mile for other doctors’ friends and families.” Not that it had saved Kim in the end, but the additional care had mattered to him.
    She was quiet for a minute. “That’s the other reason I didn’t want to tell you, Andy. You don’t have to save me. In fact, you can’t. I’m not saying this to hurt you, but it has to be said. I’m not Kim.”
    Something popped in his chest, like her words had physically cracked his ribs. “I know…you aren’t.”
    She rubbed her thumb over his hand. “But I know you and all your superhero healing ways. I know you feel like you failed Kim as a doctor for not detecting her breast cancer sooner. I won’t let you be hurt if my right eye doesn’t return to normal. It won’t be anyone’s fault.”
    “I don’t see you as a second chance!” He had to press his lips together to keep the angry words from spurting out. “First of all, you’re my friend, and that’s what friends do. Second, I’m a doctor. Even if it’s not my specialty, I can use my contacts to help. I can do some research, ask around. Don’t deny me the opportunity to support you.”
    Turning, she settled back against the bench and crossed her feet again. “I didn’t mean to make you angry. I’m not great…at accepting help sometimes.”
    No shit, he wanted to say. “Good thing I know that about you.” He let go of one of her hands to nudge her shoulder, but then he stilled, horrified. “That didn’t hurt you, did it?”
    She barked out a harsh laugh. “Not really. It only made my kidneys twitch.”
    Was she kidding? “Let me see your kidneys,” he ordered.
    “You can’t, moron,” she said in an aggrieved tone. “They’re internal organs, remember?”
    “I know that.” He let go of her other hand and reached for her shirt. “Are you sure your doctors said you only need an ophthalmologist? Everything should be looked at.”
    “Let me rephrase. My team of doctors agreed the only doctor I need to see is an ophthalmologist who specializes in eye trauma, and that’s Dr. Davidson. And I am not showing you my kidneys. I was only kidding anyway. I had a few wounds and a little gash on my back, but they’re healing nicely.”
    He wasn’t so sure he bought it. “Don’t make me pull out my Dr. Hardcase with you, Luce,” he said in a hard tone. “I mean business.”
    “Don’t make me call for a police officer and get your ass thrown in jail.”
    “I want to see your back,” he ground out.
    She stood. “No. It will only make me uncomfortable. All you need to know is the stitches are out and everything’s progressing normally—to use one of your doctor terms.”
    He stared her down, but she didn’t budge. “If something changes—” he started.
    “I’ll take care of it,” she assured him. “Andy, I need you to promise not to tell anyone about this.”
    Somehow he hadn’t seen that coming, although he should have known better. “Dammit, Lucy, your parents deserve to know what happened. They love you! Don’t keep something like this from them.”
    “It’s my decision,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “I’ll tell them if and when I feel it’s right. I don’t want them to lose any sleep trying to fix something that can’t be changed. Besides, I don’t want them playing on the fears I already have about going back overseas.”
    Standing, he gazed across the park. Decades ago, they used to swing together here. Back then, the worst thing she had to worry about was her braids being pulled by Jason the bully. Times had changed so much, and they kept right on