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.It wouldn t do to dwellon things she couldn t change.Within forty-five minutes, she was on her way to the office.Her cell phone rang and she put on her headset. Hello? You were supposed to call me after your appointmentyesterday.Good thing I wasn t holding my breath. Good morning to you, too, Tish. Well, what did the doctor say? I was worried about you. I m sorry.Danica showed up to go to the doctor with me, andI guess I got distracted. I shouldn t let you off the hook, but I suppose that s areasonable excuse. Gee, thanks. Chase honked at a car that was driftingdangerously close to her lane. So Danica showed up, huh? How cool is that?Chase smiled broadly. Very cool, indeed.156Heartsong I thought you told me she was off making appearances orsomething. She was.She rearranged her schedule to be here in time forthe appointment yesterday morning, and she stayed until thismorning, even though she has to give a speech in Vegas thisafternoon. She s a keeper, eh? She s very, very special. You really love her? More than I can say. I m glad, Chase.Now tell me what the doctor said before Icome through the phone and wring your neck.Chase stopped for a red light. He sent me for an MRI rightfrom his office. Why? Tisha s voice rose in alarm. I had a weird episode in his office and he didn t like what hesaw. What kind of episode ? He called it aphasia. What s that?The light turned green and Chase proceeded into theintersection. It s when speech gets mixed up and you can tprocess the words being said to you or you say the wrong wordswhen you mean something else. I never noticed you doing that. It never happened before yesterday. What about that thing on the beach? Epileptic seizure. You re not epileptic. I wasn t, Chase corrected around the lump in her throat.Shepulled into the office parking lot and struggled to keep hercomposure. Chase, are you going to be okay?Because she could hear that Tisha was upset, Chase squashedthe urge to cut her off. Sure I am, she said as brightly as she could. You wouldn t lie to me, would you? Why Tisha, I m appalled. Chase put the window down so shecould get some air and turned the car off.157Lynn Ames I note that you didn t answer the question, but I ll let it passfor now.When do you get the results? I m not sure.Today or tomorrow, I think. What can I do?Chase was touched by Tisha s concern. You re a good friend,you know that? Yep.Now what can I do for you? Nothing, thanks. Danica s in Vegas? She s on her way there even as we speak. When s she coming back? She s planning on taking the first available flight after herspeech, which means tomorrow morning.She should be herearound dinnertime tomorrow night. Where s she going after that, and when? We didn t get that far, Tish.Why all the questions? I just want to make sure you re not alone, that s all. I m fine.Honest. Will you call me as soon as you know anything, please?Chase remained silent. Promise me? I can t promise you that or I ll get in trouble again. Chase, I m serious. So am I, Tish. Chase closed the window, opened the door,picked up her briefcase, and got out of the car. I have to go.I mat the office. Will you at least give me Danica s phone number? Why? Chase juggled her keys and the briefcase as sheopened the building s front door. In case I don t hear from you.Chase s anger flared at the implication that she couldn t betrusted to speak for herself.She had no intention of giving TishaDanica s phone number, but she wasn t in the mood for anargument. I don t want to do that without asking her first, okay? I m not exactly a stalker, Chase, Tisha said, clearly offended. I know that.I just want to respect her privacy.Let me ask herand I ll get back to you.I ve got to go.I ll talk to you later.Bye,Tish.158HeartsongChase sat down at her desk and took a deep breath.Maybe shecould lose herself in her work.If not, it was going to be a verylong day.Danica was standing on the stage, but her mind was thousandsof miles away.She finished her presentation and went backstage. That was a great speech, Ms.Warren. Thank you. Danica tried to remember the name of the publicrelations person who d been dogging her since her arrival less thanan hour before her scheduled appearance time.The woman haddone everything but go to the bathroom with her and walk out onstage.Where normally such attention wouldn t have bothered her,at the moment all Danica wanted was a second to herself. We need to get you to Meeting Room Three for the autographsession, Ms.Warren. Yes.I appreciate that.Can you just give me a moment,please? Danica knew her tone sounded annoyed, but her nerveswere frayed to the breaking point.She clenched her teeth andcounted to three. I m sorry.I just need to check on something.Ipromise, I ll be right with you. Of course. The woman s voice shook and Danica felt a stabof guilt. Thank you. Danica fumbled in her bag for her cell phone andchecked for messages.Ted had called wanting to know how shewas doing, but there was nothing from Chase.She resisted astrong impulse to call her.You ll only make her more anxious thanshe already is.Danica looked up to see the PR person sulking a short distanceaway.Show time, Dani.Let s get this over with.She approachedthe woman and pasted on a bright smile. All set. That s great.Everyone is so anxious to get your autograph.Come right this way and I ll& Danica tuned the woman out as she made her way to the roomwhere she would spend the next hour or so greeting her public andsigning her name.She would call Chase as soon as she was done. Chase, Doctor Frankel is on the phone, Lena said, stickingher head in Chase s office.159Lynn AmesChase s stomach did a flip and she swallowed hard. Okay.Thanks. She waited for Lena to go back to her desk before shepicked up the phone.With her finger poised over the button nextto the blinking light, she inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly.Whatever it is, it s better to know than not.Chase pushed thebutton. Chase Crosley. Hi, Chase.This is Megan, the nurse in Doctor Frankel soffice. Hello. Doctor Frankel asked me to tell you that the results of yourMRI are back.He wants you to come in as soon as possible. W-what are they? I m not at liberty to say.All Doctor Frankel has authorized meto tell you is that the findings were abnormal and he wants to seeyou tomorrow, if you can make it
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