Read Online A Matter of Heart by Amy Fellner Dominy - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Amy Fellner Dominy
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concentrate. The air in here is musty. There are no windows, either. Why? So you can’t jump when you get bad news?
I should be swimming right now. The back of my neck feels itchy just thinking about it. I know it’s only been two days, and Coach is beginning to taper down the workouts anyway. But I still have this stupid fear that everyone else is getting fast while I’m getting slow. After I’m done here, I’ll ask Connor to meet me at Lifeline for a swim. A swim will make everything right.
After Mom finishes the paperwork, a lady wearing a cranberry smock leads us down a hall to one of the rooms.
I sit on an examining table just like at Laney’s office. Only this room has a cart next to the bed with a monitor attached to some kind of machine.
The assistant’s name is Maggie, and she does all the same stuff they did to me at Laney’s: takes my medical history, blood pressure, temperature, pulse rate. Then she hands me a pink folded-up thing. “If you could put that on, please.”
“What is it?” I ask.
“A dressing gown. It opens in the front.”
Dad clears his throat. “Maybe I ought to wait outside.”
I crumple the material as I realize why his cheeks are suddenly pink.
Mom squeezes his hand. “I’ll come get you as soon as we’re done.”
I put on the gown, and it doesn’t take long for Maggie to attach the electrical leads to me. They’re flat sticky bits of tape that are held by clips and attached by wire to the machine. I expected a few—not ten. They’re on my chest, my arms, and my ankles.
“Just relax,” she says.
As if. I’m afraid to move so the lines don’t shift around. Also, the gown is barely hanging to the curve of my right boob and I don’t want it to slip and leave my nipple to the wind. Even worse, I have a nagging itch on the inside of my left ankle.
“Mom,” I say. “Scratch for me.”
She finds the spot and digs in with the tips of her short nails the way I like. In the meantime, I can see a line stretching across the computer monitor, spiking with every heartbeat. It’s just like
Grey’s Anatomy
. The screen looks like it’s full of pointy witch hats. Good thing Jen isn’t here. She’d get new ideas for Halloween.
A few minutes later, a printer starts up. “You can get dressed now,” Maggie says as she takes a sheet off the printer. “The doctor will be in shortly.”
I finish dressing and Dad comes back in. Nineteen minutes later we’re waiting so quietly I can hear a rustle on the other side of the door. My chart being lifted. A quick knock follows and then he comes in.
“Hello,” he says. “I’m Dr. Danvers. And you must be the Lipmans.”
Dr. Danvers is a good-looking guy about twenty years pasthot. Dr. McDreamy for the parental crowd. His black hair is shot through with gray, but he has really nice blue eyes and an easy smile, and he even has a little beard-stubble thing going on.
He works his way from Dad to Mom and then gets to me. He shakes my hand. I can see that he’d be a good doctor to have if you needed one. Which I don’t. I just need him to give the okay so I can get back in the pool.
“Laney told me you’re a star swimmer,” he says.
“Just broke a school record in the hundred free this past weekend,” Dad says.
“Really?” His brows rise along with the edges of his smile. “And you’re how old?”
“Sixteen,” I say.
“Just turned sixteen in September,” Dad adds.
“She’s never had any heart issues,” Mom says. “She passes a physical every year in perfect condition.”
He nods and pulls out his stethoscope. “Mind if I have a listen?”
He listens to me lying down and then standing up. “Breathe normally,” he says, which I’m getting really tired of hearing. When he finishes, he wraps the stethoscope around his neck. “I’d like to do one more test.”
“What?” Dad blurts as Mom makes a noise like a dying bird.
“The EKG shows the heart muscle is a little thickened, but I can’t
I should be swimming right now. The back of my neck feels itchy just thinking about it. I know it’s only been two days, and Coach is beginning to taper down the workouts anyway. But I still have this stupid fear that everyone else is getting fast while I’m getting slow. After I’m done here, I’ll ask Connor to meet me at Lifeline for a swim. A swim will make everything right.
After Mom finishes the paperwork, a lady wearing a cranberry smock leads us down a hall to one of the rooms.
I sit on an examining table just like at Laney’s office. Only this room has a cart next to the bed with a monitor attached to some kind of machine.
The assistant’s name is Maggie, and she does all the same stuff they did to me at Laney’s: takes my medical history, blood pressure, temperature, pulse rate. Then she hands me a pink folded-up thing. “If you could put that on, please.”
“What is it?” I ask.
“A dressing gown. It opens in the front.”
Dad clears his throat. “Maybe I ought to wait outside.”
I crumple the material as I realize why his cheeks are suddenly pink.
Mom squeezes his hand. “I’ll come get you as soon as we’re done.”
I put on the gown, and it doesn’t take long for Maggie to attach the electrical leads to me. They’re flat sticky bits of tape that are held by clips and attached by wire to the machine. I expected a few—not ten. They’re on my chest, my arms, and my ankles.
“Just relax,” she says.
As if. I’m afraid to move so the lines don’t shift around. Also, the gown is barely hanging to the curve of my right boob and I don’t want it to slip and leave my nipple to the wind. Even worse, I have a nagging itch on the inside of my left ankle.
“Mom,” I say. “Scratch for me.”
She finds the spot and digs in with the tips of her short nails the way I like. In the meantime, I can see a line stretching across the computer monitor, spiking with every heartbeat. It’s just like
Grey’s Anatomy
. The screen looks like it’s full of pointy witch hats. Good thing Jen isn’t here. She’d get new ideas for Halloween.
A few minutes later, a printer starts up. “You can get dressed now,” Maggie says as she takes a sheet off the printer. “The doctor will be in shortly.”
I finish dressing and Dad comes back in. Nineteen minutes later we’re waiting so quietly I can hear a rustle on the other side of the door. My chart being lifted. A quick knock follows and then he comes in.
“Hello,” he says. “I’m Dr. Danvers. And you must be the Lipmans.”
Dr. Danvers is a good-looking guy about twenty years pasthot. Dr. McDreamy for the parental crowd. His black hair is shot through with gray, but he has really nice blue eyes and an easy smile, and he even has a little beard-stubble thing going on.
He works his way from Dad to Mom and then gets to me. He shakes my hand. I can see that he’d be a good doctor to have if you needed one. Which I don’t. I just need him to give the okay so I can get back in the pool.
“Laney told me you’re a star swimmer,” he says.
“Just broke a school record in the hundred free this past weekend,” Dad says.
“Really?” His brows rise along with the edges of his smile. “And you’re how old?”
“Sixteen,” I say.
“Just turned sixteen in September,” Dad adds.
“She’s never had any heart issues,” Mom says. “She passes a physical every year in perfect condition.”
He nods and pulls out his stethoscope. “Mind if I have a listen?”
He listens to me lying down and then standing up. “Breathe normally,” he says, which I’m getting really tired of hearing. When he finishes, he wraps the stethoscope around his neck. “I’d like to do one more test.”
“What?” Dad blurts as Mom makes a noise like a dying bird.
“The EKG shows the heart muscle is a little thickened, but I can’t
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