Read Online Invisible by Ginny L. Yttrup - Free Book Online

want me on your side. Si ?”
    â€œ Si .” I laughed, and then bent and dropped a kiss on Rosa’s cheek. “I definitely want you on my side.” She’d swatted at my arm and giggled. “You go. Go home, Mr. Doctor.”
    I smile now as I pull into the long, paved drive leading to the house. I reach for the remote on the center console and punch a button. The garage door rises and the lights in the house come on. I knew there would be nights when I’d be at the hospital and Sarah would be coming home from somewhere alone. I never wanted her to walk into a dark house.
    When I enter the house, I hear chatter from the television in the great room. I set the TV to come on with the lights after Sarah was gone. I don’t like walking into a silent house. But tonight, I go straight to the great room and turn the TV off. Then I head to the large kitchen and fill a mug with boiling water from the instant hot spigot on the kitchen sink, and take a tea bag from a canister on the granite kitchen countertop. I drop the bag into the water and watch it steep.
    Nerissa’s comment tonight, after Twila had gone into their house, passes through my mind: “I think Sarah would approve of you getting to know Ellyn.”
    I didn’t tell Nerissa that I knew she was right, Sarah would approve—had given her approval, in fact.
    Exploring a friendship with Ellyn is all I’m ready for. I chuckle as I take the tea bag out of my mug. “Then why’d you feel like a junior higher when you asked her out for a cup of coffee, ol’ boy?”
    I take my tea to my study and sit in the brown leather chair in the corner of the wood-paneled room. I put my feet up on the ottoman and then slurp the hot tea—a nighttime habit I picked up from Sarah.
    The tea, not the slurping.
    Now, in the still of the room, I consider the topic that’s bothered me for awhile.
    Ellyn’s weight.
    The issue isn’t her looks. She’s a beautiful woman. Period. My concern isn’t whether or not I could find her attractive. Truth be told, I already do. Have since I first met her in my office. Of course, it wasn’t something I dwelled on—it just was and is a fact. She’s an attractive woman—inside and out.
    So am I hoping for more than friendship? I don’t know. The idea is still so new to me.
    In our doctor/client relationship, Ellyn and I discussed her weight. Until the last year or so, her numbers were always good. Low cholesterol, low blood pressure, and normal blood sugar levels. The only time her weight came up was when she asked about it. Did it impact the arthritis developing in her feet and back? Did it affect the recent diagnosis of fibromyalgia?
    I was honest with her—yes, her weight may exacerbate the symptoms of those diagnoses. Otherwise, her weight didn’t seem like much of an issue.
    But now . . .
    I’m not looking at her from a medical standpoint anymore. If we become friends, or more—especially if we become more—how will I handle the issue of her weight? I set the mug on a coaster on the side table next to the chair and push the ottoman out of the way.
    I get up from the chair and pace. Time to face the real question: Am I willing to risk my heart with a woman who might face potential serious health issues because of her weight?
    Your heart is Mine, Miles.
    Yes, Lord. But can I let myself care about her, if . . .
    Could I talk to her about it? Ask her to consider the future ramifications of her weight? Why hadn’t I done that as her doctor? Why hadn’t I suggested she lose weight? Maybe I could talk to Courtney, she’s her doctor now, and make certain she’s having those conversations with her.
    I sit in my desk chair and put my head in my hands. Lord, how do I handle this? I sit in silence, hoping for an answer. But nothing comes. I’ve learned enough through the years that when God is silent, it’s my cue to hold