After a fitful night of sleep, Aurelia got up and went to work. She had an appointment with Daniel at lunch and she grabbed two turkey wraps and brought them with her to his office.
"Dr. West will see you now, Ms. Carson." Helen gestured for her to follow her back to the exam room.
"Thank you." Aurelia sat down and put her purse and the bag of food on the chair next to her.
"He'll be just a moment."
Nodding, Aurelia smiled at her. She didn't have to wait long for Daniel to join her.
"Ms. Carson, how are you doing today?" he asked, but while his words were professional, the smirk he was giving her was anything but.
"I'm doing well, Dr. West. I've been following all of your directions—"
He shut the door and winked at her. "So, let's get a listen to your heart," he continued in a fairly loud voice.
"I brought you a turkey wrap," Aurelia said softly as he lifted his stethoscope. "Got time to eat with me?" She made sure to keep her voice to a whisper so anyone in the hall outside the door wouldn't hear her.
His grin widened. "I think I want to run some tests. Let me ask Helen for the EKG, just give me a moment." He opened the door and said, "Oh, Helen, great, you're right here. Can you get me the EKG machine? I want to see how Ms. Carson's heart is doing and compare it to two weeks ago."
"Of course, Dr. West."
"Dr. West? Is this test going to take long? I'm on my lunch break and I can't be gone too long," Aurelia asked.
"Ten minutes, tops. Don't worry, I'll make sure you're out of here with plenty of time to get back to work." He winked at her again. "Thank you, Helen. Why don't you and Josie go on to lunch? Ms. Carson is my last patient until two." He rolled the machine into the room.
"Are you sure?" Helen asked, eyeing Aurelia suspiciously.
"Ms. Carson is hardly going to rob me, Helen. I'll be fine."
She nodded. "Alright, I'll just get the electrodes on her, then Josie and I will go."
"I'll step out while you get them in place." Daniel gave Aurelia another wink and slipped out to the hall.
Helen stepped over to Aurelia and put the sticky pads with the wires attached into place on Aurelia's chest. "Can you take them off, once the test is over or do you need me to stay?" she asked.
"I don't mind doing it so you can go eat, Helen. I don't want to take up your lunch hour as well as mine. I'm going to have to eat on the bus on the way back to the office."
"Ugh the bus, I don't envy you."
"It's not so bad." Aurelia laughed.
"Alright you're all set. Doctor, do you want me and Josie to pick you up some lunch?"
"No, thanks Helen, I've got a turkey wrap waiting for me."
"Okay, we'll see you in an hour then."
Daniel closed the door and repositioned the machine. "This will just take a moment for me to get ready."
Aurelia pulled the two wraps from the bag and handed him one after he'd plugged in the machine. "Can I eat while you do this test?"
"No, you'll have to be still, but I won't run it for too long. Just waiting for them to leave," he murmured. "Now just sit still while this runs."
Aurelia blushed as his eyes roved over her.
They both heard the outer doors close, and he poked his head out of the exam room to check and make sure they had actually left.
"We'll give it another minute. That should be enough for me to compare to your first EKG to see where we're at."
Aurelia nodded. After the minute passed, he lifted the printout and looked at it, then looked at her previous one. "So how does it look? Am I going to live?" she joked.
Daniel turned off the machine and grinned over his shoulder at her. "Actually, it looks really good. You're making great progress."
"Well, it's all due to you," Aurelia commented.
"No, it's really not. It's due to you living a healthier life. You made the choices that are improving your heart health, not me." He smiled. "Now, let's eat these turkey wraps before my staff comes back, and then get you back to your office."
They shared their meal and then Aurelia slipped out of the office and out to the bus stop before Helen and Josie returned. She'd worried about running into them without the bag of food, so she'd made sure to carry it with her out of the building and onto the bus. Only she and Daniel knew that it was now filled with their trash rather than turkey wraps.
The rest of the week was a blur, and Friday afternoon couldn't get there soon enough for Aurelia. She had been looking forward to this for a week. After playing with Bella in the yard for thirty minutes, and giving her a couple of treats, she took a shower. She blew dried her hair and then fluffed it. She really liked the pixie cut she'd gotten when she'd first moved here, it suited her well and made her green eyes look brighter. She put on a little make-up, mascara, some face powder, and some lip gloss. She never wore much. Then she slipped on the cute sundress she'd bought from one of the boutiques near Daniel's office. She'd seen it in the window and decided to splurge on it. It was red with white flowers and fit her curves perfectly. She added a pair of black kitten heels and declared herself ready.