Second Chances in Lavender Bay (The Lavender Bay Chronicles #3)

7. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

D ebbie arrived ten minutes early on the morning of Angie’s scheduled biopsy. Angie was almost relieved, as she was ready and eager to get going. Her staff knew she wouldn’t be in that day, and she’d been bombarded with texts from everyone asking if she was all right. She sent a text to Melissa asking her to feed the cat out back. It was a cold morning, and she didn’t want him going hungry.

Debbie had a purple knit hat pulled over her hair. She looked sympathetically at her friend. “Are you nervous?”

“Not really. I just want it over with,” Angie admitted.

“All righty then, let’s get this show on the road,” Debbie said with a reassuring smile.

After grabbing her purse, house keys, and phone, Angie followed her out the door.

She opened the passenger-side door and slipped in, buckling up. She waited patiently for Debbie to go through her routine. Her friend pulled the seatbelt over three times, back and forth, counting under her breath before locking it in. Then she put her hand on the rearview mirror as if she were going to adjust it, even though it wasn’t needed as she was the only one who drove her car. She picked up her phone and set it in the well in the center console, face up. She looked in her side-view mirrors and then her rearview mirror before pressing the keyless ignition button. Debbie had a routine for everything, and she’d had a routine for driving since she got her license at sixteen. It was Angie’s father who had given Debbie lessons, as her own parents weren’t wont to.

“Did you have to take time off from work this morning?” Angie asked, worried.

Debbie, who’d excelled in math all through school and helped Angie earn a passing grade in high school geometry—to this day, Angie still didn’t get the whole proof thing—was a numbers cruncher. She loved numbers more than anything else.

“I have all that personal time saved up in my bank, so I took the day off,” Debbie told her. “While you’re getting your biopsy, I’m going to take Luna and Mr. Bubbles to the vet for their vaccinations,” she said, referring to two of her cats, both rescues.

“At least it won’t be a total waste,” Angie said.

Debbie looked over at her. “Even if I had nothing else to do today, driving you to your biopsy is not a waste of time.” She was dead serious.

“Okay.”

As they pulled up to the front doors of the medical center, Debbie asked, “Are you sure you don’t want me to come in with you?”

Angie shook her head. “No thanks, I appreciate it. Go take care of your kitties.”

“I’ll give you a full report later.”

Angie laughed and said, “I know you will.”

As she stepped out of the car, she said, “I’ll text you when I’m ready to leave. You’ll have to come inside and sign me out.”

“Consider it done,” Debbie replied.

Angie reported in for her breast biopsy at the outpatient department. Now that it was happening, her anxiety rose. She sat in the room, taking some deep breaths. A nurse soon arrived, took her medical history which, other than having her appendix removed at nineteen, was unremarkable. The nurse laid a brand-new paper gown on the exam table, explained the procedure to Angie, and had her sign the consent form, but not before disclosing everything that could possibly go wrong. Angie chose to ignore those bits; she was anxious enough.

The procedure didn’t take long at all, and when she was told she could go home, she rang Debbie, who picked up on the first ring. She told her she was ready and gave her directions to where she was in the medical center.

She’d been advised to take it easy for the rest of the day, but she had no intention of sitting around her house, fretting. The biopsy results would take two to three days, so it was best to keep busy.

Debbie arrived so quickly that Angie wondered if she’d been waiting outside the medical center.. Her friend hesitated in the doorway, noted the big, wide window, and stepped inside.

“I’m waiting for the nurse to come back and remove this.” Angie lifted up her hand to show the canula for the IV still taped to it. “I told her you were on your way.”

“How did it go?”

Angie shrugged. “Fine.”

The nurse arrived, a pleasant middle-aged woman who wore scrubs the color of purple grapes and a pair of sneakers on her feet. Around her neck hung a lanyard with her identification badge dangling from it. She smiled when she saw Debbie.

“Are you Miss Cook’s ride home?”

“Yes,” Debbie said.

“Great. Evangeline has her discharge paperwork, and I’ll need your signature here to confirm you’re driving her home. She’s not to drive for twenty-four hours.” She eyed Angie as she said, “And she’s not to return to work until tomorrow.”

Angie hadn’t planned on mentioning that part to Debbie, was going to gloss right over it and head back to the café and hang out in her office.

“Got it.” Debbie looked at Angie and narrowed her eyes. Her friend knew her too well.

Once she signed the paperwork, they made their way out of the building.

“Wait out front, I’ll bring the car around,” Debbie suggested.

Angie shook her head. “My legs are fine. I can walk.”

Once Debbie pulled out of the parking lot, she asked, “Home?”

Angie frowned. “I think I can hang out in the office at Coffee Girl.”

Debbie shook her head. “No way. You were told not to return to work today. You were told to take it easy.”

Angie sighed. She didn’t particularly look forward to spending the day at home. There was nothing to do.

As if sensing her reluctance, Debbie said, “Here are some options: we can go to my house, and I can make you something to eat and we can hang out. Or, I was going to go to the beach for my walk. You can wait in the car, roll the window down, and breathe in the fresh air. No walking though. Let’s not push it.”

Those options sounded better than going home. She knew Debbie walked every day along the shore no matter what the weather. She loved it best in the winter when she tended to be the solitary walker on the beach.

Angie was agreeable. “The beach.”

“Good. Do you want me to pick up coffee or something?”

“Yeah. Stop at the café and we’ll get some coffee to go.”

“I’ll only stop at the café if you promise to stay in the car,” Debbie said firmly.

“All right,” Angie grumbled.