Reckless In Love (The Maverick Billionaires #2)(61)
First, the doctor observed her mother’s ability to walk. Then, since Charlie was still packing two suitcases and a garment bag for the move, they’d convened in her mother’s room. Sebastian leaned against the wall a few feet away while her mother sat in her reading chair as the doctor studied her ankles. Gently, Dr. Bengali removed both her shoes and the braces, then delicately turned each ankle in his long fingers to check her range of motion and pain level with every movement. He palpated and squeezed the flesh, carefully examining right down to the toes.
Finally he rose to sit on the edge of the bed. Sebastian had remained quiet, but, just as with Dr. Hillman, his tension was like a live wire pulsing in the room.
“I’ve looked at your X-rays, Mrs. Ballard, and I want you to know that you’ve had a very good surgeon. I couldn’t have done better by you. I agree with your doctor’s instructions to keep walking. All in all, you’re doing extremely well.”
“Thank you, Doctor.” Her mother smiled like a ray of sunshine.
“There’s nothing more you can do for her ankles?” Sebastian asked. To anyone else, he might have sounded completely normal, but to Charlie, his words seemed to be strained through too-tight vocal cords. She’d kissed his throat, touched almost every centimeter of skin, felt his hard muscles against her, and she knew, even if no one else could even sense it, that his sense of powerlessness hurt him core-deep. Yet she could do nothing for him.
Dr. Bengali turned to him. “Mrs. Ballard’s arthritis is severely degenerative. Essentially she has virtually no ankle bones left. Her surgeon has done extensive reconstruction, but I’m still surprised and pleased with how well she walks.” He turned back to her mother, then reached for her hand and squeezed it. “You’re a remarkable woman. For most people at your stage, walking a mile every day is impossible.”
Her mother punched the air like a teenager. “No pain, no gain.”
“I agree that Francine is one of the most amazing people I’ve had the privilege of calling my friend,” Sebastian said. “But is there something we can do about her pain level, at the very least?”
“We could send her to a pain clinic, but the narcotics are highly addictive, and over time she would build up a tolerance.”
Charlie tried to keep her heart intact as she folded her mother’s cotton nightgowns into the case. They’d heard it all before. Yet it still hurt to hear once again that there was nothing more they could do. She glanced at Sebastian, whose face was like granite, and that made the ache so much worse.
“I don’t want to start any more meds.” Her mother was calm yet firm. “Evie down the hall takes that stuff and though it doesn’t do much for her pain anymore, she can’t go without it. It’s terrible to watch when she tries to wean herself off it. That’s not for me.”
Dr. Bengali stood. “As I said, ma’am, you are a remarkable woman. I thank you for the opportunity to examine you and wish I had better news.”
“Thank you for coming to see me, Dr. Bengali.” Charlie’s mother held out her crippled hands, and he leaned over to take them in his long, firm, nimble surgeon’s fingers. “You’re a very nice young man.”
He smiled, his teeth gleaming white in the sun falling through the blinds. “You’re too kind.”
After Charlie shook his hand and thanked him, Sebastian stepped forward. Despite how carefully Sebastian was working to hide his frustration, Charlie felt his pain as much as her mother’s, his emotion palpable, his anger undulating tangibly around him. And beneath all of it lay a helplessness that Charlie would give the world to erase, just as she would have given everything she had to take away her mother’s pain.
Still, Sebastian took Dr. Bengali’s hand in his with a firm shake. “Thank you for answering our call. If you learn of any new techniques, medications, or methods, please let us know.”
“Certainly.”
The regal man left, and Sebastian turned to the window, studying her mother’s spectacular view of the parking lot. “I’m sorry,” he said, his throat still constricted. “We’ll find someone else.” He avoided their eyes, as if he was ashamed they’d see the failure in his gaze. “We’ll keep looking, I swear it.”
Charlie wanted to enfold him in her arms, draw his ache into her own body, kiss away all his hurt. But her mother held out both hands. “Come here, Sebastian.”
He hunkered down in front of her chair, taking her damaged fingers in his. “I’ll make this right, Francine.”
“I want you to keep searching for me, because you never know, something might pop up. Some big new breakthrough. But I’m not disappointed, and neither should you be.”
Charlie’s heart broke watching them, this big, beautiful man down on one knee with an old woman who’d been forgotten by everyone except her daughter. And now Sebastian.
“I need to help you,” he said, his voice raw with the emotion he’d been trying so hard to hide.
“You are helping me.” She put her hand on his cheek. “You take time out of your busy life to visit me. And Charlie told me how you’ll help us with Magnolia Gardens if we need it. I can’t thank you enough for that. Best of all, you make my daughter happy. How can I ask for anything more?”
“Oh, Francine, I love visiting you.” He glanced at Charlie, his eyes brimming with lingering sorrow and what looked like love. A love that had no bounds. “And your daughter makes me very happy too.”