Page 39 of Fierce-Jax (Fierce Matchmaking #18)

TRUSTED IN YOUR HEART

“ H ello, Dillion.”

The last person who Dillion thought she’d see was Carolyn Fierce as her first patient of the day when she came in and looked at the schedule.

“Hi, Carolyn. I have to say I’m surprised to see you here.”

“I didn’t make this up,” Carolyn said, grinning. “I swear I didn’t. I’ve got this patchy spot on my arm and it doesn’t want to go away. It’s been a few months and when I was at the doctor last month he recommended I have a dermatologist look at it.”

“Let me see,” she said. She’d read Carolyn’s chart and knew she was here for a patch on her arm.

She pulled her small microscope out and examined it closer.

She rolled back from the stool she was on and put a pair of gloves on to get closer and touch it.

“It looks to be actinic keratosis. I’m going to scrape some of it off and send it out for testing.

I’d also like to freeze it off of you today if you’re okay with that? ”

“What do you mean freeze it off?” Carolyn asked. “It’d be cold?”

“It’s liquid nitrogen that I’ll spray on. It’s going to be cold enough to burn but will kill the cells. If left untreated it could, but may not, turn into a form of skin cancer called squamous cell carcinoma. Not always, but you have to ask yourself, do you want to take that chance?”

“No,” Carolyn said, shaking her head. “Not at all. You can freeze it off. You’ll know though if it was?”

“I’ll get the results back within a week,” she said. “Do you have any other spots you’d like me to check besides your arm? I’m going to look at your neck and face too. Those are the common spots you’ll find it.”

She was doing the exam and found the start of another spot on the side of Carolyn’s neck. She took the sample there too.

“If you want to look anywhere else you can,” Carolyn said. “This is the last thing I thought would happen when I made the appointment. Here I thought I could get the scoop on you and Jax and a little tube of cream or something.”

Since Carolyn was looking so nervous, Dillion figured she could throw her a bone.

“Things are going very well with us,” she said. “It’s been several months, as I’m sure you know.”

“I’ve heard,” Carolyn said. “I try to get information out of Roni, but she doesn’t say much more than things are well.”

“She’s loyal to her brother that way,” she said, nodding. “But they are well. Gianna loves Jax.”

Carolyn smiled. “As much as you love him?”

She rolled her eyes. “Probably not as much. Or at least not the same. You know, she’s four. If you give her food and play with her, everything is happy in her world.”

“As it should be,” Carolyn said. “That is what parents do. Protect their children from anything and everything that they can.”

“We do,” she said as she collected the other sample and put the slides down once they were sealed up.

And to protect her daughter, she’d met with Trent and retained him as her attorney.

She could have gone to a bigger law firm that specialized more in family law, but went with her gut and knew that since Trent was family of sorts, he had a bigger interest in it.

He’d fight harder and stronger and maybe put her first if need be rather than leave her hanging for other cases.

Trent knew what it felt like as he’d gone through some of these things with Roni and her ex.

Sometimes the best was who you trusted in your heart and not who had the biggest name or cost the most.

They had less than a week before her thirty days were up and she was holding firm that she would not reach out to Alec’s parents, but she had authorized Trent to use a private investigator next door to him to look into the Cannons and see what he could find.

She was hoping to have that information before she got any other communication from them, but in her eyes, no news was good news, and best to push it aside for now.

“That’s a big can of spray,” Carolyn said when she picked it up. There were the nerves again.

“Did you think it was going to be one of those air cans to spray keyboards off?” she asked, smiling. She always tried to lessen any nervousness with her patients. She didn’t need them jumping on her.

“I was hoping for something smaller than that,” Carolyn said.

It was about twice the size, but she could still hold it in her hand without a problem.

“Think of this as a bigger more important keyboard I’ve got to clean. It will be fast,” she said. “It’s going to be very cold and then be done before you realize it happened. I’m going to do your neck first since it’s smaller and will be quicker to give you a small taste of what is happening.”

“I’m ready whenever you are,” Carolyn said, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. “I gave birth to two sets of twins. This should be easy.”

Dillion laughed. “Oh, it is. Seriously.” She lined the nozzle up and continued to talk while she did it like she always did. “Childbirth is a bitch, I don’t care what anyone says.” She watched the skin turn white, then stopped it.

“That wasn’t so bad,” Carolyn said. “Though I’m feeling the burn now. I didn’t even know you were doing it, you had me laughing at your childbirth comment.”

She grinned. That had been the plan. “I’m going to take care of the one on your arm now and then we’ll go over care instructions.”

Carolyn was ready and chatting about her two births while Dillion froze that one off next, then set the can back down.

“It’s not too bad,” Carolyn said. “Could have been worse. Thanks for the distraction.”

“You’re welcome. It’s good for both of us if my patients aren’t tense or ready to jump when I start.

You’ll feel some pain for a bit, but if you take over-the-counter pain medicine, you should be fine.

You can put a band-aid on it or some Vaseline if it’s bothersome.

That will help keep it moist and help with any pain. ”

She was typing into her computer as she talked.

“Can I swim?” Carolyn asked.

“Not for a week or two. The area is going to blister, which is its only form of protection. Don’t worry if it looks red like blood or black.

That is common. Once the blister falls off on its own, then you can swim.

” She grabbed the instructions out of the printer and handed them over for Carolyn to read and sign.

When the one copy was signed for their records, Carolyn asked, “Do I need a follow-up with you?”

“Not unless you notice any of the things listed on the paper. I’ll call you with your results, but if you need to come back in, you can. Or if you notice any signs of infection. I’m sure one of the medical professionals in your family will look you over too.”

She knew Carolyn’s son Wyatt was an anesthesiologist and Wyatt’s wife an OR nurse. Sam, Carolyn’s nephew, was an oncology surgeon.

“They will,” Carolyn said, nodding. “Wyatt is going to get all worked up and start researching things, I’m sure.”

“No reason to get worked up until we know the results. It’s most likely benign, but we eliminated it from worry anyway. I do want you to call me if you find any other spots though and we’ll get rid of them immediately to prevent any growth.”

“I will,” Carolyn said. “Here I thought I’d get that ointment and could be on my way after a little chat about your dating life. As I’ve said before, we do great work. I’m sure you heard that Tori and Hyde got engaged almost two weeks ago.”

She laughed. “Yes, Jax told me that. I figured you’d find a way to gloat over that match. I’ll give you a freebie. Ask me anything within reason.”

“Aren’t you just a sweetie,” Carolyn said, her smile genuine and not full of gloat as she’d expected. “But I can see by the look in your eyes when you talk about Jax and Gianna that things are going well. Just remember, I picked you two to work out on a blind date.”

“I’ll never forget,” she said, smirking.

Carolyn’s smile dropped. “What’s that look for?”

“What look is that?”

“The one where I think you’re being sneaky,” Carolyn said. “Remember I used to teach grade school children. They are always sneaky.”

“Is that your one question? You want to know what my look is for?”

Carolyn hesitated and then finally said, “Did you two go on a date before I passed on your information to Jax?”

There was no reason to lie.

“We did,” she said.

“But after I told you he was willing to be set up with you?” Carolyn asked.

“That’s two questions,” she said, laughing. “You’re sneaky in your own right.”

“You froze two spots off of me,” Carolyn whined.

Since she knew it could be a little painful, she caved. “It was after you told us.”

“Phew,” Carolyn said. “So it’s still on me. I’ll pat myself on the back. You have a great day.”

“You too,” she said and watched Carolyn walk out of her exam room.

She pulled her phone out and texted Jax to share that Carolyn knew, but nothing else about how or why she saw her old teacher.

“Well,” Garrett said to Carolyn when she walked into her husband’s office.

He knew she was seeing Dillion today. Her husband was privy to all her appointments.

“Dillion and Jax are doing well. She’s in love. I can see it on her face without even asking. Oh, and I asked if they went on a date before I got them to exchange numbers and she admitted it. That’s still winning for me because she said it was after I told them they’d both agreed to it.”

Garrett frowned. “I don’t care about that. I want to know how your appointment went and what she said.”

“Oh,” she said, showing her arm to her husband. “It’s something that begins with an A. I don’t remember. I wasn’t paying all that much attention after she said she had to freeze it off.”

“It looks a lot worse,” Garrett said. “I was hoping it’s because she did something to it.”

“I had another spot on my neck,” she said, turning her head. “But she got it too. She’s sending it out for testing and fingers crossed it’s not skin cancer.”

“I hope not,” Garrett said, looking concerned and moving toward her for a hug.

“I don’t think so,” she said. “Neither did Dillion. It was almost worth it to get the information. Now I can brag that not only was I able to get the first couple to accept a blind date but that they are going strong months later.”

Her husband rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe you’re still focusing on that.”

“Hey,” she said. “It got me through. It’s all good and I was more excited to get this information anyway. Not that I would have wanted this done to get it, but she felt bad for me and let me ask two questions.”

“Only you, Carolyn,” he said, shaking his head.

“Whatever works,” she said, smiling. “And it seems I’m doing the best work of you all. Now I’ve got to call Jolene. She wanted to know how I made out at my appointment too.”

“You just want to gloat,” he said.

“I do,” she said, sitting in a chair in her husband’s office and dialing. Her sister-in-law in Charlotte picked up on the second ring.

“What did she say?” Jolene asked before she even said hi.

She explained about her appointment and then jumped right into Dillion and Jax. “Tell me I have this nailed, right?”

Jolene said. “Sounds it to me. I’m glad to hear the skin issues might not be serious. Looks like you got answers to more than one question today.”

“That’s what I said,” she said, pointing her finger at her husband who just rolled his eyes. “How are things going with Matt?”

“They are going,” Jolene said. “I don’t have a lot of reason to see Matt, but I can bug Ben.”

“I’m sure you have been,” Carolyn said of Mason’s head Brewmaster. Matt was his brother.

“When I get a chance. I know what I saw at Ben’s wedding and I’m making sure everyone else knows I’m calling it too.”

“Because that is what we do,” she said proudly and stomped her foot.

Jolene laughed. “Are you trying to prove a point to me or yourself?”

“My husband who is shaking his head at me,” she said.

“Tell your husband he only wishes he had our skills,” Jolene said.

“I tell him that all the time, but once more won’t hurt.”