Page 30 of My One

“Yep.” Brooke nodded. “Last month.”

“How’d that go?”

She waved her hand in the direction of Cheyenne’s bedroom. “Just like that. Easton thought my PMS was bad.” She chuckled. “He had no clue.”

We both laughed. Over the years, women learned how to tame PMS with chocolate, chips, and not to talk to anyone because we’d bite their heads off. But anew womanwas like a baby vampire and couldn’t control themselves.

“Speaking of kids,” I stated. “Avery and I were talking about maybe trying to conceive …” It was on the tip of my tongue to say ‘again’ instead of trailing off, but it wouldn’t be again. We hadn’t tried before. It just happened.

“That’s exciting. Easton and I talked about it last night too.”

“Really?” I beamed. I’d love to live out that dream of best friends having babies together and then the babies grow up to be best friends.

“Well, just in general. I need to get off my meds again before I even think about that.” Brooke was still taking medication for her nerve pain. I didn’t blame her. They cut the T1 nerve at the root, and it was a miracle she still had a functioning hand.

“Eventually you will.”

“Yeah.” She sighed and stabbed at her pasta.

I forked my salad, and before sticking it into my mouth replied, “The nerves will calm down soon.”

“Yeah, but what about my shoulder? It’s been a year, and acupuncture is barely doing anything.”

“Think about what they removed, B. Your body needs to heal, and that will happen slowly. It’s more than just a cut on your finger.”

“I know.” She took another deep breath. “I just want to stop hurting.”

“What about going back on—”

Brooke shook her head. “No. No way am I going back on oxy and going through withdrawals again. I will live in pain forever before I do that.”

I wanted to tell her that I understood, but I didn’t. I had no clue what kind of pain she was in, though I could imagine it. What I couldn’t imagine was missing ribs and having a winged scapula that hindered full range of motion in her dominant arm. “Maybe smoke more weed?”

She laughed. “No, thank you. I have nothing against marijuana, but it wasn’t for me.”

“It was funny when you were high that night on purple cheese.” I grinned.

“I felt happy, but I was also tired. No way can I function like that daily.”

“They have some that won’t make you sleepy.”

“How do you know?”

I shrugged. “I’m a nurse. I know things.”

“For now, I’ll just stick to acupuncture and relaxing.”

“Have Easton give you massages.”

“Oh, he does.” She smirked.

We were silent for a few minutes while we ate the rest of our food. It was nice having dinner together. We used to do it all the time in Boston before we moved, but now we were two married ladies who spent more time with our husbands than each other.

“When are you and Avery going to start trying?” Brooke asked as she washed the saucepan after dinner.

I shrugged. “I need to stop taking the pill and then we’ll see what happens.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t gotten preggo again while on the pill.”