Page 19 of Their Deviant Love

“That’s it?” I ask her.

“Until I run some tests. If I don’t know what is actually wrong, I can’t treat it,” she tells me.

“How long do these tests take?” I’ve never been the patient type.

“I’ll have results back in a few hours,” she says. “Your heart sounds good, your lungs are clear, and you’re not running a fever.”

“Like I said, I’m fine,” Connor adds.

“I didn’t say that. We will know more once the results are back.”

“What are you testing for?” I need to know what’s wrong with him. I can’t fix him if I don’t know.

I really wish I was Dante smart. My cousin could probably run tests and diagnose someone after reading a few medical textbooks. I’d be left confused after staring at page one.

“I’m going to run a full blood panel and see if anything looks out of the ordinary. We can go from there,” Dr. Morgan tells me.

“Okay.” I have no idea what that even means.

After she takes a few vials of Connor’s blood, I walk her to the door. “I’ll be in touch as soon as I have the results,” she repeats.

“Thank you.” I close the door, go back into the room, and lie down next to Connor. “I need to call my cousin.”

“Which one?” he says.

“Dante.”

“Why?”

“I need to ask him something.” I don’t want to admit to Connor that I have no idea what the doctor was talking about.

“Ask me.”

I look at him. “I can’t.”

“Aurora, you can ask me anything.” He sighs. “Besides, you said it yourself: I’msmarterthan your dipshit cousin.”

I throw out a hand and whack Connor in the chest. “Dante is my favorite cousin. He’s not a dipshit.”

“Ow, fucking hell, that hurts.” Connor rubs at where I hit him. “You can ask me.”

“It’s not the same. I don’t want you to think I’m more stupid than you already do.”

“Aurora, you are not stupid. I’ve never once thought you were, and I never will. If you can’t ask me anything, what’s the point of this? We’re married. I’m the person you’re supposed to be able to be your true self with. I am not judging you, and there’s no such thing as a stupid question.”

I take a deep breath. “What do they test for in a blood panel?”

“That’s it? That’s your question?” Connor asks. “That’s not stupid, Aurora. They just test for random shit like: liver function, vitamin deficiencies, blood cell counts, insulin levels. Basic shit.”

“How do you know that?” I huff. “See? It is stupid. You know that. Why don’t I?”

“I just know random shit. It doesn’t make me smarter than you are.”

“Okay, Harvard.” I laugh and shake my head from side to side. “You knowing more than me does make you smarter.”

“Have you ever heard of the hundred languages theory?” Connor asks.

“Don’t tell me you know a hundred languages.” I look at him.Is there even a hundred languages?