"Unfortunately it's not your feet that concern us. Miss Webb, tell me, is there any chance you might be pregnant?"
"I--Wha--no." She tripped over the words and a pretty pink flush coated with cheeks.
Good, he almost wanted to say. He could ask if there was a man in her life, try to phrase it under the guise of sexual history...
But no. He was done dating. Done with getting serious, and if this woman was anything it was serious.
He wasn't going to treat her as anything other than a patient. Even if this woman had a way of making even business casual look sinful.
"Good, good." He made a note on the tablet, and she blinked up at him, her brow knit tightly.
"Is there something I should be worried about?"
"Frankly, I don't know yet. Would you mind telling me exactly what happened while you were walking across the coals?"
"Well..." She rubbed the back of her neck, then said, "It's like I told the nurse, I kicked off my shoes and sort of readied myself. Then I stepped onto the coals and my heart like, seized up almost. I got a little bit of tunnel vision and tried to walk faster because my heart was beating so fast. Then it felt like it stopped altogether and I stopped short and..." She looked down at her feet. "Well, here we are."
"How long did it take for your shortness of breath to subside?"
"Maybe about two minutes. It felt like such a long time, though. I...I don't know what happened."
"Tell me, have you been going through anything stressful lately? Anything out of the usual?"
"Well, my company just had a big merger. I'm here on a company retreat while the offices are being renovated."
"So, new boss? New job?"
"Not a new job. I mean, I'm hoping for one. I'm up for a promotion if everything goes according to plan."
"And, if you don't mind my asking, has it been going according to plan?"
The rosy color on her cheeks darkened and he nodded, understanding.
"Okay, let's run a couple of tests." He pulled over the heart rate monitor and slipped the little rubber piece over her finger. "I'm just going to look at your heart rate, see if it's relaxed a little. Now, if you don't mind, I'd also like to get a look at your blood pressure again. I know the nurse took it..."
But that reading can't possibly be right, he wanted to finish. Still, the woman only shrugged and he placed the cuff over her bicep quickly, careful not to touch her creamy white skin.
"All right, Miss Webb, this might get a little uncomfortable." He started the machine and watched as it whirred to life, but try as he might there was something about this woman's face that distracted him. Maybe it was the way the tiny bow of her mouth thinned into a line when the pressure increased, maybe it was the way her pert nose wrinkled when the cuff finally began to relax.
Whatever the case, Trey was relieved when the machine beeped and the reading popped onto the monitor.
He blinked, checked again, then looked down at the tablet. The nurse's reading was the same as his own.
He glanced at her heart rate and did his best to maintain a poker face while he examined the huge spikes and the rapidly shifting peaks.
"Okay, Miss Webb. Thanks so much. I think we're going to need to keep you overnight and take you for some stress tests in the morning."
"I can't." She said the words almost automatically and he took a step back.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm here for this retreat. I'm giving the keynote address at breakfast. I'm already on thin ice with my boss and if I miss this--"
"Surely your health comes first."
When silence answered him, he tried again, "Miss. Webb--"
"Felicia, please."
"Felicia, then. Let me be frank with you. Your results are...Well, I've never seen anything like them. You should be dead."
“Your machine is probably broken. That's ridiculous,"
Trey considered for a moment, but something--maybe the way her shoulders with hitched to earlobes or the way her legs were tightly locked one over the other--told him that there was nothing wrong with he machines. This woman was simply a ticking timebomb of stress, waiting to explode.
"Even if that were the case, I think we need some additional tests to find out for sure. It's clear that you're under a great deal of stress--"
"I'm fine. Everyone goes through tough times. I'm tough, too. I'll just--"
"Felicia, I don't think you're listening to me. Letting stress like yours go unchecked is a recipe for disaster. You could have ulcers. And that's to say nothing of your mental health--"
"Look, Doctor--?"
"Patterson."
"Doctor Patterson, I appreciate your concern, but I really just want some ice for my feet and a good night's sleep. Everything else will be just fine, I'm sure of it."
“I can't recommend that you leave."