Be right back in emergency room lingo apparently meant when you’ve aged a good year, because it took hours for the senior doctor to come in. By this time, Bruce was gone, having given Lauren the next day off and orders to never bleed in his presence again.

“Is it possible you’re . . . you know. Pregnant?” Josh asked, that light in his eyes glowing.

“Anything’s possible,” she said, squeezing his hand. It had been a couple of months since that other pregnancy test, and she hadn’t been that religious with birth control.

“I hope you are.” There it was, his unguarded, unfiltered love. Her heart pushed against her ribs so hard she was surprised it didn’t fall into his lap.

“Well. I can toss the birth control anytime.”

He thought about that a minute, her serious husband. “Actually, I have a Christmas surprise in mind. Not that you being pregnant would cancel it out or anything.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a surprise. Don’t ask. Don’t look at me like that. Fine. You broke me. I’m taking you to Paris for Christmas.”

Her fatigue evaporated. “Paris! Oh, my God, Josh, really? Really?” He nodded, and she kissed him, threading her fingers through his silky hair, feeling him smile against her mouth.

Paris at Christmas! Oh, how stinking romantic! And classy! She’d bet there were no Frosty the Snowman inflatables in Paris, no sir.

“Excuse me,” came a voice. It was the senior doctor, the resident behind him, smiling. “We just wanted to take a listen to your chest. Your O2 sat is a little low.”

“I have asthma,” she said. “And bronchitis, on and off.”

“Mm,” he said, putting his stethoscope in his ears. “Breathe in and hold. Exhale. Breathe in. Again. Again. Now cough, and breathe in again. Really deep this time. Good.”

When he was done, he didn’t look at her. “I’d like you to see a pulmonologist to be on the safe side,” he said. “We can refer you to someone. Dr. Yoshi, get Kwana Bennett’s number.”

“Her inhalers never work for long,” Josh said. “And she has a dry cough. They said allergies first, then mold, on top of her asthma. She gets tired pretty easily.”

“Well, aren’t we full of complaints?” Lauren muttered.

“Right,” said the doctor, who was as warm and inviting as marble in the snow. “Give Dr. Bennett a call. Good to meet you. Take care.”

“Such charisma,” Lauren murmured as he left, and Dr. Yoshi, who was signing a tablet, snorted. Ah. An ally.

“Is there anything I should know?” Lauren asked the young woman.

“I’m really only treating your scalp wound, and I’m a first-year intern. Come back in ten days, and we’ll take those staples out.” She didn’t look at Lauren or Josh.

“Why did he listen to my lungs? Was there something weird?”

“Your O2 sat is low. It’s under ninety-five.”