Free Beneath It All (Beneath #1) by Tori Madison

think I’ll wait in the hallway to give you some privacy.” He kissed me before stepping out of the room.
    Over the course of ten minutes, Elizabeth took several topless mug shot pictures. Not really, but it felt like it. “Please turn this way and face the corner. Now turn this way and face the camera. Make sure your feet are pointing to the wall and are on the red line.” Yep, I had officially taken topless mug shot pictures. . . . I felt like a whore.

Chapter Five
    I AM INDESTRUCTIBLE
    T he phone rang as I was cleaning up lunch. “Hello?”
    “Hi, Victoria, this is Elizabeth from Dr. Forrester’s office.”
    “Hi. How are you?”
    “I’m doing well, and you?”
    “Better. Thank you for asking.”
    “I’m happy to hear that. The reason for my call is that we are running into a few conflicts with scheduling your surgery, and Dr. Forrester wanted me to call you immediately to see if Friday, November 25 would work for you. I know this is the day after Thanksgiving, but Dr. Lauren is available, and Dr. Forrester will free up his schedule if this works for you.”
    “Yeah, I think that works,” I said as I scrambled over to the calendar on the desk.
    Noah looked up at me with curiosity and whispered, “Is that the office regarding surgery?” I nodded. “Elizabeth, can you give me one moment, please? Noah just popped in, and I just want to check with him.”
    “Sure, no problem. I’m happy to hold.”
    I covered the phone with my hand and told Noah that they were having problems scheduling the surgery, but the day after Thanksgiving would work and that one of the doctors was making special arrangements to be there if it was okay with me. “Yes. Take it,” he said without hesitation.
    “Yes, we’ll go ahead with surgery on the twenty-fifth.”
    “That’s wonderful. I’ll tell Dr. Forrester right away. You will need to schedule a pre-op within seven days prior to the surgery. Do you have a primary physician that you can schedule this with?” she inquired.
    “Yes, I’ll call my doctor and schedule one. Is there anything specific I need from her? I’ve never had surgery, and I don’t quite know what the process is.”
    “If you call the office and request a pre-op appointment, they will take care of the rest. Just provide your surgery date, type of surgery, and the medical center where you will be having the procedure done. They will take care of all of the paperwork and fax it directly to the hospital’s admissions department,” she calmly explained. “You can expect a call from the admissions department forty-eight hours prior to surgery to complete the pre-registration process, and they will give you the time of surgery during that call. Typically, this type of surgery is scheduled early in the morning, as it’s more invasive and takes about three to five hours.”
    “Dr. Lauren explained that I should anticipate staying overnight for at least two nights?”
    “That’s correct. The first thirty-six hours after surgery are when you will feel the most discomfort, and we will need to keep an eye on your incisions to avoid infection. I’ll call the medical center to schedule the surgery and will mail your surgical packet this afternoon; it will explain everything in full detail. There are also a few instruction pages in there for Noah to review, as he will be your primary caregiver once you’re home.”
    “Got it,” I said as I wrote “Surgery” on the calendar. “I’ve got it written on my calendar and will call to schedule my pre-op immediately.”
    “Great, I’ll get everything else lined up on our end.” She paused for a moment, catching my attention. “I wish you well in surgery, Victoria, and hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving. You have so much to be thankful for, and know that you’ll be in my thoughts.”
    “Thank you, Elizabeth. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving as well. I appreciate your kindness.”
    *
    The next two weeks went by in a blur. I met with two