Chapter Thirteen
Friday, June 28th
Nolan pulled into the parking lot of Dr. Bright's office and got as close to the front door as he could. I knew it would make life a lot easier if I just broke down and got a handicap sticker, but I refused to get one. I reasoned that the people who really needed those spaces should have them; not someone like me who was in almost perfect eighty-five percent health and could make it to the door just fine.
He pulled my wheelchair out of the back of his SUV and came around once it was open and ready for me.
I pushed open the door and pulled myself out. Nolan took over and lowered me into the seat. I looked up at him and raised my face for a kiss. He grinned and obliged before we went into the office.
I smiled at Cori, the young and bubbly, raven-haired receptionist as Nolan signed me in. She gave me a big smile and wave as she handed him a clipboard. I went into the waiting room and found a spot furthest away from the entrance so that no one would be blocked on the way in and out.
A few moments later, he came over and sat down next to me with the clipboard and a pen.
"So, Ms. East, besides being engaged to the devastatingly handsome Nolan Ransom, what else have you been up to since we've last seen you?" he asked in a faux Hollywood reporter voice.
I raised an eyebrow at him, and he held up the clipboard. It was a questionnaire. He balanced it on his knee and began to quietly ask me the questions on it. I rested my head on his shoulder while I answered.
For some reason, I had been particularly tired that day when I woke up. I chalked it up to the five hour "nap" I had taken earlier in the day. Too much sleep has a tendency to make you tired. At least that's what I remember reading somewhere.
By the time we were done with the questionnaire, I felt like I could nap again. Nolan went over and handed the clipboard to Cori. When he sat down next to me again, he took my hand in his and turned his attention to the television in the high left corner of the room.
Ten minutes later, Angela, the head nurse, came out and called my name.
"Do you want me to go with you?" Nolan asked.
"Yeah, could you push me too please?" I asked yawning.
"Wow, you must be tired," he replied playfully as he guided me down the hallway and into exam room three.
I shrugged as he plucked me out of my chair and laid me down on the examination bed. He stood there for a moment, his hands on either side of me, smiling.
The door opened and in walked Dr. Bright. One of the tallest, kindest, gray-haired, glasses wearing men in all of existence.
"Hello, young friends!" he said cheerfully.
Nolan moved away from me and shook the doctor's hand, before taking a seat in the chair next to where I was lying.
"Everything looks good," he said, sitting in his stool and glancing over the questionnaire. I watched him lift the second page and glance at me after reading about half way down. "When did you start becoming fatigued?"
"Oh about when I woke up this morning," I joked.
"Honestly, Jane," he said kindly, but firmly.
I shrugged, "'Bout a week ago."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Nolan asked, glancing at me.
"Considering what you do all day and what you come home to do, I have no right to complain about being tired more often than not," I replied dryly.
Dr. Bright looked at us in turn, before putting the clipboard down.
"Do you know why she's here today?" he asked Nolan.
"Yeah, I overheard her on the phone with you."
"And what do you think?"
"I don't think she should do something she thinks I want or need, or whatever," he answered.
"That was a lot of thinking going on there guys," I joked.
"This is very serious, Jane," Dr. Bright said. "I'm going to perform a small battery of tests on you. I'm going to need you to be honest with me about the pain level, if there is any. I won't know if I can tell you to go ahead with this if you aren't honest."
I nodded.
Dr. Bright came over and put his hands on my stomach.
"Ready?" he asked me.
I nodded again and he gently pushed down. It didn't hurt, so I shook my head. He moved his hands down further, to my lower stomach and pressed down again. While it was a bit uncomfortable, it wasn't pain worthy of mention.
I shook my head again.
Next he moved his hand to my right thigh and watched my face carefully as he pushed down. I winced a little and held up three fingers. He nodded and went to make a note on his clipboard.
He came back and went to the left side of the bed. I instinctively reached out for Nolan's hand.
That was the "bad" side.
The infected ‘femur of septic death' side.
"Are you ready?" Dr. Bright asked softly.
I closed my eyes and nodded.
He pushed down. The lights exploded illuminating the darkness I had just submerged myself into and I squeezed the ever-loving shit out of Nolan's hand.
Dr. Bright moved his hands away and sighed. But there was something he was aware of. Even though that hurt—a lot, it wasn't as bad as it usually was.
"Jane?" he prompted. "I need a number."
I took a couple of quick breaths and let go of Nolan's hand. I held up five fingers on that hand and three on the other.
"An eight? Are you sure?" he asked me in surprise.
"Yeah," I replied, breathing shakily. "It didn't hurt as bad as it did the last time you did it, when we were here."
Dr. Bright made a couple of additional notes in my file, which he had under the clipboard, before turning back to us.
"Jane, you're a virgin, correct?" he asked. I nodded. "And you, Nolan?"
I turned my face and closed my eyes. I didn't want his answer to destroy my fantasy world.
"Yes," he said rather loudly.
I whipped my head to look at him in surprise.
He laughed, "Parallel universe intact?"
"Only if you're telling the truth," I said, narrowing my eyes.
"It's the truth," he said shyly.
"Guys? You can discuss this later. The reason I asked is because I need to explain something to you about why I don't feel comfortable saying yes to this. One moment, please," he said, getting up and leaving the room.
I looked at the ceiling trying to think of what he could say that would justify telling us that we'd never be able to physically love each other.
I sighed when the door opened and closed again. I glanced at Dr. Bright and saw him holding two skeletal pelvic bone models. I glanced at Nolan who had leaned forward and was looking at them curiously.
"When two people have sex, there is a lot of pelvic movement," Dr. Bright said sitting down. "Essentially, with the amount of thrusting that you will be doing, your pelvic bones will be coming in contact a lot."
He tilted the larger bone to demonstrate. My face turned bright red.
"Now, your femur is located in your pelvic bone. Healthy femurs can obviously take this; unhealthy femurs cannot. Do you understand why I can't say yes?" he asked, looking at me.
"No," I replied bluntly.
Dr. Bright side heavily and set the molds down on the small table. He ran a hand over his face and looked at me.
"Alright, if you're strong enough to stand on your two feet, then you're strong enough for sex," he said finally.
I looked at him defiantly. Nolan was giving me a sad smile, but I had a surprise for both of them. I used my hands to push myself up to a seated position and then swung my legs around the side of the bed. I looked down at the floor a little apprehensively because I was going to have to hop down, which meant landing on my feet.
I took a deep breath and lowered myself as far as I could onto my right foot. Nolan instinctively moved forward but I waved him away. He hovered for a moment until I gave him an annoyed look.
Once my right foot was securely on the ground, I lowered my left one gingerly. It hurt like holy hell, but I had a point to prove. I shifted all the weight that I could into my right leg and pushed myself away from the bed.
Even though my left leg was slightly bent, I still had my foot touching the floor.
"Good enough?" I asked Dr. Bright.
"No, but I have a feeling that you're not going to listen to me anyway," he replied with a small smile.
"Janey, how did you do that?" Nolan asked as I pulled myself back onto the bed.
"I've been practicing when you've been at work," I admitted proudly.
He didn't look too happy about that, but I figured he would get over it. After all, he couldn't possibly think that I would just sit around in my chair and not do anything all day.
"I expected this," Dr. Bright said, reaching for my file. "I need you to sign this paper. It's an AMA release."
I asked Nolan to hand me the clipboard and I signed the document. He handed it back to Dr. Bright and then we were on our way home.