I felt like I had been in the doctor’s office all damn day. Between blood work, urine tests, and an ultrasound, James and I had easily been here for almost five hours.
James spoke quietly into his phone as he glanced at his watch. “I know there was a meeting, but I’m currently in the middle of some other shit that’s a bit more important. Reschedule it for tomorrow,” he ordered.
He hung up the phone and turned to look at me, looking as tired as I felt. “You okay, little one?”
“I want a nap,” I grumbled. Not to mention I was hungry as hell, so I was grumpy.
He quietly laughed. “You did miss your nap today, huh?”
I blushed. He grinned. “You’re so fucking adorable.” We both looked at the door as a light knock sounded for the umpteenth time today, and Dr. Franklin stepped into the room. She frowned down at her paperwork, and a bad feeling settled in the pit of my stomach.
She walked over to me and showed me a picture. “You see this?” she asked me. I nodded at what she was pointing at. “You have uterine fibroids. Yours are closer to your cervix, which explains the bleeding and pain during intercourse,” she explained.
She let me hold the picture as she grabbed herself a stool and took a seat. James placed his hand on my shoulder. “Since the fibroids are so large, I want to go ahead and treat this as quickly as we can. If it bursts, it’s going to cause you excruciating pain,” she explained. “I want to avoid that at all costs.”
I nodded in agreement. “So, I’m going to make you an appointment at the hospital on Thursday for a noninvasive procedure. You won’t be cut open. This won’t cause you any bit of pain,” she assured me.
I breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing a little bit now that I knew I wouldn’t have to go through yet another surgery. “What I’m going to schedule you for is called FUS – an MRI-guided focused ultrasound surgery. You’ll lay flat on your back, completely still, inside of an MRS scanner. We’ll locate the precise location of the fibroid, and then, soundwaves will be focused on the fibroid where it will heat and destroy small areas of the fibroid tissue until it’s gone.”
“That’s a lot to digest,” I squeaked, feeling overwhelmed. It probably didn’t help that I was tired and hungry, either.
She smiled at me. “All you really need to know is that you can take a nap.” She laughed. “This won’t hurt you at all; you won’t feel a single thing. You won’t even know that anything happened when it’s all over.”
“It’s that easy?” I asked her in disbelief.
She smiled and nodded. “It’s that easy,” she confirmed. She looked between me and James. “I’m going to request that you two refrain from sex together until after your appointment,” she told me. “I don’t want to take any chances that we irritate this fibroid further.”
“No problem,” James told her without hesitation. I looked up at him, knowing how he could get with work. He brushed his thumb over my cheek, his silent way of assuring me he would be fine. “I’ll take care of her. Do I need to call and make the appointment for her, or will you do that?”
“I already have a nurse working on it,” she informed him. “When I’m done consulting with you guys, you’ll stop on the way out at the nurse’s station where you got your vitals done,” she said, speaking to me again instead of James, “and you’ll pick up the paperwork. Don’t lose it,” she ordered. “They won’t let you in for the procedure if you don’t have that paperwork.”
I nodded in understanding. She smiled at me. “Don’t be nervous, Emmaline. Everything is going to be just fine. Take a deep breath. Do you have any questions for me?”
I didn’t. I looked up at James. He slightly shook his head at me. I looked back at Dr. Franklin. “We’re good,” I assured her.
She smiled and stood up, holding her hand out to me. I shook it with a small smile on my face. “I’ll see you for your follow-up appointment, then. Have a good rest of your day, you two.”
She left the room. I looked up at James. He gripped my chin and tilted my head back, covering my lips with his. “Don’t worry, little one. Everything is going to be fine,” he assured me. He grabbed my hand in his. “Come on. I need to feed you.”
On cue, my stomach rumbled. I blushed as James laughed. “Yeah – definitely need to get you some food. Come on, little one.”