“Yeah, the doctor told me he would tell me the test results soon. Nick, I’m scared. What if the results are really bad?” I panicked, wiping the tear away that was sliding down my cheek.
“Everything will be fine, honey. I promise. As long as I’m here, there’s nothing to worry about, ok?” Nick reassured me over the phone, slowly causing all of my fears to disappear. “I’ll come up there in a few minutes to be with you when you get the results, ok? I love you,” he said in a sweet, soothing tone.
“Okay, thank you. I love you, too. Bye,” I told him, hanging up the phone. A little while later, just as Nick had promised, he waltzed into my hospital room, wearing a pair of carpenter jeans and a navy blue horizontally striped shirt.
“Hey. How do you feel?” he asked, walking over, brushing a bit of hair out of my face and kissing me lightly on the cheek.
“I feel fine, but I’m nervous, worried, and terrified,” I informed him, as he took hold of my shaking hands.
“Peyton, I promise everything will be fine. I promise,” he repeated almost in a whisper.
“I hope so…” I trailed off, thinking of the possibilities.
We sat there hand in hand for a few minutes in complete silence.
“Where is Tristan?” I asked, breaking the silence.
“I took him to Shay’s so I could be with you,” he said, smiling slightly.
Just then the doctor walked in the room with a chart and pen in his hand.
“Evening Mr. and Mrs. Bryant,” the doctor nodded his head and closed the door behind him.
“Uh, no…we’re not married,” I corrected the doctor, blushing slightly. I looked over at Nick who had a big grin spread across his face.
“My apologies. I do have your test results back,” the doctor said taking a seat across from us.
I gripped Nick’s hand tighter and clenched my teeth together in suspense. I could feel my heart pounding rapidly as if it would come out of my chest.
“Your blood tests look fine, however we did find a small problem with your heart,” the doctor said, keeping his eyes cast down upon his chart. I stared at the doctor with anticipation and fear of what the actual tests showed.
“What kind of problem?” I managed to get out.
“You have a heart murmur,” the doctor stated.
I let out a huge sigh of relief and smiled, throwing my arms around Nick, hugging his neck tightly.
“What? Is that good?” Nick pulled back confused.
“Yes!” I squealed with delight.
“Yes, Mr. um…yes, it’s good. She’s probably had the heart murmur since she was born, but it just became apparent because she was under so much stress lately. Just take it easy, Mrs. Bryant, and you should be able to do all of your normal activities,” Dr. McKinley concluded, getting up to walk out of the room.
“Thank you so much!” I smiled brightly.
“Oh! By the way…whenever you’re ready to go home, just sign out at the desk,” he smiled leaving the room.
I turned to Nick and looked at him anxiously. “Well, ya ready to go?” I asked, getting ready to get out of bed.
“Sure! There’s one thing I don’t understand, though,” Nick commented.
“What’s that?” I asked, fully sitting up in my bed now.
“What did the doctor mean by ‘normal activities’?” he asked seriously.
“Oh you know…working, playing with Tristan, talk-“ Nick silenced me, placing his finger over my lips.
“And kissing?” he grinned deviously, moving his face closer to mine until our lips met and we shared a passionate kiss.
