Chapter
42
Later that night, the group left to check into a hotel near
the hospital to spend the night, promising Elyssa they would be back in the
morning.
When morning came, AJ was the first one up and ready to
go. Eventually, the other seven got
ready too, and they all headed to the hospital.
Once at the hospital, AJ entered Elyssa’s room to find her
sitting up in bed, picking at a grim looking breakfast.
“Hey, baby,” he greeted, kissing her cheek. “How you feeling?”
Elyssa shrugged.
“Pretty bad, actually,” she admitted.
AJ nodded sympathetically.
“When do they start those tests that doctor of yours was talking about?”
“Right after breakfast,” she replied glumly.
AJ frowned. “Well,
don’t you worry. It’ll all be okay.”
Elyssa tried to smile, tried to hide the fear that plagued
her. It was hard to do, especially in
front of AJ, when all she felt like doing was sobbing into his shoulder.
Instead, she pushed back her tray and announced, “I’m
done.”
AJ examined her barely nibbled on breakfast. “But you didn’t eat hardly anything!” he
protested.
She shrugged. “I’m
not hungry. Plus, it’s pretty nasty
food.”
AJ shut his mouth, unable to argue with her on that
point. It was pretty nasty
looking.
Just then, a stocky, middle aged nurse entered the room,
pushing a wheelchair in front of her.
“Good morning,” she greeted, smiling cheerfully. “Elyssa, right?”
“Yup,” Elyssa said.
“My name is Darlene, and I’m going to take you down for
your first round of tests,” the nurse said.
Elyssa nodded, swallowing back her nervousness. “Okay,” she said hesitantly.
“Just hop on into the chair, and we’ll get going,” Darlene
said. She offered Elyssa her hand to
help her out of bed, but Elyssa didn’t take it.
Just because she was in the hospital didn’t mean she was some kind of
invalid.
However, as Elyssa swung her legs over the side of the bed
and stood up, she was overcome with a wave of dizziness. Suddenly light-headed, she swayed unsteadily
on her feet.
“Whoa there,” Darlene exclaimed, quickly sliding her arm
behind Elyssa’s back to steady her. AJ
was by her side in an instant, holding onto her arm.
“You okay, Lyss?” he asked, alarmed.
“I… I’m fine,” Elyssa said, slowly sitting down in the
wheelchair. The dizziness quickly faded.
“Are you okay now?” Darlene asked, eyeing Elyssa
tentatively.
Elyssa nodded.
“Let’s go,” she muttered.
“I’ll see you soon, honey,” said AJ, quickly kissing his
girlfriend before the nurse wheeled her away.
Elyssa was relieved once Darlene wheeled her down the hall,
away from AJ’s watchful eye. He was
protective of her, and she appreciated it, but it did get annoying to have him
hovering over her the way he was.
“So, was that your boyfriend?” Darlene asked, as she pushed
Elyssa into one of the elevators at the end of the hall.
“Yeah,” Elyssa replied.
“His name’s AJ.”
“He seems like a nice guy,” Darlene observed.
“Yup. He’s a
sweetie,” replied Elyssa, smiling slightly.
The elevator took them up one floor and stopped, the doors
sliding open. Darlene pushed Elyssa
through them and wheeled her down the hall, bringing her into a small
room. The room was all immaculately
white, with an examining table in the center.
“Okay, Elyssa, I’m going to have you lie down on the table
here first,” Darlene said, helping Elyssa up from the wheelchair. Her dizziness just a thing of the past,
Elyssa made it to the table fine and boosted herself up onto it, easing herself
back until she was lying down.
“Okay, first, I just need to draw some blood,” Darlene said,
brandishing a cotton ball and a bottle of rubbing alcohol. She pushed back the sleeve of Elyssa’s
hospital gown and cleaned off her upper arm with the cold antiseptic.
Elyssa felt more at ease.
She had been through blood tests before, and they were not that
bad. Maybe this will be the worst
test, she thought hopefully.
Unfortunately, she was wrong.
***
