Waves

CHAPTER 036

NORA

It was almost exactly five minutes after Nora had changed into the hospital gown that Zayne led a tall, clean shaven man in pink scrubs and a doctor's coat over to her room. Zayne smiled at Nora, and she managed to...sort of, return it.

"Hi there!" The new guy said, "I'm Doctor Matthews."

"Hi," Nora replied hesitantly.

"So," The good doctor looked at his chart and then said, "I hear you've been having problems with your thyroid?"

"Yep," Nora agreed.

"Have you had any issues in the past?"

"No. Well, not with my thyroid."

"Right. Have you ever had any tests done on your thyroid?"

"No."

"Then we'll start with an MRI, which we can do right here and right now. Zayne, will you go and get the MRI machine?"

Zayne left the room without a word, and then Dr. Matthews instructed Nora to lay down. He snapped a pair of blue gloves on and then began to gently feel around her thyroid. He asked her to tell him when it hurt, which she did, but it only hurt once and the rest of the time it was just horribly uncomfortable.

Zayne arrived soon with a large machine in tow, and Dr. Matthews told Nora to stay where she was, and then he and Zayne would work around her.

Nora stayed still as Dr. Matthews slathered a cold gel on her throat, and then began the MRI. She closed her eyes, wincing at the pressure. The other three people in the room were all silent for a long while.

Eventually, Dr. Matthews spoke, "Dr. Richards is another thyroid specialist in children. I've already paged her so that we can have a second opinion on what is going on with Nora."

Mouse must have nodded or something, because Nora didn't hear another peep until the door opened right at the same time Zayne said, "There."

"What?" Mouse and a female voice asked at the exact same time.

"A nogul," Dr. Matthews must have gestured or something at the screen that Nora still could not see. She opened her eyes and looked out the corner of them, where there was some sort of growth like thing on what she assumed was her thyroid.

"Right on the laryngeal nerve," Dr. Richards observed, "That's gonna be a doozie."

Dr. Matthews clicked something on the screen and a bunch of pictures were taken, "I want a biopsy so that we can tell if this is benign or cancerous. Zayne, find someone available."

"On it," The nurse turned and trotted out of the room, a determined expression on his face.

Dr. Matthews wiped the gel from Nora's neck and said, "Stay laying down right now, please, Eleanora. We'll get this machine out of here, and then we're going to do a biopsy. Do you know what a biopsy is?"

"No," Nora answered honestly.

"A biopsy is a test that we do with a needle that will help us see what's going on in your throat, alright? We're going to put you under some gas, so you won't hardly feel the needle, but it will still be a little bit uncomfortable."

Zayne reappeared in the doorway, "Room four is available, if Dr. Richards can do it. You have your next appointment in five minutes, Dr. Matthews."

"Alright," Dr. Matthews checked his watch and stood at the same time Dr. Richards did.

"Let's go and get your biopsy done, kiddo," She turned her attention to Mouse, "I should warn you now, we're going to be here for a while."

"I kinda figured," Mouse stood up with a small grin.

MOUSE

Mouse held Nora's hands as Dr. Richards began to start the gas up. She strapped a mask to Nora's face, and then turned and began to prepare her tools, "Count to one hundred, Nora," She instructed.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight..night...ten......e-le-bennn," And she was out.

Mouse would have chuckled at the concentrated expression on her tiny face if he hadn't been worried out of his mind for her. He knew that he shouldn't have been. He was her foreign exchange host, nothing more! Yet every time he looked at her, he couldn't help but seeing her as his own daughter, a part of his family.

Mouse's ringtone broke him out of his thoughts and he pulled it out of his pocket. Hoppo, his boss, was calling him.

"I have to take this, I'm going to step outside," Mouse said to Dr. Richards, who nodded.

Mouse stepped outside the room and pulled the door shut behind him, before picking up the phone. "Hoppo, what's up?" He asked.

"Mouse, I'm not going to beat around the bush today. I need you to come into work. We're swamped, we can't manage the beach without another lifeguard."

Mouse clenched his jaw, "This is a bad time, Hoppo, Nora's getting a biopsy and I don't want to leave her."

"I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't dire, Mouse. Someone's going to drown if you don't come in," Hoppo responded, his voice deadly serious.

"Can you call someone else?" Mouse protested.

"You're the closest to the beach and no one else can make it in time," Hoppo told him.

Mouse pinched the skin between his eyebrows and thought for a long moment, before he finally caved, "Fine. But I'm not coming until I'm sure that someone will be here when Nora wakes up. I don't want her to be alone and afraid because I'm not there."

"That's perfectly fine," Hoppo hung up the phone, and Mouse blinked tears of frustration from his eyes.

He dialed a number and put the phone to his ear, praying that Jesse would pick up. Harrison and Maxi were both already at work, but Jesse might be able to come over and stand in for him so that Nora wouldn't wake up alone.

Jesse picked up on the fourth ring, sounding horrible, "Hey, brother, what's up?"

"I need you to come and sit with Nora until she wakes up at the hospital. Hoppo just called me into work," Mouse told him without even saying hello.

Jesse hesitated, "Mouse, I'm really sick right now. I can hardly get out of bed."

"Sorry, mate. Feel better. I'll call Jules."

Mouse hung up instantly and dialled Jules' number.

She picked up on the fourth ring as well, "Hi, Mouse, how's the doctor's appointment going?"

--

Thanks so much once again for reading, guys! I really appreciate the votes and the comments, and it's super fun to look at this story and watch it grow! When I started it, I never expected it to get this big!

Thanks so much again and have a great day/night!

That_Fanfic_Kid :)