A Bad Boy's Gift

Chapter 37

"Yep, definitely broken," the nurse tells me, pulling up my X-ray. "I'm going to have to get an orthopaedic surgeon to review and see if you need surgery. You'll have to wait back out there."

Great, it looks like we're going to be here all night.

"You can go back to mine with Molly if you don't want to stay with me here," I tell Archer.

"I called her dad before I came to meet you, told him I'd got an emergency to tend to and needed him to take her tonight."

Great, he's staying here creating an awkward silence with an enormous elephant between us.

"I'm going to ring Adam though, so if you need me, text me and I'll come straight to you," he says, standing up and kissing my forehead before walking out the doors of the department.

Finally, alone with my thoughts, I start to wonder if he's going to want to have a relationship with Lucy or not, maybe he's gone to tell Adam that he wants to meet her. Or maybe he should meet with Elizabeth first.

"River Abbott, please," I get called back in about 25 minutes after Archer walks out, I text him, and he is hanging up the phone as he walks back through the doors.

"Hi, I'm Mr Hamilton, the Orthopaedic consultant on call today," he tells me as we enter into a private consultation room. "I have reviewed your X-ray, and you're going to need surgery to fix it. We will have to manipulate the bone to pull it back into position, we will then have to plate the bones so that they heal where we want them and to help you get mobility in the wrist sooner."

It's a lot to take in, and I just sit there looking at him.

"When do I have to come back for the surgery?" I ask.

"Oh, you'll have to stay here. We can do it tonight," he smiles at me. "I'll get the nurse. She can do a round of blood tests and a urine test, all standard for everyone who has surgery. I'll just grab a consent form for you to sign, and we will get you admitted to the orthopaedic ward," he smiles again, before getting up and walking out of the door. He comes back almost immediately with a yellow form. He fills it in, explaining what he's writing and gets me to sign to agree to the surgery myself.

"Will I be put to sleep?" I ask just before he walks out of the door.

"No, you'll be given a nerve block at the top of your shoulder and some sedation to help you relax, you'll probably feel a bit groggy for a while but it should help the time pass and help the pain post-op. Any more questions?"

I shake my head and he leaves.

A few minutes later, a new nurse comes in and shows me to a bay with just a curtain for privacy. She passes me a pot and asks me to pee in it, showing me towards the bathroom. I manage to squeeze out a little wee, but my sudden anxiety about the surgery isn't allowing me to relax enough.

I return to the nurse and pass her my sample pot wrapped in a toilet roll.

I sit back on the bed waiting for her to return to do my bloods.

"Your urine test can back inconclusive, so I'm going to have to do your HCG in your blood test," she says, matter of fact.

"I'm sorry, what are you testing my HCG for?" I ask.

"My question is what is HCG," it's the first thing Archer has said since he went to speak to Adam.

"HCG is the pregnancy hormone, if we get an inconclusive result from the urine we have to do a blood test," she says, getting the correct blood bottles out of the trolley.

"I'm on the pill, I take it at the same time every day, right before I get up," I look at her with confusion. "Although, with the day I've had, it wouldn't surprise me if it were positive," I roll my eyes.