“Let’s see where this goes,” he echoed, brushing back a strand of her hair.
“You’d better get back to work,” she said reluctantly.
He smiled. “Why don’t you stay at the pub for a while? I can whip up some sweet potato fries with garlic aioli for you.”
“That sounds fantastic.” She grinned at him. “I’ll admit, I haven’t been eating much. I’ve been too sad.”
He shook his head. “We can’t have that. Come on.” He stood up and took her hand. “Let’s go spend some time together.”
They shared a radiant smile and left the gazebo hand in hand.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Dean shut his eyes for a moment, trying to pretend that he wasn’t sitting in an examination room at the doctor’s office. He tried to pretend that he was anywhere else—Main Street Auto, his house, his mother’s house, Noelle’s apartment, the beach—but as soon as he inhaled, the sterile, plastic-y smell of the room brought him right back to reality.
He felt Noelle tighten her grip on his hand, and he opened his eyes and turned to her with a smile.
“You okay, sweetheart?” he asked her softly.
“I am,” she said, stroking his hand with her thumb. “Are you okay?”
He nodded, keeping the smile on his face despite the way his stomach was sloshing with nervousness. He never liked waiting for test results. He always tried to stay positive, as he was doing at the moment, but especially after getting bad news back from tests several times in the past, it was difficult not to be afraid.
“The doctor will be back soon,” she said, squeezing his hand again. “And then we’ll know.”
“Yeah.” He knew by how tightly she was holding onto him that she could tell how worried he was. He saw that she wastrying to put a brave face on the situation as well, but a frown of worry kept creeping across her face.
Dean was just taking another deep breath, trying to steady his nerves, when there was a short knock on the examination room door. A moment later, the doctor entered the room, carrying a clipboard and wearing a professional smile that didn't betray any kind of real emotion.
“All right, Dean,” the doctor said, leaning against the counter and looking at the clipboard. “We've got the results of your tests back, and I'm going to go over them with you. Feel free to ask me questions at any point.” He looked up at Dean and Noelle with another smile, but Dean could see pity in his eyes and his heart sank.
“Sounds good,” Dean said. Beside him, Noelle squeezed his hand intensely.
The doctor began to explain the result of the tests, speaking slowly and adopting a positive tone despite the fact that the results were clearly negative. “All this to say, unfortunately the new strategies for managing your osteoarthritis haven't been working. I think trying to change your medications and continue physical therapy for a while was a good choice, but unfortunately it isn't going to serve you anymore. I know you've been hoping to put off surgery, but at this point it seems inevitable.”
Dean turned to look at Noelle and saw that her eyes were slightly moist. His heart felt heavy and he didn't know what to say. She seemed to realize this and she turned to the doctor to speak first.
“Thank you for running the tests, doctor. It's not the news we were hoping for, but it’s been pretty clear that Dean's symptoms haven't been improving. We’ll do whatever we need to do to ensure that Dean is in the best health possible. If you think surgery is the way we should go, then that's what we’ll do.”
“That is definitely what I would recommend,” said the doctor. “But I don't want you to think that surgery is some kind of route of defeat. It's simply a more drastic tactic to find healing. But the good news is, it's often very successful.”
Noelle nodded. “I've been doing some research. Would the surgery be an osteotomy?”
“Yes. We've got a very talented team here that has a great track record with performing successful surgeries. You wouldn't have anything to worry about, Dean. If this goes well, it could really transform your day-to-day life.”
Noelle turned to Dean, looking into his eyes. “I think this is good. An osteotomy could be an excellent option to manage your symptoms and prevent further damage.”
Dean nodded, feeling incredibly grateful that she was there by his side. She felt like his life jacket in the middle of a storm-tossed ocean. He squeezed her hand and then turned to the doctor. “When would be the best time to have surgery?”
“The sooner the better. We would be able to fit you in next month. These types of procedures can be difficult to schedule, so I would strongly recommend taking the available time slot right away.”
Dean's heart sank again as he realized what that would mean. He turned to Noelle, frowning with uncertainty. “If I have the surgery next month, that would mean that I would still be recovering during our wedding. We wouldn't be able to have it on the date that we've been planning on. We would have to postpone our wedding, and I don't want to do that to you.”
Noelle shook her head, stroking his hands and touching her knee to his. “As much as I want to marry you as soon as possible, I want you to feel your best on our wedding day even more. I have no problem putting off our wedding so that you can undergo the necessary surgery to improve your condition. I think this is the right thing to do.” She turned back to the doctorand smiled bravely. “Could you give us a few minutes to talk about it before we give you an answer?”
“Of course,” he said, smiling at them. “I realize that it's a big decision at any time. When there’s a wedding postponement thrown into the mix, it becomes a very big decision indeed. Go ahead and talk about it together, and I'll be back in a few minutes.”
Once the doctor had left the room, Noelle wrapped her arms around Dean and laid her head on his shoulder. “I know this isn't what we wanted,” she said. “But I so want you to feel good again. I've been so sad, thinking that you're going to be in pain on our wedding day. Now you wouldn't have to be. That's definitely something worth waiting for.”
