“No. Well, if you’d prefer…”
“I’ll come with.” He locks the car.
Warren pushes the stroller to the entrance, and as we get inside, he reaches for my hand. I’m not sure if it’s for my comfort or if it just felt right.It does feel right.
I could get used to this, the feeling of not trudging through appointments, difficult days or fears alone. That thought pulls me out of my body, enough to feel the burden ease as I look down at my hand wrapped in his.
I open the door for Warren to push the stroller in and gesture to a seat in the waiting room while I go to the front desk.
“Good morning, Chloe. How’s our Willow doing?” Out of the receptionists, Joy is my favourite—her name personified. She’s got to be close to eighty and once told me she’s been working at the hospital since before Dr. O’Leary was born. She likes to brag about that to the new patients.
“Morning! She’s—”
Joy interrupts me, “And who is that handsome man with her?”
I smirk.He is handsome, isn’t he?“That’s my roommate, Warren.”
“Roommate… is that what you kids are calling it these days? Okay…” She takes Willow’s paperwork from me––the charting I do during the week between visits—and makes eyes at Warren.
I look at him as he waves back at her, flirtatious as ever. I stifle a laugh.
“Oh my. Chloe, if you don’t snatch him up, someone else will,” Joy says, her mouth open.
“I just might,” I say through my grin.
“Dr. O’Leary is ready for you in room B.” She points to the double doors to her left.
“Thanks, Joy.” I wave Warren over and he follows, pushing Willow down the hall and into the small consultation room.
“Talking about me, dove?” he asks, voice barely above a whisper.
“What? No…” I answer dismissively, “and why do you keep calling me—”
“Good morning, how is my favourite patient doing?” Dr. O’Leary steps into the room and washes his hands by the front door. “Oh, and we have a new face this morning. Hello, I’m Dr. O’Leary.”
“Warren. Nice to meet you.” Warren nods politely back at him before taking a seat in the chair closest to the door.
“Good to meet you, Warren.” Dr. O’Leary looks towards me as I take Willow out of her seat and back to him briefly before speaking again. “I haven’t had a chance to look over your charting. How did the week go? And what has her sleep been like since she started the new medication?”
“Well,” I say as I walk over to the exam table, “her blood pressure was up Tuesday, but otherwise, it was lower than the week before. Her sleep has gotten slightly better. Actually, she slept through the night last Wednesday—that was incredible.”
Warren sputters a cough, and I look over to him.
“Uh, sorry,” Warren says. “Does her sleep affect the medical stuff? Would it matter if she slept through the night?”
What a weird question. This isn’t really a participatory thing, Warren.
“Well, yes. We’re tracking her development alongside her heart health. At four months, we’d hope she’d start sleeping in longer stretches. It would at least tell us if her medication is making her irritable,” Dr. O’Leary responds politely to the interruption.
Warren rubs a flat palm over his head. “Okay so, she didn’t sleep through the night last week. I, uh, I got up with her…”
My lips part.He was in my room?Wednesday was the day I got the call from Rachel. I really needed that sleep.
Warren looks around sheepishly.
“Well, never the matter.” Dr. O’Leary speaks, and I drag my attention back to him.
“I’m glad to hear her blood pressure is improving.” He clicks open the file with Willow’s scans. “Ah, here we are. Okay.” He swivels on his stool to face us, grinning from ear to ear. “The scan from last Friday’s appointment was uploaded this morning, and I think you’ll be elated to hear that the hole in her artery has entirely shut. Surgery won’t be necessary… she did it herself.”
