Author's Note: Well, I have nothing much to say. Here's more. This chapter is dedicated to Megan-16-16. I love you!
Monday – Doctor's Office
"Sara Sidle?" a nurse called in a friendly voice. "The doctor will see you now."
She picked up her purse and took a deep breath. Nick, who came along with her for moral support, was going to stay in the waiting room, but at the last minute, she said, "Nick, will you come in?"
He was a bit surprised at the request, but he said that he would.
Inside, the nurse handed her a gown to put on and left, saying that the doctor would be in within a few minutes. Nick turned around as she changed, and right on cue, the doctor entered.
"Hi, are you Sara Sidle?" she asked.
"Yeah," she replied.
The doctor extended her hand. "I'm Dr. Poirot, you can call me Anna." They shook hands. "And you are?" she asked, turning towards Nick.
"Oh, I'm Nick. Nick Stokes," he said. They shook hands. "Nice to meet you," he said.
"Likewise. If I may ask, your relationship with Ms. Sidle is…?" she trailed off.
"I'm just a friend," he answered, although he really didn't see why it was any of her business. "Sar, are you sure you want me here?"
"Yeah. I do."
He sat down in the chair across from the exam bench.
Anna asked Sara to open the gown and show her where the lump was. Nick was thankful that she stood between him and Sara, blocking his view.
"Okay, I'm going to take you into the next room to do a mammogram, okay?"
Sara nodded. She knew this was coming, but that didn't mean she was looking forward to the painful procedure at all.
Anna led her into the next room. She performed a mammogram and a punch biopsy, then called a nurse in to take a blood sample. "We'll mail you the results within the next two weeks. Feel free to call us with any questions, although we'll only call you if there's something wrong."
"Okay, thank you," she said.
She went back into the first room she had been in and met with Nick again. Once again, he turned around as she put her clothes back on. "Okay," she said when she was finished. "Let's go."
"So, what did she say?" he asked.
"They'll send me the results in a couple of weeks and call me if something's wrong."
He nodded slowly. "Come on, I'll take you out for lunch," he said, taking her by the hand.
Sitting in a diner they'd been to often before, Sara asked, "Why do we always come here?"
"Because it's open twenty-four hours?" he suggested.
"Everything in Vegas is open twenty-four hours," she deadpanned.
"Because it's cheap?" he said.
She laughed. "Whatever."
Just then, their food came. Sara had ordered a soup and salad combo, and Nick had ordered a chicken club sandwich. As they ate together, their conversation drifted into the realm of cancer.
"Nick…what if I have cancer?" she asked quietly.
He sighed and looked at his drink as though the answer would appear in it. "I don't know. I guess you get treatment," he said. "How do you feel about it?"
"I don't know." She was quiet for a minute. "I'm trying not to think about it," she said.
"That's good," he said. "My mom always says to keep a positive attitude on life. One thing she said every single day when I was growing up was, 'You might not have a reason to laugh, but you have no reason not to laugh either.'"
Sara smiled a soft smile. "Smart woman, your mom."
He nodded. "She is."
"Okay, random question. What is your favourite childhood memory?" she asked, slightly but abruptly changing the subject.
He thought for a second, and smiled when he remembered something. "When I got my tonsils taken out when I was seven."
"Why on earth would you enjoy that?" Sara asked, confused. She still had her tonsils, and she liked them just fine right where they were, thank you very much.
He grinned. "Because I got to eat nothing but ice cream and jello for a week."
She shook her head, smiling. "I always knew that the way to a man's heart was through his stomach."
"Hey! I resent that," he joked. "Okay, my turn for a random question. If you could be any animal for a day, what would it be?"
She had to think long and hard about that one. "I think I'd probably be a panda. They're so cool. Really gentle, but protective too."
"I could see that," Nick said. "And you're both vegetarian, so you'd fit in perfectly."
She smirked at him. "If you were stranded on a desert island for a year, what three things would you bring with you?"
"A good book, a good friend, and some good beer," he said, grinning.
She laughed. "And what friend might that be?" she asked. She had a secret wish that it would be her, but she figured he'd probably take Warrick or somebody.
He looked down into his food. "You."
She was a bit taken aback, but overjoyed nonetheless.
He looked back up, a bit embarrassed. "What would you bring?"
"A helicopter to get off the island, a cell phone just in case, and a good friend," she replied mischievously.
"To which good friend are you referring?" he asked, equally as mischievously.
Now it was Sara's turn to be embarrassed. "I'd bring you too."
Nick decided that now was as good a time as any to get what he'd been harbouring for years out. "Look, Sara, I like you. I like you a lot. And I want to go out on a date with you," he said, a bit surprised at his own words.
She was evidently surprised too, as Nick judged by the look on her face. She'd wanted this since the day she met him, and over a chicken club sandwich, he asked her out? Not that she was arguing. At least he'd finally worked up the nerve. "Well, we have one thing in common, then. I want to go out with you too."
He exhaled sharply in relief. "Good," he half-chuckled. "But I guess we're kind of already out."
"True," she laughed. Her cell phone rang just then, and she pulled it out. The caller ID made her scowl, and she held it out to display it to Nick. "Ecklie," she explained. He scowled too. She flipped the phone open. "Sidle…Yeah…Sure…No, it's okay. I'll be right there…Okay." She turned to Nick. "Ecklie needs the whole team in. High-profile double homicide."
"My favourite," Nick said sarcastically. Just then, his phone rang too. "Stokes…Yeah, I heard. I'll be there right away. Okay, bye." Sara could tell by the tone in his voice that Ecklie had hung up by then. Nick was funny like that. He liked it better when people said goodbye to each other at the end of conversations. He snapped the phone shut and stuck his tongue out at it. "Boy, that guy pisses me off."
"Me too," she said. "Whatever. I don't pay attention to him. I wish he could say the same about me; the guy watches me like a hawk."
They spent the next few minutes complaining to each other about the balding jerk who just happened to control their jobs, as they paid the bill and headed out to Nick's car (which consequently was still there), driving to the lab and preparing themselves for a long day.
Author's Note: So, are y'all still liking this? I hope so. It is a tragedy, though, I will warn you. Reviews are the best thing you could give me right now. Actually, the second best thing. One guess as to what Number One is on that list! (I'll give you a hint: What starts with a G, ends in an S, and pure hotness in the middle?)