"Well Zah, you ready to go and spend the day with uncle Jason" Luca asked his daughter as she waltzed into the living room of the apartment in the hotel they were staying at near Bethesda and sat on the couch opposite where Jess was sitting quietly, Cerbs followed the girl closely behind
"Yep, got both mine and Cerbs gear all packed, you ready to go to the hospital mummy" Zalie said looking at her mum curiously
"Darn right I have, now remember it will only be daddy here in the hotel when you get back tonight as mummy has to stay in the hospital overnight as they have lots of tests to do, but you'll see me tomorrow morning when you come and pick me up so we can go home okay" Jess said reassuring her that everything was okay, she was supposed to only be doing a day visit, but Doctor Masterson had called Jess late last night and informed her that she would need to spend the night as they wanted to do a couple of extra tests than what was originally planned
"Can I video call you to say good night" Zalie asked curiously
"It will all depend on what time you get back from the match with uncle Jason, so you'll need to check with daddy before you call me, but I'll definitely see you in the morning okay, whose that at the door" Jess said assuring her that regardless of what happened tonight, Zalie would get to see her early the next day, Zalie had really struggled with Jess being sick in the ICU as she had not been allowed to visit her mum because she was under-age, so she'd taken turns staying with Naima and Stella when Laura was working overnight with the rescue as Jay and Alie were focusing their time on Jess. When Jess moved to the ward and began treatment, Zalie struggled with seeing how sick her mum was, so she spent only a little time at the hospital and wasn't pressured into staying up there if she wasn't comfortable, so would travel back to Virginia Beach most times she visited
"Uncle Jason" Zalie squealed excitedly as she saw Jason standing in the door with her dad, not able to contain herself, she jumped up and ran over to give him a big hug
"Hey Zah, you ready to spend the day together" Jason asked, keen to have some time to finally take Zalie to a hockey match
"Yep" Zalie said as Cerbs let out a bark to let Jason know he was there as well
"Yes Cerbs you're coming to, can't forget you old buddy, everything okay Jess" Jason said acknowledging his former team mates presence, Cerbs had his service dog vest on and was ready to go and help look after his little charge
"Everything is fine, they just wanted to do a couple of extra tests and I'll need to stay overnight because they need to monitor me, now you have fun and try not to give uncle Jason to hard of a time okay" Jess said cautioning Zalie to be nice and assuring Jason she was fine, somehow the more she said it the better she felt
"Okay mummy, have fun, love you" Zalie said giving her mum a big hug
"Love you to my little Super Zah" Jess said returning the gesture, Zalie then gave her dad the same hug before grabbing Cerbs leash and her backpack before turning and heading out the door with Jason for the day
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"Well Jess, you've had a busy day I see" Doctor James said walking into Jess's room around 1800, Jess knew the visit was happening, but the doctor had been delayed in surgery all afternoon, so Jess wasn't sure what time the doctor would arrive, Luca had gone back to the hotel already, this was just supposed to be a quick check up after all and Doctor Leighton had already assured him that everything was okay and his future wife was recovering really well from everything
"Mhmm" Jess mumbled as she let out a yawn
"Did Doctor Masterson explain to you why we've been doing all these extra tests today" Doctor James asked as she pulled the seat up next to Jess's bed
"I'm recovering quicker than expected and they're getting the information they need to form an official management plan to go to the MEB that I can use if I wish to return to duty after I officially get remission" Jess said explaining what she had been told by both Doctor Leighton and Doctor Masterson that day
"Yes well how would you like an early wedding present, no more high necks and you'll be able to get back in the pool and start training again, might help you start to make a decision about whether you are wanting to return to duty or not" Doctor James said pointing at her own neck
"Are you kidding, I thought I had this for another 6 weeks" Jess said realising the doctor was talking about the trache tube in her neck being removed right then and there, Jess was excited for it to finally go but she was apprehensive about it as well as this was a lot earlier than she originally expected it to be happening
"I'm confident your larynx has recovered sufficiently to survive without it, and images show that the swelling has disappeared so there will be no obstruction of your trachea" Doctor James said pulling out the images Jess had had taken earlier that day to show what she was meaning
"Well yeah if it can go, then I got no problem with it going, will be interesting to see how things sound" Jess said reassured by the image Doctor James had shown her, she'd lost a very small part of her larynx when they resected the tumour there, so there was a chance things would sound different as the structure had been altered, whether it would be really noticeable or not would be another thing
"Teresa will come by in the morning before you leave and take you through some new exercises, but you won't be able to push it to fast to soon, you're throat will probably be sore for the next week or so, and it will take time for everything to settle down and we'll know for certain what your voice will sound like, may I" Doctor James said warning her the results wouldn't be instant, Jess would still need to be patient. Jess simply nodded at Doctor James, giving her the okay to go ahead and take the tube out
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"Hi Daddy" Zalie said excitedly as she bounded into the apartment with Cerbs around 2100 with Jason following her closely behind
"Hi, how was the game" Luca asked putting down the paperwork he was busy doing so he could talk to her
"Good, Islanders won 5 to 2" Zalie said as she gave her dad a hug
"Well that must mean uncle Jason is a very happy man tonight" Luca said eying Jason up and down, Jason still had a huge smile on his face
"Aha, is mummy still awake" Zalie asked looking at her dad hopefully
"She went to sleep 2 hours ago, the tests have made her pretty tired, and its past your bedtime" Luca said stroking Zalie's hair softly
"Oh" Zalie said pouting in protest about what her dad had told her, she wanted to tell her mum all about the game
"Time for bed Zah, you need to go and get your jammies on, take Cerbs to do his business, get your pump set up and have your medication" Luca said firmly to her explaining what she needed to do to get ready to go to sleep
"But daddy" Zalie said looking at Jason to back her up
"No buts about it, and uncle Jason is only going to tell you to listen to me so don't think he's going to help you get out of going to bed" Luca said noticing the look Zalie was giving Jason
"Your daddy is right Zah" Jason said looking at her, he was backing Luca all the way
"Can uncle Jason at least read me a story tonight seeing as mummy isn't here to do one" Zalie asked looking at her dad, she usually got 2 stories when Jess was stateside
"If that's okay with uncle Jason" Luca said looking over at him for his opinion
"You go and do everything your daddy has told you to do right now and I'll read you a story, how does that sound" Jason said looking Zalie straight in the eyes, he could use that time Zalie was getting ready for bed to find out what was going on
"Okay, come on Cerbs" Zalie said satisfied she was getting two stories instead of just one as she got up and walked into the room she was sleeping in for the night
"What time did you leave the hospital" Jason asked Luca a few seconds after Zalie left the room
"1730, Jess was exhausted and was just waiting on a ENT consult from Doctor James, and I wanted to get some stuff done, they're doing a digestive study tonight to try and get to the cause of the blood sugar issues and get an idea how quickly food is moving through her body" Luca said explaining what was happening tonight, that was why Jess was being kept in overnight
"So she up for a full house of visitors tomorrow night then" Jason asked curiously, he knew that everyone wanted to see her as they hadn't had a night with everyone together since they arrived home, digestive studies were tiring for Jess as they'd be waking her up at set times to run tests and see where abouts the food was in her tract, so Jess would probably want to sleep tomorrow afternoon when she got home
"Should be fine, 1730" Luca said, he worked out Jess should have about 5 hours of sleep between when they got home and everyone getting there
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"Where's mummy" Zalie asked the minute she walked into her mums hospital room with Cerbs and saw it was empty
"Sounds like she's in the bathroom, she's probably getting dressed" Luca said as he heard the tap switch on then off a few seconds later
"Mummy" Zalie squealed happy to see Jess up and dressed ready to leave
"Hi Zah" Jess said in a raspy voice that was softer than usual
"Why does your voice sound funny mummy" Zalie asked suddenly looking at her mother concerned
"You really want to know, pull that down" Jess said pointing to the high collar on her oversized hoodie that was resting over her neck
"You don't have the tube in your throat anymore" Zalie said excitedly as she saw the tube was gone and a white waterproof dressing was resting over the top of where it had been, Doctor James had put a couple of dissolvable stitches in to help close up the incision and minimise the scarring
"When did that happen cuddle bug" Luca asked surprised as he pulled Jess in closer for a kiss and cuddle
"Last night when Doctor James was here, early wedding present" Jess said
"How long will you sound like that" Zalie asked her mum curious to know the answer, she wanted her mum back
"Don't know, it will take time to come right Zah, but remember what we told you, my voice might never sound the same as it was before I had the surgery" Jess said kneeling down so she could look her daughter in the eye, this answer seemed to frustrate Zalie
"But you know what this means" Luca asked kneeling down as well so he was on the same level as Zalie as well sensing Zalie's frustration
"What daddy" Zalie asked curious
"Mummy is going to be able to start exercising again, and we're all going to be able to go swimming in the lake at the big house together and mummy may even be able to find the energy for some tennis as well while we're there" Luca said explaining to her how her mom was still getting better and would be able to start doing more things now the trache tube was gone, stuff that Zalie associated with Jess being healthy
"So you better get some practice in, unless you want me to beat you" Jess said ribbing Zalie a little bit, Alie had taught Jess to play the game when she was little, and was now starting to teach Zalie as well how to play as it was a non contact sport, she'd only had 3 lessons so far with her Nonna but was an okay little player, and combined with her swimming lessons, Zalie was continuing to get stronger all the time
"Na ah, you ain't going to beat me" Zalie said putting her hands on her hips and looking at her mom, she had developed a real competitive streak when it come to competition which Jess and Luca so far hadn't objected to, as long as she was a gracious looser when she lost they were happy
"Come on, let's go home" Luca said smiling at his daughters behaviour before picking up Jess's overnight bag she'd brought with her and put his arms around both of his girls as they walked out of the hospital room to head home
