"So, you seem to be healing nicely, and the report I saw from physical therapy is that it is going well, "Sharon's doctor said as he reviewed her chart. She was sitting on the exam table, and Andy was in the chair next to her. He had her cane; she had wanted to walk back from the waiting room to the exam room without the cane, but he'd insisted, claiming she had to use it until the doctor said otherwise. She got her way, just slightly, as she walked from one room to the other, after the blood pressure cuff wouldn't work correctly, without the cane. Andy hadn't said anything, but he'd just rolled his eyes. Now, she smiled at him. They were finding their feet with all of this, no pun intended, with her cane issues. They'd had some growing pains at home. She'd told him he was hovering. He'd told her she was too worried about his having another heart attack. He'd been overprotective; she'd been researching bland diets for them to try. They loved each other, and they would figure it out. Health issues for both, right after they'd moved in together was not the storybook romance they'd wanted, but both were just glad to be alive.
"Yes, I'm feeling stronger and stronger each day," she smiled up at him after taking her eyes off Andy. "So," she clasped her hands in her lap, "when can I go back to work?"
"Oh my-," Andy grumbled in the corner, just loudly enough for Sharon to hear him. She snapped her head in his direction, but he was smart enough not to say more and had his eyes buried in his hand. His elbow was propped up on the chair.
"We're not even close to discussing work," the doctor said, and Sharon turned back to him. He frowned, "I know you are anxious, but you had serious trauma, and you need to heal."
Sharon let out a long sigh as she looked down at the floor, "Okay, can you at least give me a timeline?"
"Tell me how you are doing with that cane," he encouraged her, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I'm great," she said in a matter of fact tone as she shook her head. "I'm so great that I think we can agree I have no use for the cane. I'm moving just fine, no issues," she informed him.
"Really?" her doctor looked up from his chart. "I'm glad to hear you are doing so well with it. It's meant as extra support, and it is no sort of judgement on you and your abilities. You have nothing to prove with me."
"It's completely unnecessary," she explained to him again. "I'm ready to be rid of it. I'm moving very well, no problems."
"Sharon," Andy looked up at her from his seat. She turned to him, and he frowned, "Sharon, please tell the doctor everything."
The doctor looked between them, trying to figure out what he was missing. Sharon's jaw dropped open, and she shook her head at Andy, "Rusty!"
"Don't blame Rusty," he sighed. "Rusty talked only after I interrogated him," he explained. "I saw the broken mug in the trash, actually, it rubbed against my leg when I took out the trash. I could hear it rattling around in there. Anyway, I asked Rusty about it because he was home, and you were at physical therapy. Kid turned ghostly white, and finally, he told me you'd fallen.
Sharon sighed and turned back to the doctor, "That was nothing, an isolated incident a few days ago. I'm fine. I just overdid it that day. I was walking from the couch to the kitchen just fine. I fell," she enunciated the word and turned back to Andy to explain, "when I just wasn't looking and missed the chair. I was reaching for the chair and fell. It had nothing to do with being unsteady."
The doctor nodded, "Regardless, I would like you to use the cane. You haven't been home that long, and the cane, while annoying," he smiled at her, "is meant to help, as I said. I was going to have you keep using it, so nothing you just told me changes that. Now, let's discuss a few other things."
A half hour later, they were finally on their way to the car. Sharon had looped her arm through Andy's, which seemed to be the compromise to not using the cane. He had the cane in his free hand and reached with that hand to squeeze Sharon's hand on his. He looked to her, "I know you are frustrated."
"I can't believe Rusty told you!" she exclaimed.
"I wasn't even talking about that. I was talking about the fact you can't do what you want, that you have to rely on others, that you can't go back to work, that you have to use the cane, that you have to still go to therapy. I'm sorry, "he leaned over and kissed her head. He nodded to her ring, "You do have a gorgeous ring, there, Captain," he winked.
She groaned and shook her head again, "You are just trying to distract me with that ring talk."
"What?" he shrugged. "The doc noticed it too. He's allowed to say it's a great ring, but I'm not, the guy who gave it to you? Okay," he sighed.
"Can we just stop for now?" Sharon sighed as they reached the car. Andy unlocked the door with his remote, and he opened the door for her. Before she got into the car, she looked up at him, "Why didn't you say anything about my fall? You know it was nothing, really."
He rolled his eyes, "I know better than that. I wasn't going to say anything at all, but when you were going on and on with the doc, I just felt he should know. I know it's embarrassing, and I know you hate the cane. I was dizzy a lot after my blood clot. You remember. You helped me so many times. It was embarrassing that as a grown man, who had lived on his own for years, I had to stay with my new girlfriend and have her take care of me."
She nodded as she listened, and she chuckled at the end, "New girlfriend," she hummed. "Who were we kidding? We certainly were very comfortable around each other."
"Yeah, true, but still, the idea I had to have care-Sharon, I get it," he told her as he gave her a soft smile. "I'm not in an 'I told you so' mode at all. I hated that you felt the need to hide it from me, but all I want is for you to get better. Seriously, we need you back at work. I've got Provenza checking over things," he groaned.
Sharon laughed and nodded, "I'm just so frustrated. I think next week at my appointment, I'm going to see if he will at least let me do paperwork for work, even at home. That's a fair compromise. I wouldn't go into work; you could bring home the paperwork, but I could do that. My mind is good."
"The cloudiness is clearing up," he agreed. "Just don't rush things. I'm so happy to have you back, Sharon. I just want you well, both of us well."
"Your appointment is in, what, two and a half hours?" Sharon asked, looking at her watch. Andy glanced at his and nodded.
"May I take you to lunch, my dear?" Andy asked, flirting with her. She sighed, still wanting to be mad, but one glance at his flirty smile, and she rolled her eyes. Instead of answering, she got into the car. Andy nodded to himself, "I'll take that as a yes."
"This is pathetic," she said before he closed the door. "We're not even that old, and yet, our day is being spent on doctor's appointments for the both of us."
"Happy to be alive, Sharon," he winked. "I'm happy we are both alive."
The tension dissolved during lunch, and the two fell into their normal, comfortable state with each other. They really had been going through a lot. Andy had been talking to Provenza about it, but he knew Sharon really had no one. Having Emily home had been great, but he knew Sharon wouldn't go into details about their life together with Emily. He spent lunch trying to encourage her to reach out to Andrea.
"If you don't want to call Andrea for a girls' night, why don't you call Patrice? You two get along well, and I know you have a lot in common with Provenza and me," he flashed a grin.
"I am just hesitant to get out for some girls' night. I'm not in a shopping mood yet, and to be honest, I'm tired in the evening," she sighed. "I look terrible too."
"You look gorgeous," he corrected her. "Patrice doesn't care; Hobbs doesn't either, but I know you've been around Patrice since everything happened. Please, even if you two want to stay at the condo and order in, I'll set up everything for you. I'll make sure Rusty and I are out of your hair. I know you'd enjoy it."
"I'll think about it," she looked at him. "How was your soup?"
"Perfect for today," he smiled at her. "How was your cheeseburger?" Andy chuckled and winked at her.
"Delicious," she grinned. "I've been wanting one for so long. It really hit the spot, and I am almost ashamed I ate every single bite of it."
"I'm glad something tasted good to you," he said, looking at his watch. "We've got to get to my appointment. I'm glad you can come with me. I'd almost think my doc believes I'm lying to you about our mess. It's just been so crazy. You can finally meet her."
It took them another 20 minutes to get to Andy's appointment, and thankfully, they didn't have to wait long. The two had agreed to both participating in each other's appointments, somewhat to just hear what the doctor had to say. Both got comfortable in the exam room, and it took another 15 minutes before his doctor came in for his checkup.
"Mr. Flynn," Dr. Kent said, "ahhh, this must be the woman I've heard so much about these last weeks."
"Sharon," she said as she stood slightly, gripping the chair. Andy, even though sitting, reached over, to almost steady her. Sharon swatted away at his hand, and he rolled his eyes at Dr. Kent as he looked back at her.
"Doc, this is my fiancée, Sharon Raydor, and as you can see, she's real," he smirked. "She's also doing really well considering she's been shot and in a coma."
"You look great," Dr. Kent smiled at her. "Best wishes on your recovery. It would be an understatement to say he's been a little worried about you. Mr. Flynn, I'm hoping your blood pressure has regulated now that things are calming down at home."
"Doc, I've told you to call me Andy," he flashed a grin. "Have you seen how gorgeous she is? My blood pressure goes up when I'm around her."
"Oh, Andy, so corny," Sharon muttered and lightly chuckled from her seat. She dropped her head and continued to laugh before she looked at the doctor, "Dr. Kent, how is he doing? I'm not sure I'm getting the whole story."
She was studying Andy's chart and nodded as she did so, "He's doing well. The goal is to get him on track to avoid another heart attack. He and I have talked about several lifestyle changes, and those, coupled with just being aware of where he is now, monitoring him on a regular basis, I'm confident we can keep him around for quite a long time."
Andy winked at Sharon, and she gave him a broad smile. He nodded to Sharon and looked back to his doctor, "So, doc, is that all for today? They've checked my blood pressure, poked and prodded at me. Am I good to go?"
"Tell me how your diet is going," she looked to him. "Are you sticking to that heart-healthy diet?"
"Like glue, doc," he flashed a grin. "Healthy foods, things like fish and vegetables. I'm a model patient."
"Andy," Sharon coughed from her seat intentionally, and when he glanced her way, she frowned at him. The doctor watched the interaction and looked to Andy.
"You know, the one bad thing about your spouse, or almost spouse, being around you-home from the hospital-is that she has eyes and ears too. Those work just fine," she pursed her lips at Andy. "What is it? What are you eating that has her over there trying to keep quiet?"
Andy flashed an irritated look toward Sharon, and she gave him a slight shrug, paired with a small smile, "Just remember I love you, and two can play this game." He shook his head and looked back to Dr. Kent.
"I don't see the problem with spinach! Spinach is good for you," he nodded to the doctor. "Am I right, doc?"
"What are you doing to the spinach? How are you eating it?"she asked.
"Cooked spinach," he added.
"In a dip," Sharon added for clarification. "He's eating spinach dip at least a few times a week with our 21 year old, late at night."
"Hey, it isn't that bad," he said looking to the doctor. She was trying not to laugh, and Andy continued, "We started eating it one night, late, when Sharon was still in her coma. I don't even know why Rusty had it, but it smelled good. He even said the same, that it was spinach. We'd both been at the hospital, came home, and we just crashed on the couch. I've been eating it with pita bread, not chips, to make sure it's healthy. THat night, we started watching mindless tv to unwind, and the dip hit the spot. It's become our thing lately, tv and spinach dip."
"We need to talk more about the spinach dip," Dr. Kent nodded. "Anything else?"
"No, and Iike I said, it's spinach. I didn't see a problem. I don't eat ice cream or have a lot of other sweets."
"Andy," Sharon sighed again and met the doctor's eye. "Twizzlers."
Andy's eyes widened in surprise, "How do you know about the Twizzlers?"
"You cleaned me out! I opened the desk drawer to pay some bills the other day, and the bag has one, maybe two left. Rusty can't stand them, and as you always say at work, there's no such thing as a coincidence. You move in, I'm sick for so long, and the Twizzlers are gone. Now, unless you are going to say there's a Twizzler thief, fess up, Lieutenant."
"Fine," he nodded, "Twizzlers. They seem pretty harmless, and I have needed something to chew on. I don't drink, I don't do much caffeine, and my toothpicks haven't been cutting it, not the last few years. The stress I've been under with you sick, with me sick, with the team, the kids," he shook his head. "Twizzlers are perfect to chew on and keep my mind off things. Weird," he raised his hand in acknowledgement, "I know."
"Okay," the doctor nodded, giving them a small smile. "Now that we have all of that in the open, let's discuss your progress. Don't worry," she grinned and continued, "I'm only billing you for an office visit, not couple's counseling."