It was close to an hour later when Sharon's new cardiac doctor rounded the corner and stopped before them with a binder of paperwork.
"Haley Colbert," she said, sticking out a hand. "You're family of Sharon Raydor?"
"Esteemed colleague," Provenza corrected. "This is the almost-husband here."
The doctor looked slightly taken aback for a moment.
"Andy Flynn. We're getting married next week, or whenever she's out of here."
Colbert smiled. "It should be long before then, don't worry. Is now a good time to talk? I've had a chance to look over the MRI and the echocardiograph"
"Yeah, sure." Flynn stood and led them all into the hospital room.
Rusty was working on his laptop, feet kicked up on the edge of the bed. He closed the computer and set his feet down again as Flynn gently shook Sharon's shoulder. She jolted awake.
"Huh?" She fumbled for her glasses and pushed herself slightly more upright.
Rusty watched as Andy whispered to her. She relaxed a moment after he finished speaking.
They went through the usual pleasantries and introductions. The doctor finally set her charts down on the rolling table and stuffed her hands into her pockets.
"Sharon, do you want everyone in the room while we talk, or would you rather it was a little more private?"
Rusty watched his mother look around. Her gaze lingered on him for a moment, and he knew she was trying to decide whether or not to filter what he heard.
"They can stay."
"Okay." Colbert nodded. "So, the good news is that I don't have any terrible news. It's going to be a little complicated, but your MRI and sonogram indicate that we've caught this pretty early."
Sharon had paled and Rusty was fairly certain she was cutting off the circulation to Flynn's fingers.
"You've got a heart condition. The PSVT that Dr. Whittaker told you about was caused by something called cardiomyopathy. It's when something- in your case, a virus- attacks your heart muscle."
Sharon licked her lips and spoke slowly. "So what do I do about it?"
"Right now, nothing, really. I have some packets I'll give you, but the biggest thing to do now is just be aware. I'd like you to cut down on sodium intake. Your blood pressure and labs are fine, so that isn't a major issue at the moment. I also want you to limit any aerobic exercise. Sorry. I know you're getting married next week."
It took Rusty a moment longer than Provenza, but they both groaned loudly as Sharon flushed and rolled her eyes at them, before interrupting.
"Andy- my fiancé- he had a blood clot about a year ago. I take it most of what you want me to do is similar to what we're doing to manage that?"
There were several minutes of back-and-forth discussion, and as far as Rusty could tell, Sharon was right, as per usual. The doctor still gave her a stack of paperwork to read, and a list of cardiologists she could make appointments with.
"Could I go home today?"
The doctor frowned slightly, then nodded. "I'm giving you a hesitant yes."
"What about work?"
There were mingled outcries of "Sharon!" and "Mo-oom!"
"Commander." Provenza leaned against the end of her bed. "Why in the world-?"
"I want to know what's going on with the case."
"Well, as acting commander, it's my job to inform you at my discretion, and I shall do that."
She rolled her eyes. "I'm curious. Maybe I can get back before you-"
"Oh, my God. Mom."
She spared a glance towards Rusty. He had finally taken a seat, and looked unsurprised.
"Sharon." This time it was Andy. "You're gonna need a physician to sign off on whether you can come back to work or not, because them's the rules."
She couldn't decide if she wanted to scream or be proud of him. Her eyes narrowed as she leaned towards the former, and Rusty spoke.
"The rules, Mom. The rules."
Rusty did his best not to flinch as his mother slowly turned to look at him. He was fairly certain the doctor was about to witness a triple homicide when Sharon curled her lip. After a moment, she smiled thinly and turned the glare back to Flynn.
"Fine."
Colbert chose that moment to cut back in. "I'm going to go start writing up discharge paperwork, and I'll let you have a moment, alright? Call button is right there if you need anything."
After the doctor left, Sharon finally relaxed back against the bed. "Lieutenants, why don't the two of you head back?"
"Sharon-"
She reached for Flynn's hand and ran her thumb over his knuckles soothingly. "I'm okay. I'm going to be just fine."
Provenza sidestepped his partner and began coordinating his and Rusty's schedules. They spoke quietly, but loudly enough to give the other two some privacy.
"Sharon, I can take the day off."
"I know. I just. . . need a minute to process this."
His mouth twisted slightly, and he fiddled with his sobriety ring. "I want to support you however you need it."
"I know." She smiled this time. "I know, and I love you for that. I need to call the kids, though, and my own parents."
Andy grimaced. "That'll be fun."
She laughed softly. "Yes, it will."
"You're sure you want to do that alone?"
"Yes. Thank you, though."
He nodded. "If you change your mind, just call me. Shoot me a text. I'll keep my phone on me."
"Okay."
He leaned in and hugged her tightly, then gave her a quick kiss when he pulled back. "I love you. It's gonna be okay."
She nodded. Provenza rejoined them a moment later, and he and his partner left quietly, waving through the window.
"Mom?"
"Yes, honey?"
"Do you want a minute? When you call, I mean?"
"That would be appreciated. Do you want me to text you when I hang up?"
"Yeah, okay. I'll go grab some coffee or something, and uh. . . I dunno, I have stuff I can work on for Andrea."
"Thank you."
"Yeah." He swung his satchel over one shoulder, leaned in for a one-armed hug, and slipped out the door.
Sharon pulled her phone out and slowly tapped through it, dreading the conversation to come. It wasn't as though she expected a negative reaction from her parents, but she had come to learn exactly what it felt like to have her child call home and say they were sick or injured. She had been on both sides of the conversation, and didn't enjoy either one.
Her mother picked up after two rings. "O'Dwyer residence, this is Kitty."
"Hi, Mama."
"Shari! I wasn't expecting your call until Sunday!"
"How are you?" Sharon worried the edge of her blanket nervously.
"Good, good. Your father's out shoveling the drive. We got a few inches last night, and I told him he ought to hire someone, but he's determined to do it himself. He's going to throw his back out one of these days." There was a series of clatters, and Sharon figured her mother was fixing dinner. "What about you, dear?"
Sharon paused to take a breath, and the silence suddenly became tense.
"Sharon?"
"I'm okay, Mama."
"Uh-huh. And? There's something you aren't saying."
"I'm at the hospital, but it's okay, they're letting me out today."
"What happened?"
"I, ah, I passed out at work."
"Oh, honey. They work you entirely too hard."
"Mama," Sharon said gently. "I'm the boss now, and I work myself."
There was an aggrieved sigh. "I'm going to start telling that boy of yours to fetch you home if you're not back at the condo by a minute past five."
"Rusty or Andy?" She asked lightly.
"Both of them." There was another pause. "Shari, are you okay, or. . .?"
"I'm okay, Mama."
"Then why are you still at the hospital? I take it you've been there a little while by now." Kitty had been a nurse before she retired, and she still read her husband's medical journals, keeping current with the field.
"They said I have a cardiac condition."
There was a different set of noises, and Sharon heard the front door bang open and closed. "Michael, leave the damn drive and come here a moment!"
"Shari, I'm going to put you on speaker when your father comes in, okay? Then you don't have to explain it twice, hmm?"
"Okay."
There was another minute of shuffling and hellos, and then her father got down to business. He still worked- albeit part-time- as a physician in the local emergency room.
"Hi, sweetheart. What's this your mom says about you and a heart condition?"
"Hi, Dad. Uhm, I have the paperwork here, so I'll just read it to you, okay?" Despite having both parents in medical fields, Sharon had never been interested in it. She had a peripheral knowledge of medicine, maybe more than the average person, but not much more.
"That'll be fine."
She flipped through the papers until she found what she wanted. "They said it's something called paroxysmal supra-"
"Ventricular tachycardia?"
"Mm. And it was because I've got cardiomyopathy." She sniffled. It was so much harder to hold herself together when she talked with her parents, which was precisely why she'd wanted to make the call alone.
"Cardiomyopathy?"
"Mmhmm."
"Oh honey, it's okay." Her mother was always the soothing counterpart to her father's blunt direction.
"Shari, why do you have cardiomyopathy? Do you know?"
"I had the flu a couple weeks ago, Dad, and they said. . ."
"That did it, huh?"
"Yeah."
"I'm sorry, Shar."
"It's okay, Dad. It doesn't sound like it's too bad right now, so all I need to do is follow the same instructions Andy got last year. I've already been following them most of the time because it doesn't seem fair to make him go it alone."
"My old friend Jorge is a cardiologist, and I know he used to practice in LA. I could see-"
"Dad," Sharon interrupted him firmly. "It's okay. They gave me a list of people I can choose from."
"Okay. Just make sure it's someone you like. Preferably someone who's board-certified, and-"
"Dad." Sharon bit back a smile. "I've got this."
"Leave the girl be, Mike. She's sixty-one, for crying out loud. She's gotten herself this far."
Her parents bickered gently for a moment, then changed subjects to talk about the wedding and everyone's incoming flights and hotels.
"We'll see you Friday, after Thanksgiving. Don't worry about picking us up from the airport. We can get a taxi."
"Mama, I can do that much for you."
"LAX is across town, if I remember correctly, and you're going to have your hands full writing up the reports on your case, if nothing else."
Sharon knew when to pick her battles with her mother. "You're still coming over for dinner, though."
"As long as it's not any low-sodium tofurkey garbage."
There was a soft thump as Kitty swatted her husband. "You will eat whatever she cooks and say thank you. I'd like to see you do any better."
"Mama, Dad, I'm going to let you go, okay? I still need to talk to Emmy and Ricky."
"Do you want us to call them?" Her parents had called her children on her behalf before, when Sharon had removed Jack as her emergency contact and no one else was available.
"No. Thank you. I don't want to worry them."
"Alright. Let us know if we can help, and we'll see you Friday."
"Okay. Love you."
"We love you, too, Shari. Feel better."
When the call was over, Sharon took a few minutes to collect herself, then texted Rusty. Her other children would still be at work, and she saw no reason to worry them.
A/N- I dunno if Sharon's parents would come out or not. I guess we got the impression they travelled to Utah, at least in the Closer. I also don't know if she has siblings or not. . . soooo leave me your thought and I'll work them in! (; My last set of mid-terms and second to last ever finals are coming in hot the next couple weeks, so I'm not sure how quickly I'll be updating until about mid-December, just fyi.
Worth mentioning- she says it's cardiomyopathy, but then says it's a pericardial viral infection, which would be pericarditis, if I'm working this out correctly. They aren't the same thing . . . soooo, I'm just going to continue running without pericarditis. Any other people (medical or not) catch that?