26th April 2013. So this chapter is a tough one... but I guess you could call it a bit of a warm up for tonight's episode (which I'm dreading by the way...).

Chapter 19.

Joey and Lauren made their way into the hospital the following morning. Lauren had been lucky and had managed to get an appointment with her consultant, due to a cancellation. It had meant they'd had to change Joey's physio timing slightly which meant an earlier morning than either of them would've liked but this was what they wanted so they were willing to forego their 'lie-in'.

Lauren watched as Joey went through his physio, pride on her face as she saw him working really hard with his left leg. She knew it wasn't easy for him and his physio kept trying to tell him he wasn't going to get much more improvement from it but he was still going to try. The physio sessions would mean he would do much more before he got too tired on it though so there were still a couple of weeks work for him before he was completely signed off from the hospitals records. Lauren knew he disliked the fact his left foot dragged a little when he walked and it made him self-conscious so if there was anything she could do to help him with this, she was more than ready to. She had long ago come to the realisation that they were stronger together than they were apart. And she hoped that the next few months would only go to prove that even more.

Joey was pretty tired by the end of the therapy session but he had a slight smile on his face which only grew when he reached Lauren. "You seemed be doing okay there, baby," Lauren said to him softly as she hugged him. "You're a bit sweaty though..."

"Yeah, it was difficult today. I'll just nip to the bathroom and clean up."

"Fancy a hand?" Lauren said cheekily.

"Much as I'd like that... I think we both know it would be a bad idea." Lauren pouted and looked up at him with sorrowful eyes, "Don't look at me like that, baby girl. We've got an appointment to get to and anyway, we'd have no privacy in there for what we'd end up doing... you know that."

"Fine. I'll wait for you here then."

He stepped forward and kissed her deeply, "I'll give you a reward later, baby. I promise." Her cheeks flushed and she looked up at him shyly, seeing the smirk on his face just before he disappeared out of the doors.

*JL*JL*

When Joey reappeared they had about twenty minutes before the appointment with Lauren's doctor so they walked up to his office to wait. They were called into his office almost ten minutes early.

"Lauren," The doctor greeted her, "Joey... it's good to see you up on two feet." He said. Joey smiled at him and the young couple sat before him. "How can I help you both? I take it this is in relation to the discussion we had last time you were here, Lauren?"

"Yes. We've talked about it both between us and with our parents and we'd like to take that step now." Lauren told him.

"We weren't sure if you needed to be aware that Lauren was coming off the medication and whether there was anything we should do to try and help her stay healthy." Joey asked.

"Also is there anything to look out for that would indicate my condition is getting worse." Lauren added.

"Okay... have you come off the medication yet?" He asked Lauren.

"No... we wanted to talk to you first but I'd like to stop as soon as we can."

"That's fine." He picked up his phone, "Let me see if we can get a quick ECG done for you today." He dialled the number and spoke for a couple of minutes before putting the phone back down. "They can see you in twenty minutes." He flicked a few pages on his desk. "If you go and have the ECG and I've arranged for you to have a chest x-ray too and then come back here at about three this afternoon, I'll look at your results and we can chat properly. I'll get my p.a. to arrange for you to have your next check up with me in six weeks time. Depending on how your results are at that time, I'll decide how often I need to see you." He smiled at them both. "Like I said last time, I don't foresee there being any major concerns with Lauren's health during the pregnancy but it is something we will closely monitor." He looked back at his notes then up at them both again, "As I mentioned before it is imperative you do not fall pregnant for at least six months, once you stop taking your medication, Lauren. I cannot stress to you both how important that is. It will only endanger your child if you were to do so and ultimately leave you with a very difficult decision to make." They both nodded and were soon leaving his office so Lauren could have her tests.

*JL*JL*

It was the first time Joey had been with Lauren for one of her tests. He'd previously always been at physio when she'd been having them. He felt uncomfortable when the nurse glanced at him as Lauren removed her top. The vivid bruises looked even worse under the harsh medical lighting and he knew the nurse was thinking they were his handiwork. The nurse began to attach the leads for the ECG machine to Lauren's body and Joey reached for her hand and squeezed it gently, leaning down and kissing the back of her hand. The nurse was watching the pair of them as she continued to work and Lauren caught her looking at the bruises and then scowling slightly in Joey's direction. "It wasn't him..." she said, causing the nurse to pause and look at her guiltily. "I saw you looking at the bruises. It wasn't Joey who gave me them. Joey would never do that to me. It was my uncle and he's been arrested by the police, so stop judging my boyfriend."

"Sorry." The nurse said softly. She turned on the machine and watched as the trace from each of the leads began to wobble across the paper. "I'll come back to see how the test is going in a while." She said before walking out of the room.

Joey smirked at his girlfriend once they were alone. "Still hot..." he said.

"Just trying to get you back for leading me on earlier..." Her face flushed as she spoke, "Now shush, I'm supposed to try and stay calm and relaxed during this."

They sat in silence for about half an hour when the nurse returned. She looked at the printout from the machine and then turned it off and began to remove all the leads from Lauren. Lauren redressed as the nurse tidied away the machine. "You're to go to the x-ray department now and get your chest x-ray." She said as she put the printout in an envelope which she labelled and then took it with her as she left the room.

Lauren and Joey walked hand in hand through the hospital towards the x-ray department. "Are you okay?" Lauren asked him. He'd been quiet, even since the test was done.

"I'm good... just thinking." He said softly, squeezing her hand. They reached the department and took seats in the waiting room. Joey wrapped his arm around her shoulders as Lauren rested her head on his shoulder.

"You're very quiet, Joe." She whispered to him. He kissed her forehead tenderly but said nothing. Shortly after Lauren's name was called and she was led into the room. This time he couldn't go with her. She was only gone a few minutes before she walked back out of the room and stood in front of him. She bent down and kissed him softly on the lips. "Time to go, baby." She told him when his attention was drawn back to her. They walked down to the cafe on the ground floor of the hospital and Joey got them both something for lunch while they were waiting to go back and see the consultant. Lauren was waiting for him at a table in the corner. He sat on the opposite side of the table from her and they ate in silence for a couple of minutes. "Are you ready to talk about it?" she asked him softly. He shook his head. "Okay. I'm here when you want to." She said gently.

"I know that." He whispered.

Lauren was becoming more concerned about Joey as the minutes ticked by but she knew she couldn't force him to talk to her about whatever was on his mind. She had a suspicion she knew what this was about but here and now wasn't the place to have that conversation. "We should be getting back to the doctor." They walk silently back to his office.

*JL*JL*

"I've looked at the trace, Lauren and I'm going to keep a record of it in your file. There hasn't been any change in your output since we adjusted the medication at your last appointment so I would consider that a good thing." He smiled at them both and Lauren smiled back. "I've also looked at your chest x-rays they took and there is only slight enlargement of one section of your heart and I would categorise you as healthy enough to come off the medication and try to get pregnant." He got up from his desk and opened a filing cabinet at the side of the office. "I've got some leaflets for you both to read. Some of them are about the symptoms you might now experience when you're off the medication." He passed Lauren a small pile of pamphlets. "These ones are about pregnancy and the risks you could face... if your condition was to worsen." He paused briefly, "I nearly gave these to you when you first mentioned it but I wanted to wait until you'd come to the decision. What I told you at your last appointment was what you needed to know to make the decision you have but I would recommend you read these thoroughly before you stop taking the medication." Joey took the papers from the doctor before he could pass them to Lauren. "Now my p.a. had arranged an appointment with me for six weeks time. She's also arranged for you to have a repeat of the ECG and chest x-rays before you come and see me. These are your appointment times, Lauren."

"Thanks doctor." Lauren said as she and Joey got to their feet. Soon they were making their way back home.

*JL*JL*

Joey was quiet for the whole night and all of the rest of the family couldn't fail to notice. Lauren hung around in the kitchen to help Lesley clear up after tea but Joey disappeared from the room. It wasn't until Lauren was washing up the dishes that Lesley said anything. "Is everything okay, Lauren?"

"I don't know..." she replied, glancing at her boyfriend's mother, tears running down her face. "He's been like this most of the day."

"Tell me what happened..." Lesley said softly, pulling Lauren's hands from the sink and drying them on the towel she was holding before leading her over to the kitchen table and urging her to sit down.

"He had a physio appointment this morning and we'd scheduled a quick chat with my doctor to discuss me coming off the medication with him. He was fine during those. He was fine until I was having an ECG done. Then he went really quiet. I've asked him a couple of times what's wrong but he won't tell me. I've told him I'm there if he wants to talk to me." She lowered her head, "I'm scared, Lesley..." she whispered.

"Of what..."

"I think he's changed his mind..." she told her, glancing up at Lesley.

"About the baby?" Lesley asked softly.

"About me..." she whispered.

"Oh Lauren, I'm sure that's not true." Lesley reassured her. "You wouldn't be here right now if he had any doubts about your relationship."

"Then why is he shutting me out?"

"This is what he does sometimes..." she says. "I don't know what it is he's struggling to get his head around but there are times when he just has to shut himself away from everyone to think things through. He's been like this all his life, Lauren."

"He's never done this before..."

"Then it must be something he's really struggling with." Lesley cupped Lauren's face in her hands and brushed away her tears, "Now, why don't you go into the lounge and watch TV with Alice. I'm going to go and speak to my son and see if I can get him to talk to me about it."

"I don't want him to think I was moaning to you about him." Lauren said, biting her lip.

"It was clear at tea that something was wrong and you were here crying, what am I supposed to do, Lauren? Ignore it? I love you both... I want to help. Let me do this."

"Thank you." Lauren whispered, hugging her tightly. She then left the kitchen and joined Alice in the lounge.

TBC

A/N: Poor Lauren. So what's wrong with Joey? Any ideas? Going to find my tissues for tonight's episode now. Back later... if I can see my keyboard through the tears I'm likely to be shedding. STUPID SCRIPTWRITERS!