Chapter 68

Moment of Truth

Alex POV

"Alex? Would you please follow me?" Dr. W asks coming into the waiting area.

He totally caught me off guard. I didn't think she'd let anyone in with her because she didn't even want Kate or Ana there. I look at them and raise my eyebrows. "Sure," I respond standing up. As I follow Dr. W, I glance at Kate and Ana with a little trepidation. They just smile and nod.

I don't know why but I am nervous and have butterflies in my stomach. I have no idea what to expect. When he opens the door, there she sits on the exam table, beautiful as ever. I smile, thinking she looks like a little kid because she's so small.

I walk over to her, kiss her forehead and ask, "Hey baby, how are you doing?"

Smiling up at me she replies, "Better, now that you're here."

I give her a gentle kiss and hear Dr. W say, "Alex you can go sit on one of the chairs over there."

Obediently, I pick the chair closest to Rhi and sit down. I watch as Rachel is preparing the nerve block she's going to get and Dr. W makes a joke about it not being a shot of tequila. They both laugh but I don't find it funny at all. Then I remember Kate and Ana reminding themselves that she is an adult and it is her life, so I keep my mouth shut.

I watch as Rachel preps Rhi's arm at the shoulder and gives her the shot. "How long will it take for it to kick in?" I ask. I want to make sure she's not hurting when they start the process.

"Not too long. It's pretty fast acting and powerful stuff." Rachel replies.

"We're going to step out for a few minutes while that starts to work." Dr. W says, looking at Rhi who nods.

Glancing at the board briefly, I do a doubletake and freeze. For a minute, my brain struggles to comprehend what I'm seeing. My breath leaves my body. "What in the fuck?" I whisper.

I can't pull my eyes away from the images. I can't believe what I'm seeing. The hand in the images cannot belong to the beautiful girl sitting in this room. There's no way that is her hand. My eyes travel from one image to the next, they stop at the one of long bones of an arm. Oh my god. What the fuck happened to her?

Vaguely, I hear a throat clearing and hear Dr. W's voice, "Rhi, Rachel and I are going to step out for a few moments to give the shot time to work its magic." Dr. W says and he and Rachel leave the room, closing the door quietly behind them. And with that, Rhi and I are in the room alone, a deafening silence surrounding us, with images of her hand shining like a lighthouse beacon warning ships of the dangers ahead.

Finally, with my eyes wide, I glance at Rhi. She's just sitting there, looking at me, an unidentifiable glimmer of something in her eyes. Fear? Sadness? Embarrassment? I can't decipher it. I can imagine the disbelief on my face and questions in my eyes.

"Baby, what is this?" I ask slowly. For the first time since I met her she's not crying when talking about her past. Actually, I feel a sense of strength radiating off her.

She waves her hand indicating to the x-rays and, in a stronger voice than I expected, she says, "This is what I've been afraid to tell you. This is what I've been dealing with. This is why I'm so damaged and emotional. This is why I react the way I do when you treat me nice." She's so straightforward and direct that I'm kind of taken aback.

My mouth drops open slightly, but she holds her hand up to stop me from saying anything. "You're right, I have a history and it's a fucked up one. However, with the help of my dad, Kate, Ana and my therapist I'm recovering and things are going OK. Well, everything was going OK until that asshole freaked me out, that is. Thanks to you I can now add you and Dr. W to that list. I'm glad you called him. He's helped me in more ways than one and I will be forever grateful." She pauses briefly, "The only thing left is I don't know what's going to happen with you."

I'm silent for a few moments. I'm at a complete loss for words. I've just had the proverbial 'rug pulled out from under me.' I did notice something though. She's made eye contact with me the whole time, which is something new. That's a good indication of her strength that she's gained after her talk with Dr. W. She seemed so broken coming here, yet here she sits showing and telling me things about her past. I wanted to know but now, after seeing these images, I'm not sure I can hear what she's going to tell me. I have a bad feeling that whatever it is, I'm not going to like it.

Looking at her, I can still see a hint of fear and unease in her eyes, waiting for me to say something, but in general she seems a lot stronger. I give her a small smile, hoping she doesn't take it wrong, "Baby, I knew you had a history that wasn't good, just by the way you reacted to things, I just didn't know what it was." I reach for her hand, "I knew that you would tell me one day but I didn't know it would be this way, with images showing what you've been through. Never in a million years did I ever expect this."

She looks at my hands and then my face, "I've been afraid to tell you because I didn't know how to start. I mean, it's not exactly normal conversation."

No, it certainly is not. "I totally understand, believe me, I do. I wouldn't expect someone to bear their soul when first meeting someone. Nor will I expect you to tell me everything now, or ever. I will never force you to tell me anything." I lock eyes with her hoping she can tell I'm being honest. "I hope you know that."

Giving me a small smile, "Thank you. I appreciate that. A lot."

"As for what's going to happen from here, with me." I pause, and ask, "Do you remember what I told you this morning, before the pin prickling incident?" I give her a big smile and wink. Her face turns red but she still laughs.

I chuckle, "Let me just refresh your memory. Word. For. Word." I laugh, "I said, 'I'm not going anywhere. I want you. Only you. Past, present and future. Whatever happened in the past has made you into the woman I can love today.'" Rubbing my thumb across her cheek, I continue, "Do you remember that?"

She scrunches up her nose but smiles, "I remember something along those lines."

I chuckle and run my thumb across her bottom lip. "That is still how I feel. All that stuff from the past can be dealt with together, when you're ready. Besides, you've just said it yourself, you've added two more people to your team, me definitely and I'm pretty sure Dr. W feels the same way. Unless you've changed your mind?" Please say no.

She doesn't answer quickly and I'm torn trying to determine if she's thinking it over or if she's unsure. She's been so strong so far so I can only hope she's really thinking about it.

Finally she answers, "No, I haven't changed my mind. I was worried that you would. You deserve the best and I can't help but think that I'm too damaged for you." She smiles and I get the feeling that the scared and vulnerable Rhi is making an appearance.

"I'm getting better, with a lot of help, but I've still got a lot of shit to work through. I wasn't lying when I said you made me happy. You do. You've been there for me the past three days and you don't really know anything about me. I feel like I can be stronger with your support now that you know something. We will need to talk more about it, but at a later date. I'm not ready to do that yet. It might be a long time down the road though." A tear forms in her eye, spills over and travels down her cheek.

My heart hurts for her. "No baby, please don't cry. No more tears unless they're happy ones. I don't like to see you cry." I reach out and grasp her chin and pull her face up, so I can see her eyes, and wipe away the tears. Placing my hands on both sides of her face, I look at her. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm right where I want to be." I kiss her nose. "Well, not in a medical clinic, but anywhere you are." I bend down and kiss her gently at first then slowly make it deeper.

She starts giggling suddenly and I pull away. "What's so funny?" I ask, confused. She really starts laughing and can't seem to stop. "Rhi, tell me. What's so funny?" I ask again.

She looks at me, still laughing and says, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I've been trying to lift my right arm to wrap around you since you started to kiss me and it won't move at all." She continues to laugh. "It's heavy and just hangs there, but if I move, it swings like a teddy bears arm. I think the only way I can get my arm to wrap around your neck is to throw it up there." She tries to get her laughing under control, taking deep breaths. "I'm sorry, it struck me funny, bad timing but still funny."

I roll my eyes, shake my head and chuckle. "You, my dear, have one seriously deranged sense of humor, but it's just one more thing I love about you." I move in to kiss her again when there's a knock at the door. Dr. W and Rachel walk in. I had intended on a deep kiss, but a small gentle one will have to do. For now. Damn.

Dr. W POV

It's time to get this show on the road. I already know the shot took effect, I just wanted to give them some time to address the images. The shock on Alex's face, when he saw the images, was pretty apparent. I feel bad because it feels like we blindsided him. However, I don't think he even had an idea of the enormity of everything. I know I certainly didn't. She hides it well, which means he might have a hard time figuring out things in the future. She's had a lot of practice at hiding pain.

I'm sure by now they've had a chance to talk, at least to briefly discuss the images. I'm not sure what to expect when I open the door, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to tell there's a positive ending. I look at Rachel, who is behind me, and knock lightly on the door before slowly opening it.

Well, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's a positive outcome. I see Alex move in to kiss Rhi and she looks happy. That's a good sign. She'll need all the support she can get between the surgery and dealing with her past. Alex goes back to his chair and sits. He looks at me and gives me a sheepish smile.

I smile back and turn to look at Rhi. "So, how's the arm? Is everything ok?"

She looks up at me and gives me a huge smile. "Oh yes, everything is great. My arm is completely numb and useless. It makes it difficult to hug someone." I laugh at her enthusiasm and Alex chuckles.

Rachel and I start preparing for the procedure and within a few minutes Rhi starts giggling; at what I have no idea. "What's so funny?" I ask and her response is surprising.

She's staring down at her arm giggling away like some crazy person. She looks up and sees that we're all staring at her but she doesn't stop laughing right away. Finally, after a few moments of laughing she stops to catch her breath.

"I'm sorry, I've been trying to move my arm since the shot and it's not cooperating. Please don't ask me to lift it because That. Ain't. Happenin'!" She starts laughing harder and Alex joins in, while Rachel and I look at each other confused.

"The last time I had one of these, the doctor told me to go ahead 'Go ahead and slide over to the other gurney.' That never happened either. I almost fell off the bed. I think he did that one on purpose." She looks at me, shaking her finger. "You doctors and your twisted sense of humor. Just like mine. It makes life more fun." She starts laughing again.

Rachel laughs, "Well, we certainly don't want you to fall, that would be detrimental. How about we do the moving?" We all chuckle and nod in agreement. "That's definitely the kind of response we want. We certainly don't want you to feel this." She smiles, "Are you ready?"

Rhi responds, "I'm as ready as I'll ever be." She smiles and says, "Let do this!"

I can't help but laugh at her antics. She's the complete opposite of how she was when I first met her.

Two hours later, and after a lot of laughter, because Rhi is hilarious when she's happy and not hurting, we're done. It took a bit longer than expected. Because of the severity of the injuries, we had to individually splint each broken bone to make sure there was a minimal amount of improper healing done, but this will prevent the bones from needing to be broken again during surgery. We've got her in a cast, which she chose bright neon yellow, and she's good to go.

We head to the front desk and Ana and Kate are still waiting. "My apologies ladies, for it taking so long. There was a little more that needed to be done before we could complete it with a cast. Her arm is numb from the nerve block so it's not functional. She has a sling and must use it." I give her a pointed look. I wouldn't put it past her to try to get out of using it.

"What?" She smiles and tries for an innocent look but we both know that's far from the truth. "I promise I'll use it until it's no longer numb." She rolls her eyes, laughing.

Looking at Rhi, I tell her what the process is and what we've done. "OK. Susie has sent everything to your doctor. They will start the process and will have someone contact you to schedule surgery. It should be today or tomorrow, considering the urgency." I'm glad there are witnesses around because from what I know about Rhi, she'll play it off like there's no rush.

"Here are two copies of the paperwork too. Even though we sent it to your doctor, it's always better to have a hard copy. The second copy is for you." I clarify before continuing. "Susie has sent you the images too, per your request. Do you want to check to make sure you got them?"

I wait for her to check her email on her phone and she confirms she has them all and the files open. "OK, good. Here's a prescription for your pain meds. You can fill it at any local pharmacy and there's a CVS right outside your hotel. Just as a suggestion, I would pick it up right away. Don't wait until the nerve block wears off. You will experience some discomfort because of the manipulation. Here's my card with all my contact information. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I will follow up with you tomorrow to see how you are feeling." Rhi nods as I give her the instructions and paperwork.

"Oh. One more thing. Take it easy today. No zip lining or anything exciting like that. You can, however, dance at the fountain if you choose to." I laugh at Alex and Rhi's shocked faces. I shrug, "What? I go on the internet too! You two look great together." Turning to Rhi, I add, "I commend you, Rhi. Broken hand and all you certainly dance well. Not to mention you have a fantastic partner next to you." Rhi blushes and Alex laughs. "OK you guys, go fill that prescription and relax and enjoy the rest of your vacation."

Turning to the front desk, I ask, "Susie? Will you call them a taxi please?" She smiles and replies, "On it."

I'm caught off guard when Rhi rushes up and gives me a hug. "Thank you Dr. W. You've really helped me. More than you know. I appreciate everything you've done for me."

I gently hug her back. "You're most welcome. I'm glad I was here to help." Leaning down, I whisper, "My personal cell phone and email are on the back of that card. Should you ever need anything. Please, don't hesitate to call."

They leave through the door to wait for the taxi. I watch as Alex wraps his arm around Rhi and smile. I certainly hope things work out for her. Though I do see a rocky road ahead. She's strong and Alex is patient. As long as he doesn't push her she'll be fine. From our talk I get the impression that she'll snap if she's feeling too much pressure. Only time will tell.