Chapter 17: Finding Answers
Emma was so sick of doctors offices she could scream.
It has been a month since the trial putting Walsh behind bars and everything started to fall back into place, until a week or so after and she started feeling weird. It started with pain in her lower back and numbness through most of her body. The first hospital visit she was told she was having a panic attack, and Emma told Dr. Whale, that she had anxiety most of her life and this was not what a panic attack felt like. The pain in her back and the numbness continued another week and she ended up back in the emergency room which revealed a kidney infection, no answer for the numbness. Dr. Whale told Emma that if the numbness remained after she finished her antibiotics that she needed to seek a general practitioner so they could run more specific tests.
So here she sits, waiting for the doctor to come to her room, with Killian by her side. He was worried, Emma could tell he was worried.
"Don't worry my love," Killian took her hand and kissed her knuckles. "Dr. Vidrio will be able to get us some answers."
Dr. Jacinda Vidrio was new to Storybrooke but was an established doctor. She came into the room with a smile holding Emma's chart in her hands.
"Hello Ms. Nolan, I see you have had a few doctor visits now, do you want to tell me what's been happening?"
Emma sighed, clinging to Killian for support. "I've had numbness and pain for the past few weeks. The pain has slightly dissipated, but the numbness has gotten worse."
" I see," Dr. Vidrio nodded, "I also see you went through some tremendous physical trauma last month; it could be a pinched nerve or.."
Emma huffed in frustration, cutting the Dr. off, "Doctor, there is something wrong with me." Without thinking she reached over and grabbed a pen and stabbed herself in her thigh as hard as she could. " I can't feel that!"
"Emma!" Killian gasped, taking the pen from her hands, trying to calm her down. "Please Dr. Vidrio, we are just trying to find answers."
The doctor nodded, "I would like to get you in for a few MRI's, One on your head, one on your back and a contrasting MRI between the two. I want to see if your nerves are firing properly, and once I can get a better look at what's happening."
Emma nodded, "When would you like me to come in?"
"How about tomorrow at 8:00 am? We will start with the MRI on your head and work through the day. It will be a long day, so feel free to bring snacks for between tests."
Emma nodded.
"One more question Ms. Nolan, are you claustrophobic? The machines can feel very enclosed."
Emma shook her head, "Nothing I can't handle."
"Sounds good! I will see you in the morning."
"Thank you, Doctor," Killian stated with a smile.
Killian and Emma left hand in hand, headed to his jeep to go home, Killian suddenly spun Emma and pinned her against the jeep.
"Emma Rose," He growled lowly, "You ever harm yourself like that in front of me again, so help me woman…"
"I know, I know," Emma kissed him gently. "I was just trying to make a point. I can't get these doctors to listen to me."
"Can we keep hurting ourselves down to a slim to none please?"
"Of course, baby," She smiled.
Killian kissed her on the forehead and helped her into the jeep. He was concerned, even scared about what was happening with Emma. Was it life threatening? He just got her back; he couldn't bear to lose her again.
They drove home in silence, both lost in their own thoughts about what the doctor said. Once arriving home they started dinner in silence, tension hanging in the air. Emma couldn't stand it when things were like this, they both were scared at what was happening. Emma turned Killian toward her and wrap herself in his arms.
"Oh Emma," Killian sighed, as he tucked her under his chin. "Do you want me to come with you tomorrow? I can switch shifts with Liam or Eric."
Emma shook her head, "It's going to be a day full of testing, and you will be bored out of your mind in the waiting room. I'll be ok."
"Swan, are you sure?"
"Yeah, no one likes hanging out in hospitals." She gave Killian a small smirk, "At this point I should have my own designated parking spot."
Killian gave her a small chuckle, "If you're sure my love."
"I am." Emma stood on her tip toes and kissed him softly. "I appreciate the offer though."
"Em, what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't offer to be there for you during the tough times."
She thought about the things that happened before, when Killian left her. But things are so much different now. Emma honestly didn't think Killian could be pried away from her. "Good point," she said with a smile.
Killian continued making dinner side by side with her, thinking of the ring burning a hole in his pocket. He has been meaning to ask her, but the chaos of medical appointments the last few weeks had put his proposal on the backburner. Of course, he still planned on asking her, but they needed to get Emma's health under control first.
After dinner, the couple was sitting on their porch enjoying the warm evening, While Emma sipped wine and Killian some rum.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Emma looked up at Killian.
"Just thinking about tomorrow, What about you?"
Emma sighed, "Same, I hate enclosed spaces, but I am wanting answers more than I care about being shoved in a tube."
Killian gave a small chuckle and took a sip of rum. "Aye, but once we know what's going on we can adjust accordingly."
"I guess you're right, I'm just annoyed with all these appointments."
"I know, love." Killian kissed her forehead. "As much as I am enjoying this though, it is getting late and we should probably get to bed."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Emma polished off her glass of wine and stood, helping Killian up. They cleaned up, headed inside and started getting ready for bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
Emma arrived at the hospital at 8:00 am sharp. The nurses took her back to the MRI machines, got her into a hospital gown, and now she was waiting for the radiology technician. A tall slender woman came in, greeting Emma with a warm smile.
"Hello Emma, my name is Tamara. I will be your radiology tech today. Have you ever had one of these procedures before?"
Emma shook her head no
"Ok, well let me explain some of the basics. A MRI machine is a magnetic resonance imaging machine. It is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to generate pictures of the anatomy and the physiology processes inside the body. So today we will be doing an MRI on your head and your back. We will then do one on both that is contrasting. We will inject you with a serum that will show us any abnormalities in the imaging. Does that all sound ok?"
"Yeah." Emma nodded. She was terrified.
"Ok wonderful. The first two MRI's will take about an hour a piece, we will take breaks between the first two and the last one will be bout 3 hours."
"Sounds good."
"Go ahead and lie down on the table for me and we will get started."
Emma laid on the table of the machine. Tamara placed an IV in her hand, as well as securing her head and neck to where she couldn't move. A cage went over the top with a small mirror so Emma could see in the booth where Tamara would be sitting.
"Comfy?" Tamara asked with a smile.
Emma let out a small laugh, if she didn't laugh, she was going to cry.
"The machine is loud, we do have headphones. What music would you like to listen to?"
"Do you have 80's rock?" Emma asked.
"That we do. Just sit tight, try your best not to move and hit the button if you need anything."
Emma took a deep breath as AC\DC filled her ears and the machine started to spin.
Tick tick wrrrr. Tick Tick Wrrr. TICK TICK WRRR. The machine was circling her head. Emma closed her eyes and tried to put herself in her happy place. With Killian next to the sea, as the waves lapped the shore, and they enjoyed each other's company.
The first and second sessions went by decently fast. Emma had a snack and is now back in the tube, placing herself back in her happy place trying to get through the last 3 hours. The serum had iodine in it, which made it taste like she had a mouth full of pennies. Emma was listening to the sound of Journey as the machine came to a stop. She heard Tamara's voice over the intercom.
"You're all done! Let's get you out of there."
Emma felt the table move out of the machine. The bright lights of the room almost blinding her after three hours in a rotating tube.
"How are you feeling? Tamara asked as she removed the IV from Emma's hand.
"Ok," Emma responded. "Like I had a mouth full of pennies."
Tamara laughed as she helped Emma up from the table. "It'll be that way for a few hours. I will get these images over to Dr. Vidrio and she should be in contact with you at the latest on Monday."
Emma nodded, "Thank you for all your help, Tamara." She finished getting dressed and looked at the watch. Two o' clock pm. Emma didn't have to work today so she decided to take herself down to the docks.
Killian was sitting in the office of the fishing boat finishing a purchase on the computer. "Are you sure that she can take a week off Mate?" he said worriedly into the phone.
"Of course she can." David reassured from the other end. "After everything you both have been through in the past few months, I think you both could use a very long vacation."
Killian laughed, "Well not that long, its only a week but I feel like It will be a much-needed break."
"Exactly. Have you heard how her appointment went yet?"
"Not yet, I'm sure She will be calling me anytime now."
"Well, I'll let you go then, we can talk more about your plans in the next few days."
"Sounds good mate, talk soon."
Killian hung up the phone as he looked at the cruise he just purchased. A vacation for him and Emma to finally relax, and the trip he finally planned on popping the question to her.
Liam came into the office, shaking out his coat. "What did Dave say?"
"He has no problem with it, I'll tell Emma tonight over dinner. Hopefully she will be excited."
"Are you kidding brother? She is going to be thrilled."
Eric, another fisherman, popped his head into the office. "Killian, I am sorry to interrupt, but Emma is here at the end of the docks."
Killian failed to hide his smile, "Thank you Mate, I'll be right out." Eric nodded at Killian and exited the office.
Liam nodded toward the door, "Go see your lass, I'll make sure no one messes with the computer until you get back. I want to see this cruise you are taking." Killian laughed and patted Liam on the back. "I'll be right back."
Killian left the office of the ship and headed for the docks. Emma was standing at the end, wearing a black hoodie, black leggings and her red leather jacket. She smiled at him as he approached, His blue eyes meeting her green giving her a warm feeling all the way down to her toes.
"Well, this is a surprise," Killian said with a smile. "How was your appointment?" He scooped her into his arms for a hug and kissed her lightly on the forehead."
"It was long but ok. The contrasting serum had iodine in it so I currently feel like I swallowed a mouth full of pennies but other than that it wasn't all bad."
Killian made a face of displeasure, "Yuck, how long is that supposed to last?"
"Tamara, the radiology tech said it is only supposed to last a few hours. I just wanted to come see you and let you know how it went. She said she would send the imaging to the doctor, and I should hear from her by Monday."
"Well, I am glad it went well." Killian said with a smile. "Tonight, would you like to have dinner at Tony's? I doubt you feel like cooking."
Emma smiled. Tony's was the locally owned italian restaurant by brothers Tony and Joe Russo and her absolute favorite. "Sure, what time are you done here?"
"Shouldn't be any later that five-thirty."
"Ok," Emma stood up on her toes and gave Killian and small but lingering kiss. "I'll see you at home then."
Killian smiled and kissed her knuckles. "I'll see you in a little bit, my love." He walked back up the docks with a smile on his face, he couldn't wait to see what her reaction was going to be."
It was about 6:30 when the couple was finally ready to go. Killian was dressed in black jeans, a dark navy button up, his black leather vest and black boots. Emma was in a pale pink sundress and white converse. It was a warm summer evening, so of course they took Killian's motorcycle. They arrived at the restaurant and were taken to a back corner booth, somewhat secluded from the rest of the crowd. Tony came over and greeted them warmly, knowing them since they were children and gave them a bottle of red wine and some bread sticks to get the evening started. Their waiter came around and Killian ordered chicken parmesan and Emma the chicken piccata. As their waiter left, Killian poured them some wine and took Emma's hand.
"You look stunning, Swan." Killian said with a smile.
"Thank you, you don't look so bad yourself." She winked at him and took a sip of her wine, "Babe, not that I don't love the dinner and you spoiling me but what's the occasion?"
'Well," Killian took a large drink of wine and cleared his throat. "I have a surprise for you."
"Oh?"
Killian scratched behind his ear nervously and continued. "Aye, we've been through so much the last two months or so, and I feel like we need a little break." Killian pulled out his phone and logged into the cruise website and showed it to Emma. "I booked us a vacation."
Emma's eyes got big, and an excited smile crossed her face. "Babe, are you serious?" She exclaimed quietly, "A cruise? Where are we going?"
"A eastern Caribbean cruise, we depart from Miami, then we make a stop at a private island the cruise line owns in the Bahamas, a day at sea then we stop in the Dominican Republic" He continued on showing Emma the screen, "We make a third stop at the Grand Turk, another day at Sea and then back to Miami."
Emma could not believe this, this wonderful man of hers surprised her with a cruise.
"Baby," she smiled at him, "What about work?"
"Liam will be covering for me and I already talked with Dave."
Emma bit back a giggle and shook her head, of course he had already thought of everything, because that is what he did. "When do we leave?"
"We fly to Miami June thirtieth, so next Friday and we sail out the 31st. I already booked a room at the airport hotel, so we weren't rushing around."
Emma leaned over and kissed Killian softly but with every emotion she was currently feeling. She still felt like she didn't deserve Killian at times. He was so good at reading her and what she needed.
Killian pulled back and smiled at her, "Does that mean you want to go?"
Emma laughed and playfully smacked Killian in the shoulder. "Obviously Pirate." He chuckled and leaned forward kissing Emma on the forehead, there was literally nothing he wouldn't do for this woman.
Their meal arrived and the couple ate and excitedly talked about their trip, the excursions they wanted to take and places they wanted to explore. They settled on horseback riding on the beach in the Bahamas, swimming with dolphins in the Dominican Republic, and rum tasting with a private beach in the Grand Turk. Emma was so excited, she couldn't even get Walsh to go out of the state with her, let alone a whole vacation out of the country. It really showed her that she made the right choice in her decisions.
Killian couldn't get over how excited Emma was. She was animatedly talking to him about their trip and the plans that they have been making. The smile she was giving him was worth every penny he spent putting this together. He never did anything like this for Milah because he knew she wouldn't have appreciated any of it. Killian knew deep down he should have never left Emma, but in a way he was glad he did because it caused them both to grow, mature and figure out what they both really wanted even though they both knew all along. He knew that nothing would ever separate the two of them again.
Killian smiled at Emma as they shared dessert, he couldn't wait to see what they next few weeks would bring.