Open When...(Paul Walker Fanfiction)

Letter #9: Open When...You're Worried

"So?" Meadow puts Luke's car seat in a chair, but I take him out of it.

A nurse knocks on the door and walks in carrying what looks like a shower caddy filled with needles and tubes. "It's time to do your blood work, Mr. Walker." She smiles and sets her things on his bedside table. "Do you need to go to the bathroom first? This will take a couple of minutes."

I divert my attention from them and focus on the kids. "Meadow, could you take your brother and sister to the cafeteria while she does this? Caleb and Stephanie are down there." She nods and they are out the door in seconds. I turn around to see if Paul needs help getting out of bed, but he is already opening the bathroom door.

"Just call out if you need any help in there," the nurse says. She moves away from the door to start getting her stuff ready.

While Paul is in the bathroom, I decide to ask the nurse a couple of questions. "So, what exactly is the purpose of the blood work?" I sit down in the chair that my son's car seat occupied only moments ago.

"It's just to see if he's getting the appropriate amount of vitamins and minerals in his blood. Since he can eat on his own now, those levels will be fluctuating more. Plus, this is also to detect changes in his condition. Anything that could be low could indicate a problem." She smiles softly at me while laying three empty tubes on his bedside table.

My thoughts begin to run rampant at the possibility of another complication. I just got him back five days ago, and if something else were to happen, I'd go crazy. He's already been through so much and he doesn't need anything else on his plate. My doctor's appointment is supposed to be in three days, but I may need to cancel it to be with him, depending on the results of this blood work. "I'll be right back," I mumble, stepping outside of the room. 

I take a deep breath and pull my phone out, then type in the number of the doctor to call and cancel my appointment. I'm not canceling because I'm backing out of it, I'm doing this because Paul needs me to be here. There's a fear that I have in the back of my mind that if I leave him for a little while, he will slip back into a coma. It probably sounds absurd, but going twenty four days of not knowing whether he was going to live or not was pure torture.

Once I cancel my appointment, I turn back into the room to see Paul exiting the bathroom. Normally, seeing him walk brings a smile to my face, but not this time. He has his hand on his chest, and his face looks like he's in discomfort. I immediately go to his side, as does the nurse. "Paul, are you okay?" I ask him.

He nods and starts to smile. "Yeah, I just feel a little weird. Almost like I'm out of breath or something."

"Let's get you into bed and rest for a few minutes," the nurse says. We carefully set him in his bed, and he begins to relax.

I grab his hand and squeeze it. "I love you," I tell him, not really sure of what else to say. He looks over and smiles at me.

Over the next couple of minutes, the nurse lets Paul rest before she takes his blood. She tells him exactly what she is going to be doing, and what the tests are supposed to show. Even though I've had two kids, needles still make me queasy so I have to turn away while his blood is drawn. After the fact, she asks him how he's feeling and if his chest is hurting. He says no, but I'm not sure if I can believe him or not. "You can't be up and moving around until we get the results back, okay? I think you've exerted yourself enough for now anyways."

She probably doesn't know it, but that bit of information went in one ear and out the other for him. He thinks that he's getting stronger by the day, and I agree, but he did have a major car accident four weeks ago. He has to take it easy.

When the nurse leaves, he looks over at me and asks, "Can I have your phone?"

"Why?" My stomach flips and turns. If he looks at my call log, he will ask why I called the doctor's office a few minutes ago. My lying skills aren't that great especially when it comes to him, so lying wouldn't be an option.