Space They Cannot Touch

38.

Dr Mandapati tapped away at her computer, mumbling to herself as she inspected the grainy undulating black and white image on her screen.

"Let me know if this hurts" she muttered to you as she moved the ultrasound wand around your womb, clicking at her computer with her other hand. The ultrasound wand wasn't as uncomfortable as the speculum examination had been, but it wasn't something you'd say you enjoyed either. What you had enjoyed was the look of horror on Tom's face when he saw the length of the ultrasound wand.

"I thought that you were doing an ultrasound?" he asked nervously, eyes wide as Dr Mandapati squirted some gel onto the tip of the wand before guiding it between your thighs. It was cold as it slipped inside you, and you readjusted your position a little as she began her internal examination.

"I am. But external ultrasounds are used for pregnant women mostly. This is a transvaginal examination and will give us a better idea of what's going on internally" she replied, already clicking away at her computer.

As Dr Mandapati moved the wand again, burying it even deeper inside you, you winced a little. Tom's hand clenched around yours and you glanced up at him, frowning. He leant down next to your ear, grimacing.

"If this whole thing has taught me anything, it's that I'm so glad to be a guy" he murmured, causing you to snort in response.

"Everything alright?" Dr Mandapati asked curiously.

"Yeah, fine" you replied. You wished she'd hurry up with the examination. As if she could read your mind, Dr Mandapati clicked a few more times and then removed the wand from your uterus.

"Okay, that's done" she muttered, turning back to her equipment and tapping some more. "You can get dressed now" she said.

You quickly re-dressed, anxious to hear what she had to say. Tom stood behind you, hands on your shoulders as you waited impatiently for Dr. Mandapati to finish whatever she was doing. Finally, she pulled up some of the images she'd taken and turned to the two of you, taking off her glasses and rubbing the bridge of her nose before she spoke.

"So, Y/N, based on these images I can safely say you don't have PCOS, but you may have endometriosis, as you can see from the tissue build up here and here" she said, guiding her mouse over the grainy images. It looked like a whole lot of nothing to you, fuzzy black and white lines with no discernible shape or meaning to them. "The issue with diagnosing you with endometriosis is that the tissue build up may also just be the build up from periods that haven't been expelled, caused by your amenorrhea" she continued, turning back to you and Tom.

"So this means?"

"That we will have to perform the D&C. And post-op we will need to perform another ultrasound to see if the build up is actually endometriosis. Hopefully it's just amenorrhea and performing the D&C will normalise your cycle"

Your shoulders sank and you heard Tom sigh heavily behind you. This was not what you wanted to hear. You had been hoping against hope that you were actually fine, bar your hyperactive thyroid, and didn't need to have the surgery. But you couldn't let Tom see you break, you couldn't let him see your disappointment. He still had those purple bags under his eyes, his face pinched with stress. He'd been strong for you for too long and now it was time for you to be strong for him.

"Okay, well I can't do that until next week"

"Babe, no -"

"Next week" you said forcefully. You felt Tom's hands clench on your shoulders but you stubbornly ignored him. You could practically hear him calling Marvel and telling them that he couldn't make his appearance at Comicpalooza.