To the One I Loved

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Last Check-up

Alex's POV:

Today is Friday, June 19, 2016. Its been eight months since Nina got pregnant. Although, its officially summer and school's out, Nina and I both decided to continue homeschooling throughout the summer so that we could graduate  early to take care of our child.

Nina's doctor called us in today for a checkup, they say the baby is due July 25th. I walk to Nina's house. The door is locked, so I knock three times. There is an immediate answer. "Hey," Nina said answering the door. Then she walked into the living room and started pacing back and forth.

"She's been doing this all morning," Paul said, "She's kind of nervous."

"Paul," Nina interrupts, "I am a sixteen year old girl with cancer. Having a baby! Anything could go wrong, even if it's been healthy up until this point!" She plops down onto the couch, carefully.

"You're in remission. You have no cancer," Paul said. Then sarcastically, he added, "Congratulations! You're a survivor!" It was still a shock to me how morbid this family was when it came to cancer. Paul laughed and then so did Nina.

"Alright, whatever," Nina said, stopping the laughter, "Let's  just go to the stupid  check up."

She used the arm of the couch to help her stand up. Then she pointed towards her purse which was next to Paul. He handed it to her. "Thanks," she said.

He nodded, "Mhm." Then Nina headed towards the door. I followed after her, grabbing my keys off of the coffee table. I unlocked my car door with the little remote. Nina put her butt in the car first, and the rest of her body followed. I went over and closed the door for her, then made my way to the driver's side. I started the car and sped off toward the hospital.

When we got there, the parking lot was unexpantatly empty. I hurridely got out of the car so that I could help Nina out. She was always trying to be independent, lately, but I knew she really needed help. Her car door was already open, but I made it to her side before she could even think about getting out.

I held out my hand and she grabbed on. Then I helped to pull her out of the low car. When she was out, I closed the door behind her and we walked towards the hospital. When we got inside, Nina's doctor was at the front desk waiting for us. "Nina, hi," Dr. Sullivan said. "Let's go ahead and start with an MRI." Nina nodded and we both followed Dr. Sullivan up to the same room.

When we got up there, there was a blue hospital gown. "This far in the pregnancy, we need to get a complete scan of you and the baby, so we're going to need all of your upper layers of clothes off and put on the gown," Dr. Sullivan said. Nina nodded. She grabbed the gown and headed towards a bathroom down the hall. Then it was just me and Dr. Sullivan. "So, you're the father?" She asked. I nodded. "Well I want you to know that there are going to be complications with the procedure of this child's birth."

Once again, I nodded. "I'm going to need you and Nina both to discuss whether or not you're going to be in the room," Dr. Sullivan said. "Just a precaution we're going to have to take if you are." And still, all I could do was nod. "Well, alright," Dr. Sullivan said, and you could hear the laughter in her voice.

Then Nina came back. She had on the blue gown, and she handed me the sweats and tshirt she was wearing. "Okay, let's get this over with," she said, "I'm hungry." She went into the room. She got herself up onto the table. She laid down, and let the table slide back into place. Dr. Sullivan pushed a button on the remote in her hand. There came the bright light scanning her body. After five minutes, the machine finally stopped. Then the table slid from under the scanner.

Nina hopped off and ran out. "What the hell?" she said. "It only takes that long if it's found something!" Dr. Sullivan looked down.

"I'll just take your disc and check what exactly it was scanning, but don't worry. It probably only took so long because it was scanning the baby," Dr. Sullivan responded. Nina looked down to the floor, jaw tight and now happy expression crossed her face. She grabbed her clothes out of my hand and headed back to the bathroom.

Dr. Sullivan left, too, to check the MRI. I then waited in the hall outside the women's restroom. Nina came out dressed, with the blue gown in her hand. "I can't believe this," she said. "I swear if the cancer is back-" she trailed off. I pulled her into a hug.

"It's alright," I said. "Dr. Sullivan said it's probably just scanning the baby, and that's why it took so long." She starts to cry.

"That better be all," she said sobbing. I placed my chin on the top of her head and ran my fingers through her hair.

"It's okay," I said.

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We went back to the room in which Nina got her MRI. After a few minutes, Dr. Sullivan came back. Her face was full of grief. "What?' Nina asked, "Do I have Leukemia again?" She looks at Dr. Sullivan hope in her eyes searching for a no.

"No," Dr. Sullivan said. "It's just-uh- there's a tumor in your stomach, and it's surrounding the baby. The baby should be fine, it's just, well have to do a difficult procedure during the birth. And also, we're going to have to do the procedure a week early, just to make sure we get the child out before the tumor spreads and could cut off the baby's oxygen supply." At this, Dr. Sullivan's eyes were so watery, you'd expect tears to be streaming down her face.

Nina was wrapped in my arms, her tears falling onto my tshirt. I too, wanted to cry, but I had to be strong. Strong for Nina, for the baby, and for our family. I was Nina's rock, and I couldn't break. So I held Nina in my arms while tears continued to fall.

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A/N: Hey, guys, this is kind of a short chapter. And just to let you know, there are only four more chapters in this book, and there is a second book. I'll let you know when I posted it. It will be called From the One I Loved.

Also, don't forget to vote and comment. I want all of your feedback.!