Lynx: A Callie Torres Story

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For some reason, Jada was really nervous as she waited for her wife to come back with the test results. This was another benefit of being married to an orthopedic surgeon. Callie brought her in on a Thursday, a day she wasn't normally at the hospital, so Jada would be the prestigious doctor's only patient of the day.

Callie ran almost every single relevant test on Jada that she could. She was zoned out when Callie came back into the room. "Hey, you okay?" she asked.

"It depends on if what you found is good or bad."

She moved over so Callie could sit on the hospital bed beside her. "What did you find baby?"

"Do you want the good or bad news first?"

Jada took a moment to think. "The good news. I'm really nervous right now."

Callie put her arm around her. "I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere."

She took a moment to give her wife a quick kiss. "Good news?"

Callie opened the folder she held in her hands and pulled out scan images. "The good news is there's nothing torn."

Jada felt a sigh of relief. "Okay good, now what's the bad news?"

"You have some loose tissue and bone spurs that's causing you to be in pain. And to fix it, there's really only three options. I do an extensive debridement surgery or a clean up. We try cortisone shots. Or we leave it and try to get you on some pain medication."

"Is that why I sometimes hear a popping sound when I'm moving my arm?"

Callie nodded. "Yeah, and it's disrupting the fluid motion of your joints which is why it's causing you pain."

"What do you think I should do Callie?"

"I would do the surgery."

Jada knew Callie could feel her tense up when that was the answer she suggested. Callie pulled Jada into her chest. "I can guarantee you it will work," Callie said. "I've done this so many times before and I'll make sure you never experience pain in your shoulder like that again."

"I just don't like going under," Jada whispered.

"I know," Callie whispered back. "I'm not telling you that you need to do it, that's just my recommendation because I know I can help you. But if you don't want to do it, that's perfectly fine there's other things we can try."

"Calliope?"

"Yeah?"

Jada looked up at her wife about to start crying any second. The pain had been a lot worse than what she had been telling Callie. She didn't want Callie worrying about her.

"The pain is really bad," she admitted. "I didn't tell you it was that bad because I don't want you worrying about me."

"Mi amor, I'm going to help you."

"How long does the recovery process take?"

"8-12 weeks," Callie answered. "You'll be in a sling for the first few."