I Think I'm in Trouble {Reimagined}

XLIII.

Later that evening, Barbara and Jess were getting ready to leave with Lori and Christopher, but the boys remained with their parents and sister since visiting hours weren't over and they were still waiting on the news from the doctor; Robert, Stevie and Jeffrey primarily considering the other two children didn't know just yet.

Sitting in with Robert, Stevie sighed a little as she held his hand and simply comforted him.

"You know despite the stress we're putting you through, you do look beautiful," he mentioned. 

"Robert?" she smirked. "Believe me, I don't feel like it."

"Take my word for it..."

"Honey, you have a black eye and it's a bit swollen," she swiftly argued. "I don't trust your vision."

He chuckled. 

Pretty soon, there was a knock at the door. 

"Come in!" the married couple stated in unison.

Jeffrey popped in with a grin with his brother at his side. 

"The doctor's here with results," he mentioned. 

Suddenly, the mood had intensified and they were a little nervous.

They all three entered. 

Stevie stood up to face the man.

"I'd like to talk to your parents about the results of the X-rays and M.R.I we did on your father..."

"No, it's alright, I want them here..." Robert assured. 

Stevie sighed a little as she settled her hand on his shoulder. 

He reached up, holding her dainty hand in his, squeezing it just slightly out of the nerves eating away at him.

"As you like," he cleared his throat, turning on the light to display the X-rays. "This is a picture of your spine; this right here is the vertebral column," he pointed. "You mentioned you had a herniated disc, and that's right here... You can see the crunched up bones because the tissue has been damaged. However, if you look at L One through L Five, your lumbar, you'll see that three and Four are fractured, but Five is broken."

Robert nodded.

"But L Five is on his spinal cord," Nicholas piped in, concerned with what he was looking at.

The doctor looked over, surprised by the quick response.

He looked around and paused, "Sorry..."

"He's studying to be a doctor," Robert mentioned. 

"I'm sorry," Stevie replied.

"No, no, very good," he explained, switching up the photos to display the photographs from the M.R.I. "Then you should know that the spinal cord is a bit fuzzy on the X-ray."

The teenager nodded. 

"Okay, but he's right. L Five is broken and it is pressing on the spinal cord which is causing the numb feeling in your legs and feet. Due to your history already with the herniated disc and other such things, the Lumbar is in distress."

"Well, what can be done?" Jeffrey wondered. 

"My suggestion would be to surgically fix the last vertebra in order to put it where it should be, therefore, after that would come a lot of physical therapy for the sake of the fractures that will heal on their own."

"And this will get me walking again?" Robert asked. 

"Sure," he nodded. 

"But is surgery the only option? Can't that be dangerous?" she wondered. "This is the spine we're talking about..."