My eyes veered off to the Felix clock on the wall, counting two minutes every time. The doctor was never this late. I was constantly wiping my hands across my jeans, rubbing my throbbing leg. If the x-rays were fine, if I was fine, he'd be back in five minutes, right? Well, it had been ten so far, and not even a sign of a doctor. Vee waited for me out in the waiting room, getting the latest news from her tabloid papers. Once in a while the door would open, a nurse glancing up from her papers to see the room, then excuse herself for being in the wrong room. I was so nervous, I didn't have time for these nurses tricking me like that. And none of them could find the right room?
Finally a doctor came from behind the door. A stack of papers was in his hands, white as the coat on his shoulders. A few x-rays stood out from the rest, hidden at the bottom of the stack. Setting the collection down on the counter, the doctor grabbed a nearby stool and sat on it, rolling over to me. "Well," he smiled, clasping his hands together. "Miss Hannah, is it?" I nodded. "Well," he said again. "I've gone over your x-rays. You really banged your leg up, huh?"
"Is it that bad?" I winced.
"Well," he repeated. "Not necessarily. When you look at the soleus, all the way up to the hamstring, we find a few wear and tears here and there, along with a few tousled nerves-"
"So...it's bad," I confirmed. He sighed, and knocked his thumbs together. Eventually he wheeled his stool over to the counter and grabbed the stack of papers. He looked them over again before joining me.
"It probably hurts worse than it really is," he started. "Would I recommend scaling a mountain, no. Resting in your house with a few trips to the kitchen or bathroom might do you good though."
"What about a six month trip?" I asked. I had to know. He whistled and lightly shook his head.
"I don't recommend," he said. "I mean, it really depends on where you're planning on going, what you'll be doing...walking around, lounging by a pool, what?"
To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure. Yeah I'd be on a tour bus a lot, maybe even a plane or two. But surely I'd have to walk somewhere. "What sort of trip is this?" the doctor asked again. My hands wrung themselves.
"I was on the phone, right?" I said. He nodded, waiting for me to continue. I laughed a bit to myself, recalling the night before. "And I must have dialed the wrong number. You see, I wanted some noodles and instead I won a contest."
"A contest," he confirmed. "You won a vacation, I guess?"
"Sort of," I mumbled. The doctor stood up from his spot and laid the x-rays back on the counter. The paperwork was given to me.
"While I don't condone a strenuous six month trip," he said. "I do ask that you read these forms and fill them out before you leave. Just to let me know what's been going on, and to schedule you for your next appointment."
"It will have to be six months from now," I reminded him. As an answer he tilted his head and gave me this look. Had Vee been there she would have wiped that look off right off his face.
"Is this in any way some vacation you could miss? Or possibly postpone?"
"My friend would kill me if I did," I answered. "And...and I'd regret it forever, it's not exactly just any vacation."
"Miss Hannah, when your muscles are torn like this, they need to rest." I rubbed my eyes with my fingers. The rest of his words were long and tedious, and by now I've forgotten most of them. I knew I was taking a risk. But crippled or not, I was taking a risk either way. "Tell me." He adjusted himself on the stool. "What kind of trip is this exactly? If it's not a vacation."
