I'll Stay Me

Chapter Twenty-Three

Luke's POV

   "Luke.....baby, wake up we're gonna land in a few minutes." Hank says as he shakes my arm. I feel well rested but I'm still not feeling the same.
        "I'm awake." I say, slowly opening my eyes.
      "Luke, when we get to the hotel to you wanna look for a real estate agent?" Hank asks me.
          "Sure, but I am taking a shower first." I tell him looking out the window.
"Baby, are you feeling okay?"He asks rubbing the top of my hand with his thumb.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just am dealing with a lot of stress right now, that's all." I tell him.
       "Babe, if you're stressed please talk to me. If it's about me, don't stress over me please baby." He says. I lay my head on his shoulder until we land.
I grab our bags and follow Hank out to the taxi waiting for us. As we sit down, Hank places his hand on my thigh. It takes about a half an hour to get to our hotel. We walk up to our room and I immediately head toward the bathroom to shower. Hank lays on the bed and sighs.
"You okay?" I ask, turning around to face him. He shakes his head no and closes his eyes. "Wanna come shower with me?" I ask sweetly.
"Naw baby, I think I'm just gonna lay here." He replies. I walk over and kiss his forehead then go back to the bathroom. I get undressed and turn on the water and get in the shower. I begin to wash my body and rinse the shampoo out of my hair. Then I just stand there think about everything and how my life has change from being so negative and now it's the best I've felt in ages. I mean it could be better but I wouldn't change this for the world. I just feel something forming that feels familiar, I just can't think of what it is. I finally decided to get out and dry off. I walk out the bathroom and see Hank is asleep, so I quietly grab some clothes out of my suitcase and get dressed before heading down stairs to grab a bit to eat. I grab a small salad from the cafe that's in the lobby and sit down to eat. It doesn't take me long to finish my food. I throw the salad container away and then grab a newspaper of the rack and head back to the hotel room.
As I enter the room I see that Hank is still asleep but he has curled up into a ball. I go sit beside him and slowly and softly rub his thigh.
"Hank, baby, wake up." I tell him as I softly kiss his face.
"Are you okay?" He asks as he opens his eyes.
"Yes, do you wanna look for a real estate agent?" I ask. He nods his head slowly then closes his eyes again.
"Babe, are you feeling okay?" I ask him.
"I'm great." He smiles. I look through the real estate agents near us. I find one that I think we will like and call her. She says she'll meet us for lunch in 20 minutes.
After 10 minutes of trying to convince Hank to get up, he finally does.
"When's my doctors appointment?" Hank asks as he comes out of the bathroom.
"3:30. So we have two hours to talk to the agent before we have to be there." I tell him.
"Can I sit down? Please?" Hank asks.
"No, baby lets go." I say as I walk out the door and watch to make sure he's following. I wait by the elevator for Hank to catch up, before pushing the button to go down. The elevator door opens and Hank and I get in. We are meeting the real estate agent about a block away from the hotel in a small cafe. The elevator reaches the lobby and Hank and I walk out. After a few minutes of walking I see the cafe we are supposed to meet at.
         "You ready?" I ask Hank before opening the door to the cafe.
       "Yeah, I cant wait to live up here with you." He responds, walking in. I don't see the woman we are supposed to meet so I get a table. Hank and I sit down and wait for her to arrive.
"Luke?" She asks as she walks up to us.
"Yes, hi Stephanie, right?" I ask, standing up.
"Correct." She smiles as she shakes my hand.
"This is my fiancé, Hank." I tell her as I gesture to Hank. She shakes his hand then takes a seat on the opposite side of the table from us. Hank keeps his hand on my thigh.
"So what are you looking for?" Stephanie asks.
"A House with at least 3 bedrooms at a reasonable price." Hank answers. I nod in agreement.
"Okay, I have a few places in mind." She smiles.
"Awesome. We do have an appointment at 3:30, but until then we're free." I say. She nods.
"Well then, after we eat why don't we go look at a couple places?" She suggests.
"Sounds great." I smile. We get some food and quickly eat then head to the first house. The outside looks nice, it's a craftsman style home. It's not to far away from the city. Stephanie puts her car park and Hank and I get out. Stephanie grabs a few things and gets out of her car.
        "What are your guys first impressions?" She asks us looking at Hank and I.
       "It's small, I like that it seems to be well taken care of." I tell her.
          "I have to agree with Luke, I also like how the front yard isn't too small." Hanks says grabbing my hand.
"Okay, good. This house is called the Dogwood, it is a three bedroom, two bath house on 2 acres. The house is 1,601 square feet, it is listed at 119, 500. Lets go take a look inside?" She tells us. Hank and I follow her inside.
"Right when you walk in, this is the living room and then over her is the dining room and kitchen area. The Master is on this side of the house and then there are two bedrooms on the other side." She tells us. Hank and I walk around looking at the kitchen and stuff, then we head into the master. After that we go see how big the other bedrooms are. One of the bedrooms is really small but the other is almost as big as the master.
     "Hank, baby what do you think?" I ask as I rub his back.
     "I like it, but it's just not....home." He answers. I nod in agreement.
      "Can we see the others?" I ask Stephanie.
      "Of course, may I ask what you didn't like about it?" She asks.
"It just doesn't feel right." Hank says.
"I completely understand, a house needs to speak to you." She smiles. We get in the car and I hold Hank's hand tightly. I smile as he places his hand on my thigh.
"Hows your back holding up?" I ask as I lay my head on his shoulder.
"I could live with laying down but I can't." He tells me.
"I'm sorry baby." I say and kiss his cheek. We pull up to the next house and I can immediately see Hank's eyes light up. I look around and love it.
     "So, this place has 19.5 acres, it has a few more bedrooms than your minimum, it has 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. It is listed at $163,600." Stephanie says.
   Hank and I get out and walk inside. Everything is perfect. The kitchen is huge and the living room has so much natural light. It's beautiful. The master bedroom is gigantic. The other bedrooms are good sizes and perfect for if we have more kids.
     "I love it." Hank tells me, wrapping his arms around my waist.
"Stephanie, I think we have found the house. How soon can we buy it?" I ask her.
"That's great! It depends, it can take up to two or three months but hopefully it will only take a month or so. Maybe sooner." She says congratulating us.
"When can we get all the paperwork done?" I ask her.
"We are running short on time, so it can't be today. I'm free tomorrow at 9, I'll get you my business card so you can find my office." She says hand Hank her card.
"We will be there." Hank says.
"Okay, well we need to get you guys back to the cafe." She says before heading out the door. Hank and I follow and get into her car. Stephanie drive Hank and I back to the cafe and then Hank and I walk back to the hotel. I call a taxi on the way to the cafe so hopefully it will be there when we arrive. Hank is doing really well with how much walking we are doing. We get to the front of the hotel and see the taxi waiting. I dial Mamas number as we get in the cab and Hank gives the driver the address.
"Hello?" Mama says.
"Mama, we found the perfect house! It beautiful it's five bedrooms and is on almost 20 acres of land." I tell her super excited.
"That's great, sweetheart. How is Hank doing?" Mama asks.
"He's doing really well. How are my little angles doing? I ask her.
"They're doing just fine. I just put them down for a nap." She tells me.
"Okay, well give them extra hugs and kisses for us. We should be home in two days, unless we need to be home sooner." I tell her.
"Okay, well I'm not gonna hold y'all up, I'll call you if I need anything." Mama tells me.
"Okay, bye." I say before hanging up the call. We arrive at the hospital just after I hang up. I pay the driver and I get out, then help Hank. I notice that at this point, every time he puts pressure on his back he grits his teeth together.
"Baby, you're hurting. How long has it been this bad?" I say.
"Since we left the hotel." He tells me. I take his hand and walk with him. Once we get to the correct floor, Hank's doctor is already waiting for us.
"Hank, how are you doing?" The doctor asks as soon as we walk in.
"His back, it's really bad." I speak up.
"Have you been doing your back exercises?" He asks.
"I was, until the pain got too bad to do them. And this isn't something like my back hurting over not moving enough. It is constant, excruciating pain." Hank tells him.
"Does it hurt you to put pressure on your back? As in standing, sitting?" He asks.
"Yes. All I can do is lay in bed all day. I can barely carry our babies." Hank answers.
"Have you two been sexually active since your accident?"
"Yes, that caused beyond excruciating pain." Hank tells him. I stand there, softly rubbing Hank's back.
"We could have missed an injury in your back." The doctor says. Hank nods.
        "What's the best way to find anything at you missed?" I ask the doctor.  
       "Well, I'll go review the x-rays that we took before and double check them. If I don't find anything, then we'll just take spinal x-ray and see if anything shows up on that." The doctor tells us, before walking out of the room.   
         "Hank, I'm gonna find an OB/GYN up here so I don't have to go down to Gerogia every time I have a doctors appointment." I tell Hank grabbing his hand.
"What did your Mama have to say about the house?" He asks.                                
      "She just said that it was great and nothing else. She asked how you were doing." I tell Hank. There is a knock on the door and the doctor walks in.
"Okay, so I did find a small mark on the x-ray which could be anything, it could be serious or a scratch on the paper, it's hard to tell. I sent an order up radiology to get you a spinal x-ray which will be able to show any fracture as small as a millimeter. I should have a time for you guys to head up there soon." The doctor tells us.                                 
        "Okay, thank you. Do you have any idea what it could be?" Hank asks the doctor.
"I think it could be a stress fracture to your lower back. Since it didn't really get bad until after you were sexually active, makes me think that it could have put enough stress on the spine to cause a tiny fracture." The doctor tells Hank.
     "I'm sorry, baby." I say as I lay my head on his shoulder.
     "It's not your fault." Hank assures me.
      "I need you to get undressed and put this gown on, Hank." The doctor says then steps out of the room. I help him up slowly then help him get undressed.
     "You look great, scars and all." I tell him as I run my hand over his chest.
       "Thank you, love."He smiles as he sits back down. There's a knock on the door then the doctor enters.
      "They're ready for you. I'm gonna have a nurse walk you up there. Luke, I'd like to talk to you alone." The doctor says. The nurse comes in and takes Hank away in a wheelchair.
"Is he okay?" I ask as they leave.
"The fracture in his back that we knew about before hasn't healed, there is a fragment of bone that we need to remove." He says.
"He needs surgery?" I ask, feeling myself wanting to cry immediately.
     "Yes, but I'm also afraid there may be another injury to his back. We need to find out about that before we make any big decisions." He says.
"Okay, do you know how long Hank will be doing the x-rays?" I ask him.
"A little over half an hour." The doctor says.
"I'm gonna take a walk, I'll be back before then." I say and walk off towards the exit of the doctors office. I get in the elevator and head down to the lobby. When I get down there I find a place to sit and just think about everything that's going on. I grab my phone and look up doctors up here and decide to call their office to see if I can get an appointment tomorrow or in a couple weeks.