I'll Stay Me

Chapter Twenty-Four

Hank's POV

The nurse takes me to get the x-rays that the doctor wants. I get up there and the nurse takes me back to a room with an x-ray machine in it.
     "Hank, we're gonna get you to lay on your stomach over here on this table." The nurse says, as the radiology tech comes over and help her with getting me on the table.
     "All you need to do is lay here for a few minutes while we take the x-rays. Your doctor wants five different x-rays of your back." The tech saids. I nod and just lay there waiting for this to be over.
"Okay sweetheart, you're all done." The nurse says. They help me off the table and back into the wheelchair.
"Can I go back to Luke?" I ask. She nods her head and takes me back down to the room.
"Luke... hold me?" I ask as the nurse leaves the room.
"Baby, what's wrong? Did they tell you something?" He asks as he rushes over to me.
"I just need you, this is all so overwhelming." I tell him, beginning to cry. He wraps his arms around me and holds my head against his chest.
"Are you okay? Are you hungry? Do you need me to feed you?" Luke asks, seeming frantic.
"Honey, Calm down. I'm hungry but not here. I'm fine." I tell him and put my arm around his waist.
     "I found a doctor and I have an appointment with them tomorrow afternoon." Luke's tells me.
    "That's great, now we just need to get the house and move up here." I tell him hugging him. After a few minutes of Luke and I just sitting waiting for the doctor to come in, there is a knock on the door and the doctor comes in.
"I took a look at the x-ray, and your gonna need to have surgery. There is a piece of bone on your lower spine that has broken completely off and it is causing you all of this pain." The doctor tells me.
    "Is that the only option?" I ask him.
   "You could be put in a back brace, but you could be in that for months before it heals. With the surgery you would be out of pain in about a month and a half." The doctor says.
     "I'm gonna have to think about it, before I make a choice." I tell him.
    "That's fine, you guys can leave, just call the office and schedule another appointment when you've made a decision." The doctor tells us.
      "Okay, thank you." I say.  The doctor nods and leaves the room. Luke helps me change and then we leave and head back to the hotel.
"You want a shower?" Luke asks as we get back to our room.
"Yeah, love." I say as I walk into the bathroom. Luke helps me undress and turns on the water. I step in the shower and hold Luke's hand as he gets in. He rubs his hands over my chest then hugs me.
"What are you thinking about, baby?" Luke asks.
"Surgery, my back." I tell him.
"It's your decision, but I think you should do it." He tells me, laying his head on my shoulder.
"I probably will, I'm just scared. What could happen? What if I end up paralyzed?" I voice my concerns to him. He puts his hand on my ass and kisses my cheek.
"Baby, don't worry about any of that. You'll be fine, I promise." He tells me.
"I gotta sit down." I say. I get out of the shower and wrap a towel around me then go lay on the bed. Before long, Luke comes in and sits on the side of the bed.
"I really hope you get good news at the doctor tomorrow." I say as I take his hand in mine.
"Me too. I really want another baby with you." He smiles as he lays down beside me.
"You're hungry ain't you baby?" Luke asks.
   "Yeah." I say. Luke slides up a little bit and I begin feeding.
"I'm gonna order room service. Do you want anything to drink?" Luke asks me.
    "No." I tell him, and go back to feeding. Luke looks over the menu in the room and then calls down to the lobby to order it. After a few minutes of feeding I'm done and decided to curl up, under the covers and go to sleep. I fall asleep thinking about how Luke's appointment will go tomorrow.

Luke's POV

Hank falls asleep, so I slowly get off of the bed and throw some clothes on. Just after I finish putting my sweatshirt on, there is a knock on the door.
   "Room service." I hear a guy say. I walk over and open the door. I grab the tray from the guy and thank him. I shut the door and sit down on the other bed and eat my dinner so I don't disturb my sleeping fiancé. I ordered some pot roast with green beans, and mashed potatoes. It's really good, considering it is hotel food.
Once I am done eating, I sit the plate and tray outside the door.
I sit back on the bed with Hank and lay beside him. I curl up against him and gently play with the little hair he has.
As I lay there, I begin thinking about the surgery and my doctors appointment.
I hear a knock on the door, so I get up and run to the door. I open it to see Dick and his wife, Betty, standing there.
"Oh my God, hi!" I smile. "Come in..." I say opening the door wider. They step in the room and both give me a quick hug.
"How's he doing? Oh yeah, you had your babies! How are they?" Betty asks.
"He's gonna have to have another surgery. The babies are great, they look so much like Hank." I smile.
"That's his 13th Surgery, poor thing."
"Here, let me get him up." I tell them. I walk over to Hank and softly shake him.
    "Baby, wake up. Dick and Betty are here to see you." I tell Hank as he begins to wake up. He moves around a little but then closes his eyes again.
    "My back." He whines.
     "I know, sweetheart. You need to wake up though." I tell him and rub his back. He finally opens his eyes.
    "Baby boy, I love you." I say, kissing his cheek.
    "Good morning, sweetie." Betty says as she sits on the bed beside Hank. She pets his face then leans down and softly kisses his forehead.
"Hey Hank." Dick says, just staring at Hank.
"What are y'all doing here?" He asks groggily.
"We heard y'all were in town and found out where y'all were. Figured we'd come and see you." Dick answers. Hank nods and gives them a slight smile.
   "Well, soon we will be living up here. Hank and I have found a house." I tell them smiling.
   "Thats great! How soon will y'all be moving up here?" Betty asks.
    "Within the next few months, it all depends on how long it takes for the paperwork to be processed." I tell her.
    "We'll have to come see the babies once y'all are living up here."She tells us.
   "You guys are welcomed anytime to see the babies." Hank tells them. I nod my head and smile.
"Y'all have no idea how much it means to both of us, how much you both helped us through Hanks accident." I tell them.
      "He's like a son to us, we couldn't just stand by and let him suffer." Dick says.
"Wait, did you two get engaged?" Betty asks. I nod my head and show her my ring.
"That's great." Dick smiles"Well we better get going." He adds. As they leave, Hank Thanks them for coming.
     "I love you baby boy." Hank smiles as I jump on the bed beside him.
    "I love you too honey." I say and kiss him. "God I need to get pregnant, it was honestly the best feeling I've ever had, I wish I could just stay pregnant." I say, laying on his chest.
"Would you really wanna have morning sickness everyday of your life?"Hank asks.
"If it meant that I would have another beautiful angel in nine months, then yes." I tell him grabbing his hand.
   "Well, maybe in a few years you will." He says wrapping his arms around me.
     "I hope it's not that far away." I say, snuggling closer to him.
    "We just have to see what the doctor says tomorrow. Also we gotta get the results back from my doctor, about my fertility." Hank tells me.
"I'm so afraid that you're infertile after the fall." I tell him. He rubs his hand over my back and kisses my head.
"Me too, babe, me too." He says. I place my hand on his thigh and slowly move it up closer to his crotch.
"No, Luke I'm sorry. I can't." He says, pushing my hand away.
     "What's wrong?" I ask, placing my hand on his cheek.
     "There's just a lot to think about. I can't have sex while deep in thought about my fertility." He says. "I'm 26. I shouldn't be having issues like this." He adds. It is only when he says this, I realize this is doing more than just causing him to be upset over not having another baby, it's challenging his masculinity. I can't believe I didn't see this before.
"Baby, we can't be worrying about it. It will be what it will be. I would love to have more children with you but if God has other plans, then we just have to accept it." I tell him.
"I know, but I want more of my own kids. I want to have so many more." Hank says.
"I know I hope that we can, but we just can't be focusing on it until we get the results." I tell him, hugging him. We stay there, hugging each other without saying a word for what feels like forever.
I begin rubbing his back as I hear him sniffle a few times.
"It's okay, you can cry in front of me." I tell him. He nods his head against my shoulder.
       "I'm sorry." He apologizes as he sits up.
      "Don't be, I know it's a lot baby." I tell him. After a few more hours of taking we finally fall asleep holding each other.

"Sweetheart, wake up." I hear Hank say as he snuggles into my neck.
"Shit, my appointment." I say as I look over at the clock. My appointment is at 12:45 and it is already 12:14. "Babe, get up and get dressed please."
"I'm gonna need your help but okay." He replies, sitting up. I jump up and get dressed then help Hank finish getting ready. I put his hat on him then we head out the door. We meet a cab at the entrance to the hotel. I tell the driver where to go and help Hank in. It's silent the whole ride to the hospital. Once we arrive at the hospital, I help Hank out of the cab and pay the driver.
     "You ready?" Hank ask me.
   "Yeah. I'm excited to find out about how we can fix my hormones." I tell him, walking into the hospital. We get on the elevator and go up to the 4th floor. When get up to the floor Hank and I follow the signs to the doctor office a few halls away.
     "Hi sweetie, you must be Thomas." The receptionist smiles as we walk up to the front desk.
"Yes ma'am, you can call me Luke though." I say as I rub Hank's back softly.   "Is it possible for you to check on his fertility too?" I ask, referring to Hank.
"Yes sir, we specialize in fertility so we can definitely test him too." She smiles. She takes us back to a room and walks out of the door after.
      "Baby you're sweating." I say as I notice Hank is sweating through his shirt.
"I'm nervous as hell." He admits, slightly hyperventilating.
"Good afternoon guys." The doctor smiles as she comes in. "Is he okay?"
        "I think he's having an anxiety attack." I tell her.
"Honey, don't worry, we're going to help you two in your journey to having a precious little one." She says, directing her attention to Hank. She walks over and puts her hand on his back.
After Hank calms down some, we proceed with the appointment.
"Hank, I need you to go down to the next room on the left and I need a semen sample from you." She says as she hands him a cup. A nurse comes in and takes Hank away to the room.
      "Luke, lay down for me please." The doctor smiles. I do as she says and lift my shirt she does an ultrasound, looking at everything she needs to.   "Now I'm going to have one of my nurses take some blood and we're going to check some things with it." She tells me, taking off her gloves.
"How long do I have to wait for the results?" I ask.
"We will have them in around 15 minutes." She smiles. I nod as the nurse puts the needle in my arm. As the nurse walks out of the room, Hank comes back in
     "Have fun?" I ask him, laughing.
"I barely managed to get a boner." He sighs. As he walks over to me I bring him into a hug and just hold him until the doctor comes back.
       "Luke, everything looks great. Your system is fantastic. As far as straightening out your hormones, you need to completely come off of testosterone supplements and make sure you're off all hormone blockers and they should straighten out by their self. You will experience some changes though." The doctor says, looking at her clipboard.
       "How's he?" I ask, hugging Hank tighter.
       "His sperm count is very low, and because of his injuries, he is nearly infertile. The good part is, he isn't completely infertile." She says, watching Hank.
"Is there anything we can do to increase his sperm count?" I ask.
"Well, there are a few options. Hank, you could take testosterone, and try to exercise regularly to help boost your testosterone. You should be taking daily vitamins and extra vitamin c and d to help the quality of the sperm be better. Try to lower your stress as much as possible, stress can lower your sex drive. A few other things you should do are, don't wear tight boxers or pants, drink little to no alcohol, and eat more fruits and vegetables." The doctor tells Hank, and he nods.
"What changes will I be experiencing?" I ask the doctor.
"Your penis will shrink an inch if not more. You will start your menstrual cycle and breasts will begin to form. The fat in your body will be more centered around your hips and you hips will also widen." She tells me.
"Okay, thank you." I tell her.
"I'm gonna go ahead and write the prescriptions and you guys can be on your way. I would like to see you guys back in about a month for a check up." She says, writing the prescriptions out.
"Okay, thank you so much." Hank says. I grab the prescriptions and we head back to the hotel.