“Richard is a shell of his former self.”
“I want you to promise me. I worry that you’ve made so much of me that if something were to happen, you’d . . .” She trailed off.
“I will always struggle with addiction, Julianne, but I don’t think I could go back to my old life.” His voice dropped. “Then I truly would be alone.”
“I promise that wherever I am, I’ll do all that I can to help you. I swear.” Her voice was a desperate whisper.
“If you were Francis to my Guido da Montefeltro, you’d come for my soul, wouldn’t you?”
“I swear it. But I don’t believe your soul is in mortal danger.”
He lifted his hand and traced the curve of her cheekbone with his thumb. “No more morbid talk. If it’s necessary to your peace of mind to make this promise, then I promise. But don’t you dare leave me.”
Julia nodded against his hand, her body relaxing.
Chapter Forty-seven
On the day of Julia’s ultrasound, Gabriel canceled his classes in order to accompany her.
“I’m sorry, sir, but you aren’t allowed inside the ultrasound suite.”
Gabriel stood to his full height, a scowl distorting his handsome features. He looked down at the much shorter technician. “Excuse me?”
The technician pointed at a notice board that was affixed to the wall. “Only the patient is allowed. Family must wait out here.”
Gabriel placed his hands on his hips, fanning his jacket out angrily. “She’s my wife. I’m not leaving her.”
“The average ultrasound only takes thirty minutes. She’ll be with you soon.” The technician nodded at Julia. “Mrs. Emerson, if you’ll follow me.”
Gabriel tugged on Julia’s arm, stopping her. “We’ll go to another hospital.”
Julia shifted her weight from foot to foot, practically dancing in the hallway. “They made me drink five cups of water. I have to pee like crazy. Don’t make me go through this again.”
“I’m not letting you go in there alone.” His eyes, flashing blue fire, rested on hers.
“This can’t wait.” Her tone pierced him.
He blinked a few times.
“What if there’s a problem?”
The technician cleared her throat and nodded toward the same sign. “I’m not allowed to discuss what I find. Only the radiologist can write up an official report, and that will be sent directly to your doctor.”
Gabriel muttered a few choice expletives and gave the technician a glare that nearly knocked her over.
“I’ll be fine, sweetie. But if you don’t want to see my bladder explode right in front of you, you have to let me go.” Julia crossed her legs.
Gabriel watched her walk away, feeling furious and helpless simultaneously.
Two days later, Julia was summoned to Dr. Rubio’s office to discuss the radiologist’s report. Gabriel accompanied her.
“Fibroids,” the doctor announced triumphantly. “I read the report and I saw the ultrasound. I concur with her findings.”
“What’s a fibroid?” Julia clutched Gabriel’s hand.
“A fibroid is a benign growth on or in the uterus. They’re very common. According to the report, you have two of them.”
“Two?” Julia sounded panicked. “But I thought you only found one.”
“I found the bigger one during your pelvic exam. Because it’s attached to the exterior of your uterus, I thought it was part of your ovary. There’s also a small one lower down on the front of your uterus.” Doctor Rubio quickly sketched Julia’s insides while Gabriel tried valiantly not to faint.
(One must remember that his vast knowledge of uteri was primarily experiential rather than visual.) “The larger one is about five centimeters. The smaller one is about three centimeters.” She pointed to her drawing with a pen.
Julia felt queasy and looked away.
“Will she need surgery?” Gabriel ignored the sketch and made eye contact with the doctor.
“Not necessarily.” Dr. Rubio turned to her patient. “If they aren’t bothering you, we’re inclined to leave them. We’ll put you on birth control pills. The hormones in the pill slow the growth of the fibroid.”
“What about fertility?”
Doctor Rubio glanced at the chart. “Ah, yes. You want to try to start a family in a few years. We’ll monitor your fibroids, but since they’re located on the outside of the uterus, I don’t think fertility will be a problem. However, once you’re pregnant we’ll have to keep an eye on them. Fibroids tend to grow during pregnancy because of the rise in hormone levels. They can crowd the uterus and cause premature delivery. We’ll monitor all of that when the time comes. But for now, I take this to be good news. I’m going to ask that we schedule you for another ultrasound in about six months, simply to check the fibroids. I’ll write up a prescription for you to go on the pill. And we’ll go from there.”
Julia and Gabriel exchanged a look, then thanked the doctor and exited the office.