Page 69 of Nathan
A doctor arrived and announced that they would need to roll Serena away to get x-rays.
“Can Nathan come?” Serena asked and held on to my hand.
“No. We’ll bring you back when you’re done.”
I kissed her hand. “I’ll be right here, waiting.”
All the magazines in the waiting room were in Swedish. The same went for the talk show that was shown on the TV hanging on the wall. My phone was like a toxic bomb containing mostly hate mail and articles shaming Serena and me, so I quickly put it away.
It felt like forever before all the examinations and x-rays were over with, and Serena was finally rolled back into the examination room.
“Once we have the results, the doctor will be in to talk to you.” A blonde nurse in her late twenties gave a warm smile to Serena before she left.
“They know who I am.”
“Mhmm.” I sat down on the edge of her bed and held her hand.
“I’m so sorry that I balanced on that stupid log.”
“It was an accident. It’s not your fault.”
“But we were having such a great time. Now, I ruined it.”
“Hey, we’re still together,” I said in an attempt to make her smile.
“Make sure the staff doesn’t take any pictures. I don’t want the press to find us.”
“Don’t worry about the press. All you need to focus on is getting well enough to leave this hospital.”
A different doctor came in a while later. She was of Chinese heritage and spoke English with a strong Swedish accent. “We have the results from your x-rays, and the good news is that you have no fractures.”
Serena and I both sighed with relief.
“How do you feel?”
“Fine,” Serena said with a brave face.
The doctor leaned her right elbow on the railing of Serena’s bed. “That’s good, but since you hit your head, were temporarily unconscious, and experienced double vision, we’re treating this as a concussion. Have you had a concussion before?”
“Yes.”
“Then you know it means rest, sleep, and no screen time or strenuous physical activities for about a week.”
I could see Serena’s brow lower and guessed that she worried we couldn’t be intimate, so I squeezed her hand as the doctor continued talking.
“Your face was bruised in the accident, but I understand the nurses already cleaned you up, and we found nothing that requires further treatment.”
“Can I see?” Serena asked.
The doctor spoke a few words in Swedish to the blonde nurse who stood quietly in the corner. She gave a quick nod and fetched a mirror.
A gasp sounded from Serena when she saw her face. Her right eye was black all the way from her eyebrow down to her cheekbone, and her nose had an angry-looking red scratch across it.
“You’re still beautiful,” I whispered.
Lowering the mirror, Serena blinked away tears, and it made the nurse step forward and hold a hand to her shoulder. “It will all be gone in one to two weeks, you’ll see.”
I gave the nurse a small smile and turned to the doctor. “When can she go home?” I asked.
