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Chapter 191: Break
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2022-11-24 14:32:56Related chapters
Diagnosis: Love Chapter 192: Happily Ever After part 3
ALISONA human being can accomplish almost any task while sobbing her eyes out. I'd known this from experience in my past life, but after Noah left that afternoon, I went about proving it all over again.I cried as I wiped the table and counters. I wept as I took out a frozen macaroni and cheese to eat for dinner. I sobbed as I climbed the steps and listened at the baby's door-she was still asleep in the crib. I sniffled as I switched a load of newborn clothes from the washer to the dryer.He was gone, and I was alone. Again. Naturally.The hell of it was that even as he'd pleaded his case to me, even as he'd told me that he loved me, I'd known he was telling the truth. I believed him. But I couldn't trust what he thought he felt, not when people changed their minds about being in love all the damn time. People claimed to love a friend or a child or a lover, and then they changed their minds. It happened. I knew it first-hand. I'd experienced it over and over again before I was t
Last Updated : 2022-11-24Diagnosis: Love Chapter 193: As long as we both shall live
NOAHNoahIt was a beautiful day for a wedding. We gathered at mid-morning under the covenant oak on Jimmy and Anna Girard's farm. Alison and I had decided that since Emma and Deacon's wedding had been the start of our love story, we should say our vows under the canopied branches of that same steadfast tree. We hadn't wanted anything grand or involved, but it was important to us that the special people in our lives were present. So when Alison and I joined hands and made our vows, among those surrounding us were Emma and Deacon, Darcy and Jackson, Jenny and Nico, Mira Hoskins, and all of the people who worked with Alison in her practice. Maggie Corning, the midwife, and Brooke Slater, Alison's therapist, were there, too. My family had flown down en mass from Wisconsin and other key points around the country. My mother couldn't stop smiling, and my dad looked proud. Even my brothers and sisters and their families were behaving themselves. And then of course, there was the Tam
Last Updated : 2022-11-24Diagnosis: Love Chapter 1: Doomed to love
Jenny"I will never be able to thank you enough for this. Not as long as I live." I turn in a small circle, my arms wrapped about myself, taking in all the details of the room where I'm standing. It's all shades of tan and brown, a complete study in understated elegance, and I am one hundred percent in love. I can't wait to lay on the extra wide couch and watch Grey's Anatomy with a big glass of wine. Or a beer. I'm not that picky."Jen, you're making this a bigger deal than it is. You're helping me out, too, you know. I mean, I'm moving to Chicago, and I still have a year left on this lease. I'm just happy that someone I trust can sub-let from me." Nico stands across the room from me, leaning against the doorjamb, his back to the screened patio and pool. The late afternoon sunlight casts a glow on him, gleaming on his silky black hair and burnished skin. With his impossibly wide shoulders and the broad chest that tapered to narrow hips, he looks like a god who's popped down
Last Updated : 2022-11-24Diagnosis: Love Chapter 2: First day and I said what?
JennyFirst days of anything are not fun for me. I've always been like this. I threw up every first day of classes all during high school and college. By nature, I'm not an anxious person, but new situations and people make my nerves jump. So, although I'm really excited about this new job and can't wait to get started, on the morning I'm scheduled to go in for the first time, I'm kind to my stomach and stick to peppermint tea for breakfast. The last thing I need is to toss my cookies on the drive over or worse, all over the desk of the HR rep.I'm ready to leave a full hour ahead of my scheduled appointment time. The new oncology wing at St. Agnes doesn't open for another month, but the hospital's human resource department asked me to come down early, as they want the staff to be fully integrated in the set-up and running of this venture. Today, though, I'm going in for my official face-to-face interview and to sign my contract. My hiring was provisional, based on my resume,
Last Updated : 2022-11-24Diagnosis: Love Chapter 3: Out of the frying pan
JennyFor the next ten minutes, as Mrs. Cosgraves rummages for my contract, and then having found it, sets it on the desk in front of me, I vacillate between two extreme mental states. The first is screaming in horror and frustration, asking me what the fuck I just did. The second is a calm, soothing voice, assuring me that it's all going to be okay. That Nico will never have to hear about this. That he doesn't know anybody in this town, so no one is going to call me out on what could be considered either a bald-faced lie or an insane fantasy.When I sign the contract – unread, I might add, which I know on another level is probably a really stupid thing to do – the HR rep announces that it's time for her to take me on a tour of the new wing. I stand up, nearly knocking over my chair in my hurry."Oh, I'm sure I can manage to find it by myself. You're so busy…" I glance around at the empty room. "I mean, I'm sure you have so much to do with the opening, and the last thing you need
Last Updated : 2022-11-24Diagnosis: Love Chapter 4: Ladies' night
Jenny"Margaritas!!" The five women sitting in lounge chairs around my pool raise their glasses, giggling as everyone tries to clink with everyone else. I tap my glass against Stephanie's and then lean back, stretching my legs. "Did you have time to read the book?" she inquires, sipping her drink. "I know we've been keeping you pretty busy at St. Agnes. I hope hosting tonight didn't put too much pressure on you.""Nah." I shake my head and sway my bent legs side to side. "The work is challenging, but I'm glad I can be part of the ramping up to the opening process. That should make the transition on our first few days easier." "Oh, it's going to bedlam," she replies, casually waving her free hand. "These things always are. No matter how much training we do, no matter how much prep . . . it takes a while for things to start running like a well-oiled machine. But it'll come together eventually." "Thanks for the reassurance." I take a healthy gulp of my drink. "Hey, don'
Last Updated : 2022-11-24Diagnosis: Love Chapter 5: Partners in a lie
JennyI've never had a stroke, but in the process of my education as a nurse practitioner, I had to learn about the symptoms and signs. As I stand in front of Nico, staring at him, I'm pretty sure I might be experiencing a cerebral hemorrhage right now. Either that or a panic attack. I can't be sure. All I know is that I can't speak, I can't move, and it's entirely possible that I'm having hallucinations because I can't think of any reason Nico should be back in Florida. I must be imagining this. Maybe those margaritas were a little more potent than I'd thought. But then everything happens at once, and I know for sure I'm not dreaming. The women behind me, who'd lapsed into shocked silence moments ago, suddenly all begin talking at once. Talking might not be an accurate description, actually; they're alternately sighing, screeching, and quite possibly speaking in tongues. My Virginia-born grandmother would say that they're carryin' on. Nico spares the group a glance over my
Last Updated : 2022-11-24Diagnosis: Love Chapter 6: Caught in the act
Jenny"Hello, I'm calling to speak to Jenny Ward, my little sister who seems to have forgotten that she owes her big brother at least one proof-of-life text a week."I grin as I listen to my brother's passive-aggressive greeting. He's one of my favorite people in all the world. He's six years older than me, so when I was born, he saw me as a new toy. At least, that's what he's always told me. Six years is just the right age difference for him to be super protective of me, like a second dad. Since my actual dad is very much alive and involved in my life-and always has been-I've often told Kyle that his role is redundant. He doesn't seem to care. He still tells me what to do and how to do it. "Hey, smartass." I flop onto the chair in my bedroom and prop my feet on the end of the bed. "I'm great, thanks for asking. Love the new job. Digging the Florida life. Everything's peachy. How's it where you are?"Kyle chuckles. "Okay, okay. I might have been just slightly snarky, I'll cop
Last Updated : 2022-11-24
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Diagnosis: Love Chapter 193: As long as we both shall live
NOAHNoahIt was a beautiful day for a wedding. We gathered at mid-morning under the covenant oak on Jimmy and Anna Girard's farm. Alison and I had decided that since Emma and Deacon's wedding had been the start of our love story, we should say our vows under the canopied branches of that same steadfast tree. We hadn't wanted anything grand or involved, but it was important to us that the special people in our lives were present. So when Alison and I joined hands and made our vows, among those surrounding us were Emma and Deacon, Darcy and Jackson, Jenny and Nico, Mira Hoskins, and all of the people who worked with Alison in her practice. Maggie Corning, the midwife, and Brooke Slater, Alison's therapist, were there, too. My family had flown down en mass from Wisconsin and other key points around the country. My mother couldn't stop smiling, and my dad looked proud. Even my brothers and sisters and their families were behaving themselves. And then of course, there was the Tam
Diagnosis: Love Chapter 192: Happily Ever After part 3
ALISONA human being can accomplish almost any task while sobbing her eyes out. I'd known this from experience in my past life, but after Noah left that afternoon, I went about proving it all over again.I cried as I wiped the table and counters. I wept as I took out a frozen macaroni and cheese to eat for dinner. I sobbed as I climbed the steps and listened at the baby's door-she was still asleep in the crib. I sniffled as I switched a load of newborn clothes from the washer to the dryer.He was gone, and I was alone. Again. Naturally.The hell of it was that even as he'd pleaded his case to me, even as he'd told me that he loved me, I'd known he was telling the truth. I believed him. But I couldn't trust what he thought he felt, not when people changed their minds about being in love all the damn time. People claimed to love a friend or a child or a lover, and then they changed their minds. It happened. I knew it first-hand. I'd experienced it over and over again before I was t
Diagnosis: Love Chapter 191: Break
NOAH"Where's the baby?" Alison walked into the kitchen, her face etched with fatigue. We'd had a long and trying few days as Evangeline had apparently been going through a growth spurt: she nursed almost constantly and was difficult to console the rest of the time. She'd fought sleep, and she'd cried piteously no matter what we'd tried to do. The pediatrician had assured us that this was normal and we'd get through it, but privately, I thought he was a heartless imbecile who clearly didn't understand that our daughter was advanced and needed more attention than the typical newborn. But finally, today we'd caught a break. Alison had gone upstairs to take a shower-her first in three days-and somehow, I'd managed to get the baby to sleep without the benefit of a boob. More than that, I'd actually laid her in the crib without waking her up. I was pretty satisfied with myself, all in all. I was also crossing my fingers that she'd stay asleep long enough that her mother and I could d
Diagnosis: Love Chapter 190: Parenthood
NOAHParenthood was amazing, fulfilling, beautiful, awesome . . . and exhausting. The first few weeks of baby Evangeline's life at home were a blur, a constant, never-ending whirlwind of feeding, and changing, and washing, and catching whatever small bites of sleep we could whenever she slept. People came to visit and brought gifts and food, and I was pathetically grateful for that, because I didn't have the energy to cook, and both Alison and I were tired of takeout. The one factor that made everything survivable was the baby herself. God, I hadn't known how much I was going to love this ten-pounds of tiny, perfect human. I'd never anticipated that staring at her sleep for an hour was better than four quarters of football. Or that catching what might have been a smile could make me feel as though I'd just witnessed greatness. What was some missing sleep compared with noting how well my two-week-old daughter could lift up her head?Even so, as much as I was ga-ga over my baby gir
Diagnosis: Love Chapter 189: New life
ALISON"Congratulations, mama! You're at six. I think it's time to break your water and get things really going." It sounded like a great idea to me, but I saw Noah's lips go white. "Are you okay?" I asked, rubbing my fingers over the back of his hand. "You look a little green." He swallowed, his throat convulsing. "This is the only part I'm a little, uh, squeamish about. I watched that birth online, and breaking the water looked-intense." Maggie chuckled. "Stay up there by Alison and keep your eyes on her face. We don't need papa hitting the floor and suing the hospital." Noah did as he was told, watching me intently as if waiting for me to show some sign of distress. "Does it hurt?" he asked quietly. "The water part, I mean." I shook my head. "It feels a little weird, but not-oooooh!" I gasped as I felt the gush hit my inner thighs. "Okay, then. Eyes here, Noah. Come on. We're in this together." After that, it felt as though everything got a lot more serious. The con
Diagnosis: Love Chapter 188: Giving in
ALISON Spoiler alert: having sex with Noah did not start my labor.But it sure was worth the effort. Two days after that monumental night-and after we'd given it the good old college try several more times-we went to Maggie's office. I was in a rotten mood-being a million years pregnant can do that to a person-and poor Noah looked a little haggard. He'd been sleeping with me in my bed (we both clung to the excuse that if I went into labor, I'd want him closer than across the hall), which meant that he woke up whenever I had to climb out of that bed to pee. He thought I'd been exaggerating about how often I had to go. He was quickly disabused of that notion. After a quick exam, Maggie made some notes on her tablet and then turned to the both of us. "So listen," she began. "Do you want to have this baby?" I stared at her as though she'd lost her mind. "What the hell do you think I've been trying to do for over three weeks now, Maggie?" I bellowed. "Of course, I want to have th
Diagnosis: Love Chapter 187: Finally, at last
NOAHNow I got it. The night we'd first had sex-the night after Emma and Deacon's wedding-we'd challenged each other to come up with the sexiest, most outrageous names for cocktails. Alison was playing the game again."Ohhhhh." I grinned. "I still don't believe that last one is legit.""It totally is. The bartender confirmed it." With a smile that was deceptively seductive for an extremely pregnant woman, she reached down to grasp the bottom of her oversized T-shirt-which was not so oversized just now-and lifted it over her head. I helped just to make sure she didn't topple over in the process. It was the first time I'd really seen her without a shirt in many months. My first few impressions were awe at the size of her swollen middle. I knew she was huge, but damn. The skin was stretched as tight as a drum, and her belly button looked like a cork just about to give way. And her boobs-they were incredible. Within the utilitarian maternity bra, they were still the sexiest breasts
Diagnosis: Love Chapter 186: Things you shouldn't ask
NOAH"What's the world record for the longest pregnancy ever?" I glanced up at Alison from the book I was reading. We were both lying on her bed while a movie that neither of us was very invested in played on the TV. The couch downstairs had become too uncomfortable for her over the past week or so, so we'd begun hanging out here in her room. It was strictly for comfort, though; we stayed on top of the covers, with Alison on one side while I stuck to the other. It was a king-sized bed with plenty of room for us. But while we hadn't hesitated to cuddle and kiss on the sofa, something about being on the bed made us more cautious. I didn't know why, exactly; Alison was so tired of being pregnant that she wasn't up for much of anything other than television lately. She'd stopped going into the office after her due date since she'd already arranged with Dr. Johanson to cover her hours. So we were both at home now all the time . . . just waiting.She really was huge. While the ultraso
Diagnosis: Love Chapter 185: Trust love
ALISON"Read me that last part again?" Noah and I were sitting in the nursery, surrounded by boxes, gift bags, and about a million pieces of a pine crib. He had spent the last two weeks focusing on the nursery. He'd painted the room a lovely pale yellow color, insisting that I stay with Emma and Deacon at the cabin for the two nights after he'd completed the first and second coats so that I didn't have to inhale the paint fumes. Together, we had selected the crib and the dressing table. Noah's mother had sent us the cradle that all of her children had slept in, and that was already set up in my bedroom.Now, with my due date less than ten days away, we were finally tackling the project of building all of the furniture that hadn't come pre-assembled. I squinted at the paper in my hand, trying to decipher the words."I'm pretty sure that this was translated directly from Swedish by someone who didn't speak English," I commented. "It doesn't seem to make sense.""Does it say at wh
