“Elena, if you feel up to walking, I would like to show you the imaging results,” Dr. Morris said.
“We can review them in the consultation room down the hall.”
Daniel immediately stepped forward, his leather shoes making a faint sticky sound against the linoleum. He reached out to support my elbow, his grip tight but careful, the professional husband returning to his role.
“Of course,” Daniel said, his voice regaining its smooth, marketing pitch. “We want to see exactly what we are dealing with.”
I stood up slowly, the movement sending a sharp pinch through my side. I kept my head down, focusing on the green tiles of the floor as we walked out of the bay.
The hallway was lined with heavy wooden doors and smelled of industrial cleaner and stale coffee. A nurse passed us wheeling a cart of clean linens, the wheels squeaking in a slow, rhythmic pattern.
We followed Dr. Morris into a small office where the blinds were drawn, leaving the room in a quiet, grey shadow.
There were three plastic chairs set before a large black monitor on the wall. Dr. Morris sat at her desk, her keyboard clicking twice in the silence.
Please, sit,” she said, without looking up from her screen.
Daniel took the chair closest to the monitor, leaning forward with his hands on his knees. I sat beside him, keeping my hands folded in my lap, my wedding band cold against my skin.
The air in the small room was chilled by an overhead vent that rattled every few seconds. On the corner of the doctor’s desk sat a small plastic model of a human joint, its red rubber ligaments stretched tight.
Daniel tapped his gold watch face once with his index finger, then stopped, remembering it had run down. He cleared his throat, the sound loud in the enclosed space.
“We have a lot of things to handle today, doctor,” Daniel said, his eyes scanning the diplomas on the wall. “My partner is expecting me back at the development site by noon.”
Dr. Morris did not answer him. She clicked her mouse, and the large wall monitor flickered to life, filling the room with a pale blue glow.
The first image was a curved grey shape, surrounded by dark shadows.
“We ran a full pelvic series first to check for internal trauma from the impact,” Dr. Morris said. She pointed a silver pen at the center of the screen, where a small, clear silhouette was visible.
