Color Blind (BWWM Interracial Billionaire Single Mom Steamy Romance Novel) (17 page)

I held Nevaeh’s hand until the technician called us back to the MRI room. She instructed Nevaeh to undress and put on the tiger printed hospital gown. While I helped her undress, I could sense her fear.
 

“
Listen,
baby, I know you’re
nervous,
but I promise, it’s not going to hurt. Do you see that table right there?” Nevaeh nodded her head.
“You’re going to lay on that and they’ll press a button that moves the table inside of that circle machine. You’ll have to be really still while you’re in that part of the machine because that’s where they’ll take your pictures. Okay?”
 

Nevaeh looked at me as if I were crazy. “That thing’s not going to take my picture! I don’t even see a camera.”
 

“
You can’t see the camera because it’s inside the machine,” I tried to reason with her.
 

The technician knocked on the door and asked to come in. Once she was back in the room, she helped Nevaeh onto the table and began the procedure. As her tiny body was pulled inside the scanner, she weakly smiled at me. Trying to put her at ease, I said, “It’s okay Nevaeh, I’m right here. I won’t leave you.”
 

Nevaeh laid completely still as the machine started pulling her inside of it. I can honestly say that I was scared
for
her. I thought the machine was intimidating, and I’m an adult! The scanner began making loud tapping noises, which scared Nevaeh, but she remained brave throughout the whole procedure. As
the
technician announced that the scan was complete, Nevaeh let out a sigh
of relief. The motorized bed retracted out of the scanner, allowing Nevaeh to sit up.
 

“
See. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” I asked her.
 

“
No, but it was scary because it was so loud. I wanted to
jump,
but I remembered that you said to be still.”
 

“
You did
an excellent
job,” the radiographer added.
 

“
What’s next?” I asked the woman.
 

“
We’ll send these off to be analyzed, the results will be
forwarded
to your doctor and he’ll go over them with you. I noticed that Dr. Newton ordered these; he’s
an excellent
physician
. The best in the field, actually.”
 

That made me feel better. “Okay, and what about her x-ray?” I asked.
 

“
We’ll do that today as well, but I don’t do those. You’ll have to go down to x-ray.” She looked at Nevaeh, “You’ll need to stay in your cute gown for a while longer.”
 

“
Where’s x-ray?” I asked.
 

“
When you leave this room, take a left and continue down the hall until you reach the next main corridor. At the next hallway, make a right and you’ll run right into it. There’s a big sign hanging
on
the wall that’ll say
X-ray
on it.”
 

Nevaeh toted behind me as we headed to x-ray. While we were walking, she began to ask about the x-ray and how it worked.
 

“
How does this test work?” she asked.

“
It’s not like the other one. There’s no noise at all, and you can stand up while they do it. They’ll place
individual
boards behind you and take pictures of you with a camera that you’ll actually be able to see.”
 

“
Good, I didn’t like being in that weird machine back there. Are they going to put me inside another thing?”

I laughed, “Oh, no, baby. You’ll just stand in an open room.”
 

Once we reached x-ray, I checked in with the receptionist to let them know we were here. We took a seat in the waiting room until a short, round woman called us back.
 

“
Oh, I see you’re already sporting one of our gowns, huh?” the lady joked with Nevaeh.
 

“
Yeah, they made me put it on for my other test.”

“
Okay, now I’ll just need you to stand right here and hold still. When I’m ready to take your picture, I’ll need you to take a deep breath and hold it until I say you can breathe. It’ll only be a few seconds. Can you do that?”

I admired how friendly she was with my daughter. She kind of reminded me of my friend Lorraine. Suddenly, I wished I would’ve asked her to come with us. It would’ve been nice to have someone tag along for support. Dale was busy, off buying another commercial property in East St. Louis, Illinois.
 

After the woman
had taken
x-rays of Nevaeh’s spine, she had her sit on the table so she could take x-rays of her hands, elbows, knees, ankles and feet. Poor Nevaeh was bored as she had to hold still for
picture
after picture. When they were finally finished, the kind woman helped her off the table and offered her a drink.
 

“
Would you like some Sprite or apple juice?” the redheaded woman asked as she slid her glasses back up her nose.

“
Sprite!” Nevaeh exclaimed.
 

“
Nevaeh, where are your manners? Say please.”
 

“
Please,” she added.

The woman smiled as she made her way to the mini fridge behind the receptionist desk. As she returned with the soda, she told her that she could put her clothes back on since they were finished with their testing. It would be another two weeks until we would know the results of the images, but I was okay with that. At the moment, Nevaeh was healthy and going strong. Her medicine was still working, which I was grateful for.
 

Just a few weeks before Thanksgiving, I once again traded days off and pulled Nevaeh out of class to see the specialist. This time, Dale accompanied us to the appointment. The assistant called us back, this time placing us in a colorful green room. Dr. Newton was quite busy that day, which caused us to wait at least a half hour before he made it into the room.
 

“
Hello Nevaeh and Miss Harris,” he shook my hand. “Good afternoon,” he spoke to Dale. “Okay, let’s take a look at the test results.”
 

He scanned over the analysis of the diagnostic test results for a few moments. After reviewing them, he removed them from the chart to allow me to read them as he explained them.
 

“
According to the MRI, Nevaeh has a great deal of inflammation surrounding her joints. This would explain all of the pain and swelling that she’s experienced. It’s especially
dangerous
in her lower extremities, which caused the stiffening in her legs,
feet,
and hands. Her sacroiliac joint has the greatest amount of inflammation, but this is common in those who suffer from AS.”
 

We nodded, indicating we were following the doctor as we read the analysis from the report. “What is her sacroiliac joint?” I asked.
 

“
The sacroiliac joint is the joint where the pelvis and spine join. This would cause all of the lower back pain that she complained about previously.”

“
Now, with her x-ray, she has a noticeable amount of
fusing
around her vertebrae. This is a concern because it has caused some damage to
her spine. When the vertebrae fuse together, it robs the spine of mobility and leaves her vulnerable to fractures. If this continues, it can gradually lead to her spine curving forward. It’s imperative that we keep her inflammation under control; if ignored, she may develop calcium deposits in the cushions between the spinal vertebrae.”
 

“
But none of that has happened yet, is that what you’re saying?”

“
Well, she does have some fusion of the spine and her inflammation is a concern. Are her medications still working well for her?”

“
So far,” I answered.
 

“
Then we’ll continue with that treatment plan and we’ll schedule her to come back in six months for more testing to determine the rate at which her disease is progressing. As long as we monitor it and keep it under control, she should grow up to be a young, healthy adult.”

I replayed the doctor’s words in my mind as we left the doctor’s office. The spinal confusion concerned me, but I was glad that the doctor didn’t seem too alarmed by it. Sensing my mind
was preoccupied, Dale interrupted my thoughts as we were getting back in the car.
 

“
What are you thinking about?” he asked as Nevaeh buckled herself into the backseat.
 

“
Just trying to wrap my head around what the doctor told us,” I explained.
 

“
Mom, what did that doctor mean when he said all those things?”

Dale turned to look at Nevaeh as he adjusted the rear view mirror, “He said that your spine has grown together a little and that the medicine seems to be helping you.”
 

Yeah, if it were only that simple
. Driving along, I continued to think about Nevaeh, the
doctors,
and all the testing. How am I going to keep paying for all of this stuff? I still owe close to fifteen hundred dollars on the x-ray and MRI, and that’s only because I put down a hundred bucks on the day of the testing. I just got her regular doctor visits and labs paid off, I have no cash and my credit card is maxed. Business better pick up so I can pay for these two specialist visits and her testing.
 

“
Kimberly? What’s wrong?” Dale asked, perplexed by my silence on the way to my house.
 

“
Nothing,” I lied.
 

We continued to drive in silence until we pulled up to the house. Dale helped Nevaeh out of the backseat as I dug through my purse to find my keys to the front door. My bag slipped from my grip, sending all the contents flying all over the driveway.
 

“
Shit,” I muttered, bending down to pick everything up.
 

“
Here, let me help you,” Dale offered.
 

Once we were inside, I flopped onto the couch. Dale sat beside me and offered a foot massage; I graciously accepted while Nevaeh went to her room to draw.
 

“
You know, Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away. Do you have any plans?” he asked.

“
I’m not sure, but normally we have Thanksgiving at my mom’s house. You?”
 

“
No, but I was hoping we could spend it together.”
 

“
I know I’d love it, and I bet Nevaeh would too.”
 

“
We could have it at my house. You could invite your family; they’re welcomed to come here” Dale said.
 

“
I don’t know if they’ll go for that. My mom’s been talking to me more, and so have my brothers, but I don’t think they’ll come over to celebrate the holiday with us.”
 

“
Talk to them, see what they say,” he said.
 

If I was going to get my family to agree to have Thanksgiving at Dale’s, it was going to take some work. I called my mom that evening and presented the idea to her. At first she refused instantly, but I talked her into thinking about it. Now, I had to work
on
my brothers. Lying has never been my strong suit, but I pulled it off by telling my
brothers
that mom had already agreed. She had a sweet spot for me since I was the only girl; I would continue working on her until she finally said yes.
 

After quite a bit of persuasion, my mom finally agreed and told my brothers what we were doing. It wasn’t easy; I had to tell her how Dale came to Nevaeh’s doctor appointments and how much they’d bonded over the summer. If it weren’t for Nevaeh, I don’t think my mom would’ve ever agreed to come. Dale was excited that I’d talked my family into it; he began making big plans for the holiday.

Chapter Nine

On the eve of Thanksgiving, I worked hard in my small kitchen preparing deviled eggs, homemade apple
pie,
and my famous St. Louis salad. Nevaeh worked vigorously beside me, trying to keep pace with me.
 

“
Can I help sprinkle the sugar on the pie?” she asked me.
 

“
You sure can! And when we’re done with that, you can help me stir up the filling for these eggs. Dinner’s going to be so good tomorrow, Nevaeh, I just know it!” I pinched a bit of flour off the counter and playfully dusted Nevaeh’s nose with it and added, “My little baker.”