CHAPTER FIFTEEN #2
She shook her head as she looked back at him. “They told me everything was normal, though clearly, nothing is normal for me. Maybe we just haven’t run the right tests yet. I know they started with the most basic ones, then I just wasn’t able to get more testing done.”
“If there’s one thing that I know about Julian, it’s that he’s tenacious. He will get you answers. Maybe it will take awhile, but he’ll get them for you.”
“I appreciate him doing this,” she said. “And also you coming along with me.”
“I’m happy to be along for the ride, especially since you haven’t told your family what’s going on.”
She shrugged. “I don’t want them to get their hopes up either. It’s been hard, especially on my dad.”
“Is he feeling a bit helpless?” Ben asked.
Amelia’s brows rose. “How do you know that?”
“He can’t do anything,” Ben said. “And I can only imagine that for a father, that’s the worst possible situation.”
Amelia smiled sadly. "He’s a mechanic, so he's used to fixing things. My whole life, if something was broken, Dad could repair it. He's always been so capable. But he can't fix me."
The attendant approached with a tray of food, and Ben reluctantly released Amelia's hand as they made room for their meal. The spread was simple but elegant. Grilled chicken breasts, roasted vegetables, quinoa, and sparkling water.
"This looks amazing," Amelia said, her eyes widening at the presentation.
“Should we pray before we eat?”
She glanced at him, then nodded.
Ben took her hand again and said a quick prayer, thanking God for the food and asking that the tests would go smoothly and give Amelia the answers she was searching for.
After the prayer, Ben watched Amelia take a bite and hum in appreciation. Smiling, he picked up his own fork and began to eat.
When they were finished, the attendant cleared their plates away and brought them dessert. A cheesecake that was rich and smooth and delicious.
Amelia leaned back in her seat after finishing her last bite. “That was amazing. And I’m full to the gills.”
“I could probably eat another piece of that cheesecake, actually. Maybe I’ll have another piece for a midnight snack.”
“Well, you can afford to,” Amelia said. “Because you can just work it off.”
“So now I have to decide if that cheesecake is worth having to work out extra.”
“I’d probably have to say yes, but thankfully, I’m too full to be tempted, since I can’t work it off.”
“Is there any exercise that you can do that doesn’t cause you more pain?”
Amelia frowned, crossing her arms over her waist. “I haven’t really tried a lot of different exercises.
I do know that running, skating, and weightlifting are a no-go.
I’ve done some stretching, but often it leaves me exhausted.
Unfortunately, I can’t afford to be exhausted because I need to go to work. ”
"What about swimming?" Ben asked, thinking back to the conversation they'd had about the pool party at the estate. "It's low-impact, and the water supports your weight."
Amelia considered this, her head tilting slightly. "Unfortunately, it would probably still exhaust me, especially with the added effort of moving in water."
Ben hadn’t considered that. “I’m sorry you’re struggling so much with this. I know you used to enjoy working out.”
“I loved working out,” she said. “I miss it a lot.”
Her voice had saddened, which made Ben’s heart ache. She had lost so much because of her health issues.
He knew that injuries had often forced skaters into retirement, but most still had the ability to live normal lives. They could even still skate and work out, just not to the level they once had as elite athletes.
But that wasn’t the case for Amelia. She’d been left with nothing of her former life. No working out. No skating. Nothing related to what had previously been her whole life.
“I think I’m going to lie down,” Amelia said.
“Okay. We’ll probably be landing in about three and a half hours. Hopefully, you can get some rest before we do.”
They left their seats, and Ben walked with her to the back bedroom. The queen-size bed dominated the space, but there was still plenty of room to walk around each side.
“There’s a bathroom through there,” Ben said, pointing to a doorway. “I should say that if we hit any significant turbulence, you’ll have to return to your seat to buckle in.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
Ben watched as she sat down on the edge of the bed with her phone, then turned and left the room, pulling the door closed behind him.
Returning to his seat, he saw that Julian was still on his phone, which wasn’t a surprise since he had business dealings around the world in many different time zones.
Ben sighed and pulled out his own phone to check his emails. He had several from work that needed attention, but his mind kept drifting to Amelia. The way her hand had felt in his. The sadness in her voice when she'd talked about not being able to work out anymore.
He put his phone down and leaned his head back against the seat. What if Julian's specialists couldn't find anything either? What if they were just setting Amelia up for more disappointment?
The thought made his stomach tighten with anxiety. The uncertainty gnawed at him. He'd been so confident when telling Amelia that Julian would get her answers, but what if he was wrong? What if they were putting her through more tests only to tell her the same thing she'd heard before?
"You look troubled," Julian said, settling into a seat across from him.
Ben straightened, rubbing a hand over his face. "Just thinking about tomorrow."
Julian nodded, his expression serious. "I've arranged for the best specialists. If there's something to find, they'll find it."
"And if there isn’t?”
“I’m praying that these tests will give her answers,” Julian said. “But if these tests don’t reveal anything, then we'll talk with more medical professionals and keep digging.”
“Until we have answers?”
Julian gave a single nod. “Until we have answers. That’s what you want, right?”
“Definitely.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do. And I’m hoping that along the way, we might find a way to help others in situations similar to Amelia’s. If answers are this hard to come by, maybe we need to do some research into whatever she ends up being diagnosed with.”
“Thank you,” Ben said.
“If things had worked out differently, she might have been your wife. As such, we would have left no stone unturned to get a diagnosis,” Julian told him.
“Even though that wasn’t where your paths led at that time, she’s still important to you.
I can see that. Plus, she’s special to Annie and Cole.
She’s practically family. We’ll do for her what we can. ”
Ben looked out the window, though there was nothing to see but darkness, and prayed that God would prepare Amelia for whatever the next day held. And to give him the words to say to encourage her, regardless of the outcome.
He wanted to be strong for her, even though she’d already proven how strong she was.