Chapter 43
Benjamin was going to lose his mind. It had been a long day, and Summer’s head rested on his shoulder. Max was curled into a sleepy ball on the chair next to him. Even so, it felt like the tests they’d undergone had been the easy part.
Sitting here, waiting for Judah to give them the results—that was the hard part. They’d been sitting in the waiting room for nearly half an hour, and if he had to sit still any longer, he might explode.
His leg bounced, and Summer rested a hand on it.
“Sorry.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’m not good at waiting.”
“Really?” She feigned surprise. “I hadn’t noticed.”
He chuckled and resisted the need to bounce his leg again, instead focusing his energy on yet another prayer. Let the results be good, Lord. Let Summer and Max be okay, Lord. Let your will be done.
It may not be getting easier to wait, but it was getting at least a little bit easier to add that last part.
The door to the waiting room opened, and the same nurse from earlier popped out, smiling as warmly as she had at the beginning of the day. “Dr. Calvano is ready for you.”
Benjamin exhaled heavily. But suddenly he wasn’t ready for this. What if his brother said something was wrong with Summer? Or Max? How would he possibly handle that?
With them, he reminded himself. And with the Lord.
He pushed to his feet and scooped Max into his arms, then took Summer’s hand in his. The nurse led them to Judah’s office. The moment they stepped inside, Benjamin tried to read his brother’s expression. Did the small smile he greeted them with convey good news or sympathy? With any of his other siblings, Benjamin would have known instantly. But he barely knew Judah anymore.
Judah gestured them to the chairs in front of his desk, and Benjamin’s heart buckled. Did it mean something that he wanted them to sit in the chairs instead of on the couch they’d sat on before? Was this where he delivered bad news?
“How are y’all holding up?” Judah asked as he took his own seat on the other side of the desk.
“I’m tired.” Max punctuated his statement with an enormous yawn that shook his little body.
“I think we all are.” Benjamin made himself sit, settling Max on his lap and reaching for Summer’s hand the moment she lowered herself to her chair.
Judah nodded. “I’ll keep this short then.” He clicked a few keys on the keyboard that perched on his desk. Then he swiveled his large computer monitor so that they could see it too. “These are the images we took of Max’s heart.” He clicked a couple more keys. “And these are Summer’s.”
Benjamin stared at the images. “Were they— Are they—”
“Everything looks completely normal.” Judah’s smile grew.
“So they’re . . .” Benjamin hardly dared to breathe.
“Their EKGs and stress tests were normal too,” Judah added.
“So that means . . .” Benjamin leaned forward, and Max cried out that he was squishing him. “Sorry, Maxerooni.” He readjusted his position but kept his eyes on Judah.
“It means I see no cause for concern at the moment.”
“At the moment?” Summer’s voice was small, and Benjamin gripped her hand tighter.
“Cardiomyopathy often doesn’t present with physical changes to the heart right away. The only way to rule it out completely is through genetic testing. My colleague Dr. Fowler will get those results to me in a few weeks. Maybe sooner.”
“And if the tests show that they have the gene?” Benjamin could barely force his lips to move, but he had to know. “What then?”
“Then we continue with routine screening like we did today. If the disease progresses, there are medicines and treatments that we can use to reduce the risks. I have several patients with cardiomyopathy who are doing quite well.” Though Judah’s tone remained serious, Benjamin found it reassuring. His brother knew what he was talking about.
Finally, he felt like he could breathe again. But it took a moment before he could speak past the relief washing over him.
“Thank you,” he managed at last. “You have no idea how much this means to us.”
“Of course.” Judah stood, and Benjamin realized he probably had other patients to get to.
He stood as well, hefting Max to his shoulder, then reached for Summer and pulled her into a bear hug, Max sandwiched between them. He never wanted to let go, but after a moment, Summer gently nudged him back.
“We should let your brother get back to work.” She turned to Judah, who had come out from behind his desk. “Thank you so much for everything.” Then she lunged at Judah and threw her arms around him in a hug that caught Benjamin as much by surprise as it looked like it did his brother. But he found himself grinning when Judah awkwardly returned the gesture.
“It was nice to meet you,” Judah said as Summer let him go. “You seem to be good for my brother.”
“She is.” Benjamin shifted Max so that he could shake Judah’s hand. “Thank you again.” He glanced at Summer, who nodded her encouragement, but a ridiculous swoop of nerves went through him. Still, he made himself ask, “If you’re free tonight, we’d love to take you out to dinner or something.”
Judah looked startled by the invitation. “Oh. Uh. I’m sorry, but I can’t.” He didn’t elaborate, and Benjamin worked to squelch his disappointment. He hadn’t really expected his brother to accept the invitation.
“No problem.” Benjamin led Summer to the door.
“Say hi to everyone for me.” Judah’s voice was quiet, but it stopped Benjamin.
He turned to his brother. “I think they’d rather hear it from you.” When Judah didn’t say anything, he added, “But I’ll tell them.”
Judah nodded, his expression unreadable. “I’ll let you know as soon as we receive the results of the genetic tests.”
Benjamin thanked him, then ushered his little family out of the hospital. Right now, his priority was to get Max and Summer some rest. So they would be ready for his surprise tomorrow.