Annie''s gaze swept over cold clinical sterility, her mind a battlefield of indecision. She focused on Robert, who was sitting up against the pillows, concern etched across his brow.
"Let''s go find a doctor," she said, the sharp edge of determination in her voice.
Robert stirred uneasily, his uncertainty still evident. "Do you think they''ll even let us?
Annie straightened, refusing to let doubt creep in. “They have to. You’re a patient here.”
With a deep breath, she stood and helped him swing his legs over the side of the bed. His feet hovered above the floor for a moment before he finally set them down, testing their strength. A grimace flashed across his face as he adjusted to the weight of this new reality.
“Careful,” Annie urged, steadying him with a hand at his back.
“I’m okay.” He gritted his teeth but leaned into her support. “Just… give me a second.”
The room felt confined as they navigated the space together. The beeping machines hummed in an odd rhythm that matched the thumping of Annie''s heart. She wanted everything desperately to work out.
Where do we start?" Robert asked, looking sideways at her as if she held all the answers.
"The nurses'' station," Annie suggested, nodding toward the glass window where a couple of nurses chatted.
As they approached, one of the nurses looked up and smiled warmly. "Hey there! How are we feeling today?"
"Better," Robert replied cautiously, testing out his words as if unsure whether they still belonged to him.
Annie gave him an encouraging glance. "We want to know about treatment options—something experimental?"
The nurse''s features changed, and then her surprise gave way quickly to a more composed expression. "We can certainly look into that for you both."
Robert''s eyes widened with this new glimmer of hope. "What kind of experiments are we talking about?
"Well," she said, more circumspectly, turning to her colleagues behind her as if for their expressions before proceeding. "There are a couple of trials underway for conditions such as yours."
Annie watched Robert''s face change from uncertain to cautious interest in a heartbeat.
"Can you tell us more?" he asked.
"Of course," the nurse returned, reaching for her tablet. "I''ll pull up some information about them now."
She typed quickly as Annie held Robert’s gaze, feeling the spark of determination return between them like a pulse in the air—real and tangible amidst everything else swirling around them.
Suddenly, another nurse joined them at the station—a tall woman with bright red hair tied back tightly and sharp eyes that missed nothing.
“What’s going on here?” She asked briskly but kindly.
“We’re looking into experimental treatments for him,” Annie explained quickly.
The redhead nurse nodded pensively and leaned further forward, her eyes settling on Robert''s chart up on the screen behind them.
"Well," she began slowly, "we might have just what you need.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
The red-haired nurse tapped the screen on the tablet, her brows furrowing as she scrolled through the data. Annie held her breath, watching the wheels turn in the nurse''s mind. Robert shifted beside her, his fingers twitching nervously against the edge of his hospital gown.
There''s a trial starting soon," the nurse finally said, looking up with a hint of excitement. "It''s a new gene therapy that looks promising for your condition."
"Gene therapy?" Robert echoed, skepticism tinging his voice.
"Yes." The nurse''s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. "It works by targeting specific genes that have gone awry and correcting them. They''ve seen some remarkable results in early studies.
Robert exchanged a glance with Annie. Hope flickered between them like a fragile flame.
"Is it safe?" he asked, uncertainty creeping back into his tone.
"It''s been rigorously tested in lab settings," the nurse assured him. "Of course, every treatment carries risks, but this one has undergone extensive evaluation."
Annie leaned towards him, her heart racing with the thought of something—anything—that could help him. "What do we need to do to sign up?"
The nurse smiled and began to type again, her fingers flying across the screen. "You''ll need to meet with the lead doctor for an evaluation first. I can arrange that for you."
"Today?" Robert asked, trying to conceal the hope in his voice.
"Let me check." The nurse turned around to the others, nodded back, and came back. "Yes, I think we can fit you in this afternoon."
Annie let her guard down a bit and felt the rush of relief. She squeezed Robert''s hand tight.
"Great! That''s great," he said, with each word climbing a pitch higher.
Another nurse passed by them and cocked an eyebrow at their conversation but said nothing.
"We will be needing some papers," the redhead nurse repeated, "just the basic information regarding previous conditions and treatments that you have already received."
Robert nodded and took a deep breath, as if gathering himself for the road ahead.
Annie turned toward him; he seemed to square his shoulders. "Ready?"
"I suppose I don''t really have a choice," he returned, but even his attempt at lightness did little to soften his expression.
“Hey.” Annie nudged him gently with her shoulder. “This is good news. We’re going to fight this together.”
He let out a soft chuckle despite himself. The warmth of their connection pulsed stronger now as they prepared for this next step into uncertainty—a battle against time and fate itself.
The red-haired nurse returned from behind the counter with papers in hand, ready to guide them down this hopeful path ahead.
Annie stood beside him as the red-haired nurse held out a clipboard with a load of forms to him. He took it and scanned over the questions as if concentrating hard.
"Want any help?" Annie leaned in closer towards the thick, scribbled-on paper.
"I can manage," Robert''s voice sounded somewhat determined, while his brow furrowed in deep scanning.
"Just let me know if you want to skip any of those awkward family history questions," she teased lightly, trying to break the tension clinging to him.
He chuckled softly but didn''t look up from the form. "Right, because they really need to know my great aunt Edna''s allergies."
Annie couldn''t help but smile at his attempt at levity. She leaned in, peering over his shoulder. The questions seemed endless, each one digging deeper into his medical past.
The red-haired nurse hovered nearby, watching them with an encouraging smile. "Take your time," she said softly. "The doctor will be ready for you shortly.
Robert scribbled his answers with quick strokes before pausing again, his hand hovering above the paper. Annie noticed a flicker of anxiety in his eyes.
“Hey,” she said gently, nudging him again. “You’re doing great.”
He sighed and dropped the pen on the clipboard. “What if this doesn’t work? What if we’re just chasing shadows?”
Annie stepped closer and met his gaze firmly. "Then we keep looking for other options. But right now? This is our best shot."
He nodded slowly, as if the words were life preservers cast into stormy waters.
"Okay." He picked up the pen again, this time with determination.
The red-haired nurse took a step forward. “I’ll take that once you’re done.” She glanced at Robert’s expression and softened her voice further. “I promise we’ve seen great results in similar cases.”
Robert’s grip tightened on the clipboard as he continued filling it out, while Annie felt her heart race with a mixture of hope and fear.
A door opened down the hall, and another nurse appeared with a warm smile. "Robert Adams?"
"That''s me." He straightened slightly, suddenly all business.
"Dr. Hart is ready for you now." She gestured toward the doorway behind her.
Robert exchanged a glance with Annie—his uncertainty still lingered beneath a thin veneer of bravado—but he pushed himself up from his seat anyway.
"Ready?" Annie asked softly.
"Yeah," he said, much more certainly than he felt, and took a deep breath as he stepped forward.
As they walked toward Dr. Hart''s office, Annie couldn''t shake the feeling that this was it—the moment of truth, the point of no return in their race against time and destiny.