Chapter 73

 Colleen met Jon at her Gynecologist in the city, he was waiting in the foyer of the building.

“Hey Jonny,” Colleen walked to him and gave him a kiss and hug. “You ready for this?”  

“As ready as I can be,” Jon pulled out his cap and glasses and slipped them on.

They walked into the doctor’s waiting room, no one looked up.  Many of the ladies were in various stages of pregnancy, or husbands wishing they were anywhere but to OB/GYN’s office.  There were a few girls that looked too young to be expecting, with no one to hold their hand while they waited.  That could’ve been Stephanie if she hadn’t changed her life around.

They found two seats together, he held her hand as they waited to be called back.  Jon picked up one of the pamphlets off the table, one on from conception to birth.  He began to flip the pages till it showed pictures of crowning and birth.  Of course, he was there for the birth of all four of his, but just the sight of it fourteen years later about turned his stomach.  Colleen reached over and pulled it from his hands.

“Don’t be counting the eggs before they hatch,” she leaned over and whispered in his ear.  “It might never happen, you know.”

He looked in her eyes, they weren’t sad or angry, more resigned.  It wasn’t long till they were called back.  She had him turn his back when she stepped on the scales.

“No peeking Jonny,” Colleen giggled.

As they handed her the cup with the blue lid and she stepped into the bathroom, the nurse left the folder where he could look.  His eyes trailed over the three numbers on the post-it note on the top cover, one hundred twenty pounds.

Colleen came out just then and caught him looking.

“All right Jonny go step on those scales and let’s see if all my cooking had added a few extra pounds on you,” Colleen led him over to the scales.

He had added a few pounds on, but then again he wasn’t running around on stage almost every night. He looked over at her and smiled.

The nurse shuttled them into a room and told Colleen to sit on the table.  Jon helped her up on the table and went to sit in the only chair beside the doctor's rolling stool.  They weren’t alone long before there was a knock on the door and Doctor Harrison came into the room.  Jon was a little shocked that the Doctor was a woman.

“Hi Colleen how are you feeling today? Oh, and who did you bring with you today?”  Dr. Harrison asked.

“Melody this is my fiancé Jon,” Colleen said as Jon got up to shake her hand.

“Oh this is the reason all the nurses wanted to assist me for your appointment,” the doctor said as she put her stethoscope around her neck and walked over to Colleen.

“See I told you the hat and glasses weren’t going to hide your identity,” Colleen laughed.  

Melody had Colleen lay back and began to press on her tummy, then put the stethoscope to use listening to her tummy and chest.

“When did you have your last period,” Melody asked her. “And how long was it?”

Colleen told her it was just last week, and it was short about three days.

Melody made a note on her file.

Jon watched the doctor's face, he didn’t like what he saw.

“Your last one was also short, about four days,” She had Colleen sit up and asked Jon if he wanted to step out while they got her prepped for an ultrasound, that he could come back in.

Jon headed out the door and gave Colleen a wink.

“He knows about your history?” Melody asked as Colleen got out of her jeans and panties.

“Yes he knows, that’s why he wanted to be here today,” Colleen told her.  “I don’t want to get my hopes up, but I know they're getting shorter and lighter.  They told me what to look for, early menopause.”

“Let’s not think that just now, your wedding is soon, I got my invite and clearing my schedule so I can attend,” Melody put the sheet over her lower body and went to get Jon.

Melody moved his chair to the head of the table. Her assistant made sure he could see the monitor 

“I assume you know all about this part of the exam Jon?”  Melody asked.

“Yeah, I’ve been in the seat four times already,” Jon explained as he took Colleen's hand in his.

“Four hum,” She looked down at Colleen as she lifted her feet in the stirrups. 

The room got quiet as she lowered the lights and lifted the sheet, and squirted the gel on her tummy.

“There’s Stanly,” she said as Colleen’s only ovary showed on the screen. Her assistant held the wand and Melody clicked on the machine.

“Stanly?”  Jon asked as he watched the image shifted a little.

“Stanly, because he stands alone, Ollie left him,” Colleen explained.

 Then she clicked in again and moved the screen.  Jon got worried, the last time he sat in for one of these, the Doctor chatted and joked.  Dr. Melody was quiet once she started clicking on the machine.  Soon they had Jon step out while Colleen got dressed and then they would talk.

The assistant told Jon that he and Colleen needed to see the doctor in her office.  Jon looked at Colleen’s face as she joined him in the hallway.  Her eyes looked very strange, like she was holding the weight of the world on her shoulders. They were ushered into the office and sat.  Jon reached over and took her hand in his, like a lifeline, her hand was ice cold.

 Dr. Melody came in and put two photos on the lighted screen next to her desk.  Then sat down and opened her file, folding her hands in front of her.

“Colleen, I made a promise to you when we were in college, I would never lie to you,” Melody pulled out what looked like a pen and pulled it to make a pointer.  “This was Stanly back in November, you see how large he was.”

Jon leaned forward to see what she was pointing at.  This was not looking good.

“I was a little shocked at how much he has changed in twelve weeks.  You can see on the second picture, Stanly has shrunk,” Melody said them looked back at Colleen.

“I knew this was what might happen with the shorter periods,” Colleen said so softly both Jon and Melody looked at her.

Jon gave her hand a squeeze as he saw a tear slowly roll down her cheek.

“Colleen, there are always other ways to have a baby, we can use your eggs and Jon’s sperm,” Melody started to say, but Colleen spoke up.

“No, it’s over, Stanly needs to join Ollie and I don’t want to wait till the cancer comes back,” Colleen stood up and looked down at Jon.  “My new dream is to live and grow old with you Jon. “

Jon stood up and pulled Colleen into his arms and held her as she cried.  Melody left the room to give them time to digest the information she gave them.

When she got her tears and emotions under control and they could talk.

“Colleen, I want to grow old with you too, but I also don’t want you to give up,” Jon sat in his chair and pulled her in his lap.  “Let’s wait till we get back from the honeymoon, think about what Dr. Melody said.”

Dr. Melody peeked in and saw them talking.  “Have you thought about it?”

“We’re going to wait till after the honeymoon, then we’ll come in and talk over alternatives,” Colleen told her.

“I think that’s for the best.  So I’ll set up another appointment for late March.”  Melody told them.

They were walking out as Doctor Melody went into her next appointment in the room next to the Bon Jovi’s.