After Nick was done telling Dr. Martins about Ali’s situation, they decided to wake up her from her sleep. She had been lying quietly in the back of the room, and Nick was relieved that she hadn’t shown any signs of a bad dream. Dr. Martins had been very understanding and curious about the situation, and Nick was under the impression that he really wanted to help them the best he could, even if it would take some time.

“Ali?” Nick bent down over the bed where Ali was sleeping, trying to get her to wake up. “Wake up honey.”

She stirred and opened her eyes slowly, adjusting to the bright light in the room.

“We’re ready to do the tests. The doctor is here.”

“Ok…” She didn’t know how she was supposed to feel about the situation. The moment she had been dreading was there, and she was expecting the worst. She looked around the room, and spotted the doctor standing a few feet behind Nick.

“Hi…” She said, trying not to sound as weak as she felt. “I’m Alicia, but you can call me Ali.” The doctor smiled back at her and approached the bed, his right arm out stretched.

“I’m Dr. Martins. I’ll be running the tests, and making sure that we don’t miss anything. I just had a long conversation with Nick here, and I can assure you, if there’s anything wrong with you, we’ll know by the end of the day.”

Ali gave him a weak smile, not knowing what to say. She had been hoping that they would be able to give her a diagnose by the end of the day. Back in LA she had to wait for at least a week to get the results that never told her anything, but she knew this clinic was the best, probably nation wide, and she was happy to hear that she wouldn’t have to return days later to get the results.

***

It took more than three hours to complete all the tests that needed to be done, and by the time they were finished, Ali was exhausted. Half of the tests they had done, Ali didn’t even know existed, and some of them were almost too much for her to handle. The tests consisted of a CT scan, several blood tests, exercises that would determine her pulse and blood pressure in the most accurate ways, specific tests that would show absence in her hearing or sight, and several other things that Ali didn’t even know what were, or what they were for.   

Al the time while Ali was doing her tests, Nick was sitting anxiously outside in the waiting area. He wasn’t allowed to stay with Ali because the doctors didn’t want any disturbance. Nick knew they were right, and he knew very well that if he had come inside with Ali, he would have acted overprotective and only made it worse. Still, while he was sitting there on the oversized plush couch, watching a football match on the TV in a corner, he couldn’t help but think that he wanted to be there. He was constantly contemplating what they would find from doing the tests, and his palms felt clammy from imagining the worst scenarios.

After more than three hours of waiting and thinking, Ali emerged from one of the rooms down the hall. She looked tired and drained as she walked over to Nick. Nick instantly put his arms around her and held her tight for a long while.

“How was it?” He asked when he finally let go.

“Exhausting…” Ali gave him a weak smile. “We can have the room at the end of the hall while we wait for the results to come back. I need to lie down for a little while.”

“Alright, let’s go then.”

Nick followed Ali back down the hall and into the room where they could be waiting. Ali immediately lied down on the bed and fell asleep within a few minutes.

Time was passing by so slowly while Nick was sitting next to Ali, watching her sleep. He couldn’t help but feel incredibly sorry for her. She didn’t deserve this. She had just gotten her life back, and now this… And none of them even knew what ‘this’ was. It could be nothing for all they knew. Maybe there was no reason to be worried at all. Nick looked back to the time only a few months earlier when he and AJ had travelled all the way to Siberia, Russia, to look for Ali who had been missing for almost a year and a half. He recognized the feeling he felt now with what he had been feeling back then. The uncertainty and fear, the feeling of not knowing what was going to happen within the next day, hour or even minute. He despised that feeling of not knowing. He even thought it was worse than actually knowing the truth, even though the truth might be much worse than what he wanted it to be.

It was two hours later, and already late in the afternoon, when Dr. Martins entered the room. Ali had been awake for almost 30 minutes by then, and her and Nick were sitting on the bed talking, and trying not think about the test results. The second the doctor entered the room, they both fell silent.

“How are you feeling, Alicia?” He asked while approaching them.

“I don’t know…” she sighed. “Tired, scared, uncertain, ready to find out what’s wrong with me…” Her voice trailed off and Nick squeezed her hand gently.

The doctor pulled out a chair and sat down next to the bed, facing both Nick and Ali.

“I think it might be better if you wait outside.” He looked at Nick apologetically.

“No!” Ali grabbed Nick’s arm. “He stays here with me. I need him to be here.”

The doctor knew by the tone in her voice that it was no point in arguing.

“Alright.” Dr. Martins nodded in approval and folded his hands on his lap. “So, Alicia… We ran all the tests in the lab to find an answer to your condition. I must admit that I really did think we were dealing with something here, but all the tests came out clean. Negative. There’s nothing wrong with you Ali.” He stopped for a few moments to see Ali’s reaction.

What?

Ali felt her head spinning. She didn’t know what she was going to say. All this time, she had been imagining the worst scenarios, and now he was telling here that she was fine. A rush of relief suddenly ran through her body. She looked over at Nick. He looked just as shocked as she did.

“I’m fine?” She asked, wondering if she hadn’t heard him correctly.

Dr. Martins nodded. “You’re fine.”

“I’m fine!” She stood up from the bed and threw herself at Nick. “Did you hear him Nick? I’m fine!!” Her smile was as big as Nick had ever seen it before, and he couldn’t help but smile with her.

“I’m so relieved right now! Are you really sure? I’m fine? Nothing’s wrong with me?”

The doctor smiled. “Nothing’s wrong with you. You may leave, and start getting better.”

“I feel better already!” She took Nick’s hand and started dragging him across the room, giving Dr. Martins a hug on her way.

“Come on Prick! Time to go home!”

Nick laughed, following her across the room. “Thanks doctor.” He managed to say before he got dragged out the door.

Ali felt as if the whole world had opened up to her, as they sat in the car, driving back to Nick’s place. It had been a long and exhausting day, but Ali felt as if she could climb Mount Everest. Nick too, was smiling to himself as they were driving along the highway. Ali was humming to a song she loved, looking out the window, enjoying the quiet time.

They hadn’t been driving for more than half an hour, when Ali’s phone rang. She reached out for it and answered, her voice sounding light and happy.

“Ali speaking.”

Nick looked over at her from the corner of his eye. She was listening intensively to the person on the other line, and just as fast as her smile had appeared not even an hour before, it disappeared, and a look of horror filled her eyes. Nick frowned and waited as Ali whispered a few words and hung up only seconds later. She slowly put down her cell phone and without facing Nick, she whispered;

“Dr. Martins wants us to come back to the clinic….”