The Way Your Heart Sounds

After a few more days, Jimmy seemed to be back to his normal self. He was no longer complaining of any symptoms, and was anxious to go home.

“I haven’t seen anything but this room in days! I’m going to lose my mind if I don’t get out of here,” Jimmy whined.

“When Dr. Kramer comes in today, we can talk to him about letting you leave,” Lauren said. When the doctor came in, Jimmy bombarded him with questions about getting to leave.

“Someone’s feeling better,” the doctor joked.

“I am! So when am I free to go?” Jimmy pressed.

“Well we’re going to go ahead and do a few more tests on you, but I would say you can get out of here by the end of the afternoon,” Dr. Kramer said. “I also got you an appointment with a cardiologist for when you leave here.”

“Thank you so much, hopefully I’ll see you to say goodbye before I leave,” Jimmy said.

“Don’t worry, it won’t be goodbye for long.”

After a few more hours of tests and examinations, Jimmy was practically bouncing off the walls. Lauren kept reminding him that the wait would only be a little longer, but Jimmy was not known for his patience. Once Dr.Kramer came in for his second visit of the day, Jimmy was about ready to fling himself off of the bed.

“Well, Jimmy, looks like everything checks out. I will have one of the nurses discharge you. Feel free to start collecting your things,” the doctor said. Jimmy bounced out of his seat and wrapped the doctor in a bear hug.

“Thank you for everything, doc!” Jimmy said. The doctor laughed and returned Jimmy’s hug, albeit less excitedly.

“No problem, Jimmy. Glad to help. I’m looking forward to working with you further.”

Lauren smiled as Jimmy broke his hug off with the doctor and started to pack up his belongings.

“I know you’ve already gotten a thank you from Jimmy,” Lauren started, “But thank you again for seeing him on such short notice. You’ve been a huge help, I never could have done this alone.” She shook his hand, and he smiled. Jimmy seemed too distracted with what he was doing to notice their conversation.

“Happy to do it. Jimmy has a heart of gold, he’s a pleasure to care for,” Dr. Kramer said. He added on a few tidbits for Lauren to keep in mind about the upcoming days and weeks with Jimmy, and he also gave her his cell phone number.

“Please call me if there’s any issues,” he said. Lauren nodded.

Once the nurse came in to have Jimmy fill out some paperwork, she gave him the prescriptions from the doctor so he could pick them up on the way home. Jimmy practically galloped through the hallway and the parking lot until they got to Lauren’s car.

“We can stop by the pharmacy on the way home,” Lauren said to Jimmy as she started the car.

“Sure. Make sure that you hold onto the medication for me. I don’t think I should trust myself yet,” Jimmy said. He adjusted his long legs to fit into the car comfortably.

A few minutes of driving later, they pulled up to the pharmacy. The two of them walked inside, and Jimmy went to the counter to drop off his prescriptions. The pharmacist told them to wait a few minutes, so they sat down next to the pharmacy counter.

“It’s so nice to see new surroundings for a change,” he said. Lauren smiled and nodded. “What am I going to do while you’re at work?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” she replied.

“I don’t know if I trust myself to be alone yet. What if I hang out with the guys? And what if they’re all drinking, you know?” Jimmy shook his head.

“You’ll be fine, Jimmy. If I could take off work I would. But I’ll be there every moment I can be. And don’t forget we’ve already talked to the guys, they have your back,” she said.

“I guess you’re right,” Jimmy mumbled.

Lauren noticed that his eyes went wide for a moment and he turned around. There was a mother holding a small child in her arms behind him.

“I’m so sorry,” the mother said. That’s when Lauren noticed the little kid was grabbing on to Jimmy’s arm.

“No worries. I’ll never complain about a cute baby touching my arm,” Jimmy said. He then proceeded to speak gibberish to the baby, which earned him a high pitched laugh. Lauren smiled as the baby continued to touch his arm.

“I think she’s interested in the tattoos,” the mother laughed.

“Can’t blame her,” Jimmy said, tickling the baby, who started to laugh again. They called Jimmy’s name at the counter, and he said goodbye to the baby before picking up his prescriptions.

Once they reached Jimmy’s house, he took all of his things inside and started to empty his bags. Lauren took a seat on his bed and waited for him. As he dumped a bunch of clothes into the hamper, he turned towards her.

“So, where are we staying?” he asked.

Lauren had honestly completely forgotten that she was supposed to stay with Jimmy for a while and keep an eye on him. She thought for a moment.

“It really doesn’t matter to me. If it’s your place though, I need to go home and get some stuff,” she answered.

“Let’s do that. I’ll take you whenever you’re ready,” Jimmy said.

They hopped into Jimmy’s car and he drove over to her house. It was a good thing that they didn’t live very far away from each other, or they’d be doing a lot more driving. Once they pulled up to Lauren’s house, the two of them walked in and Lauren started walking towards her bedroom. Jimmy followed behind her.

“Just hang tight, I’m gonna pack myself a bag,” she said. He nodded, kissed her cheek, and waited quietly on the bed.

In the meantime, Lauren grabbed a duffle bag. First thing she packed was her work supplies: her bag, stethoscope, scrubs, and clogs. Second was a few other outfits for when she was home. Third was her toiletries and makeup. Last was her computer. Jimmy waited patiently while she packed her stuff, and was playing with his necklace to pass the time.

“Alright, all set,” she said, throwing the full bag over her shoulder. Jimmy stood up and took the bag from her.

“Let me carry that for you,” he murmured. She thanked him. After that, they locked up Lauren’s house and were back in the car.

“I hope this isn’t a huge inconvenience for you,” Jimmy said. He was looking out of the window for most of the trip, only looking back at her when he was talking to her.

“Of course not. Not much different than usual,” Lauren shrugged.

They arrived at Jimmy’s house a few minutes later. Since it was already late, they decided to have a quick dinner and call it a night. As soon as dinner was over, Jimmy went to shower. Lauren decided to unpack her things in his guest room while he was showering. She threw all of her clothes into the empty dresser, kept her scrubs and nursing stuff in the closet, and left the rest of her things on top of the dresser.

By the time she was done with all of that, Jimmy appeared in the doorway. He had a towel around his waist, and his hair was still dripping onto his shoulders.

“Having fun yet?” he asked. She smiled and yawned softly.

“Aww, someone’s sleepy,” he mumbled. “I don’t blame you, I’m exhausted. By the way there’s towels in the closet next to the bathroom if you want to take a shower. If you need anything else just ask.”

“Sure thing. I’m gonna get some sleep now and I’ll see you in the morning,” she said. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him, not minding the drops of water still on his body.

“Can’t even begin to thank you,” he murmured, squeezing her. She was grinning from ear to ear as Jimmy leaned down to kiss her.

Once he had retired to his room, she changed into more casual clothes and got comfortable in bed. She hoped that the rest of Jimmy’s recovery would go as smoothly as it had already gone. As she dozed off, she thought about what the two of them would do together tomorrow.

Notes