Gabriel muttered a few choice expletives and gave the technician a glare that nearly knocked her over.
“I’ll be fine, sweetie. But if you don’t want to see my bladder explode right in front of you, you have to let me go.” Julia crossed her legs.
Gabriel watched her walk away, feeling furious and helpless simultaneously.
Two days later, Julia was summoned to Dr. Rubio’s office to discuss the radiologist’s report. Gabriel accompanied her.
“Fibroids,” the doctor announced triumphantly. “I read the report and I saw the ultrasound. I concur with her findings.”
“What’s a fibroid?” Julia clutched Gabriel’s hand.
“A fibroid is a benign growth on or in the uterus. They’re very common. According to the report, you have two of them.”
“Two?” Julia sounded panicked. “But I thought you only found one.”
“I found the bigger one during your pelvic exam. Because it’s attached to the exterior of your uterus, I thought it was part of your ovary. There’s also a small one lower down on the front of your uterus.” Doctor Rubio quickly sketched Julia’s insides while Gabriel tried valiantly not to faint.
(One must remember that his vast knowledge of uteri was primarily experiential rather than visual.)
“The larger one is about five centimeters. The smaller one is about three centimeters.” She pointed to her drawing with a pen.
Julia felt queasy and looked away.
“Will she need surgery?” Gabriel ignored the sketch and made eye contact with the doctor.
“Not necessarily.” Dr. Rubio turned to her patient. “If they aren’t bothering you, we’re inclined to leave them. We’ll put you on birth control pills. The hormones in the pill slow the growth of the fibroid.”
“What about fertility?”
Doctor Rubio glanced at the chart. “Ah, yes. You want to try to start a family in a few years. We’ll monitor your fibroids, but since they’re located on the outside of the uterus, I don’t think fertility will be a problem. However, once you’re pregnant we’ll have to keep an eye on them. Fibroids tend to grow during pregnancy because of the rise in hormone levels. They can crowd the uterus and cause premature delivery. We’ll monitor all of that when the time comes. But for now, I take this to be good news. I’m going to ask that we schedule you for another ultrasound in about six months, simply to check the fibroids. I’ll write up a prescription for you to go on the pill. And we’ll go from there.”
Julia and Gabriel exchanged a look, then thanked the doctor and exited the office.
Later that night, Gabriel lay awake, staring at the ceiling, an inexplicable feeling of dread hanging over him.
Careful not to wake Julia, he crept out of bed and walked down the hall to the study. He switched on the light, closed the door, and went to his desk.
Within a few minutes, his laptop was on and he was Googling “fibroids.” He clicked on a page that looked promising and began viewing a few photographs of fibroids being removed during surgery.
Then he promptly passed out.
Chapter Forty-eight
Gabriel was fortunate enough to have his vasectomy reversal scheduled for the first week in October. Now it was Julia’s turn to miss a class and accompany him to the hospital.
The morning of his surgery, she awoke to the sound of Peggy Lee singing “Fever.” It wasn’t Gabriel’s normal choice of morning music, but it sounded promising. She pulled on her robe and walked to the bathroom.
Gabriel was standing in front of the vanity, shaving. His dark hair was damp from the shower, its edges curling. He was naked to the waist, a dark blue towel slung low on his hips. Julia wanted to trace the top of the V that extended below the towel.
As was his custom, he used a shaving brush to mix soap into a lather, spreading it over his face. His sapphire eyes were focused behind his glasses as he lifted the safety razor and began.
“Lurking about in doorways, Mrs. Emerson?” He spoke without turning his head.
“I came to see what was giving you a fever.”
He paused and gave her a searing look. “I think you know the answer to that.”
“I know what raises my temperature. There’s nothing sexier than watching the man you love shave.”
He rinsed his razor. “I’m glad you think that, because it’s a daily essential.” His eyes gleamed. “Unless you’ve grown attached to my stubble. As I recall, you seemed to enjoy it last night.”
His eyes darted in the direction of her thighs.
She felt her cheeks flame. The memory of lying flat on her back, Gabriel’s stubble rubbing against her . . .
He waved a hand in front of her face. “Penny for your thoughts.”
“Sorry, what?”
He chuckled. “I asked how you were feeling this morning.”
“I’m fine. How about you? Are you nervous?”
“Not really. But I’m glad you’re coming with me. I’m supposed to be at the hospital at ten. That gives us plenty of time for some extracurricular activities after I’ve finished shaving. You’ll have to give me something to tide me over for the next three weeks.”
He continued his ritual, the razor moving expertly.
“I can do that.” She approached him and pressed an openmouthed kiss between his shoulder blades.
“I think we should wait until after I’ve finished. You’re distracting me.”
“Really?”
She kissed him again, this time wrapping her hands over the tops of his shoulders, feeling the muscles tense beneath her fingers.
“I can’t help myself, Professor. I love touching you.”
She traced the lines of his biceps, moving to his forearms, admiring muscle and sinew. She pressed her lips to the hills and valley of his spine before tracing the dimples that winked at her above the edge of the towel.
He placed a heavy hand on top of the vanity.
“I can’t shave while you’re touching me.”
“Then maybe I should do it for you.”
“Oh, really?” A heated look passed between them.
“You enjoy feeding me. Perhaps I’d enjoy shaving you.”
“You’re very provocative this morning.”
“Maybe I need a sexy memory to get me through our marital celibacy.”
Gabriel put his razor aside and gestured in front of him, a look of amusement on his face.
She moved into the gap, facing him. In one swift moment, he lifted her to sit on the counter.