“Any popping sensation?”
“Yes.”
“Immediate swelling?”
“Yes.”
He nodded, stepping closer to examine the knee.
“Okay. Let’s take a look.”
He palpated gently around the joint, testing stability, asking me to flex and extend within reason. I winced despite myself.
He didn’t comment on my weight. He didn’t make a face. He didn’t ask if I was “sure” I wanted to play a contact sport. He simply assessed.
“Given the swelling and bruising,” he said finally, straightening up, “I’m going to send you to the hospital for an MRI. We need imaging before we make any assumptions.”
My shoulders dropped a fraction. Not because an MRI was good news. But because it wasn’t judgment.
“Okay,” I said.
He gave me a brief explanation of the next steps, tapped something into his tablet, and nodded.
“You can head down there today. With the amount of swelling I’m seeing, I don’t want to delay.”
As he stepped out, I let out a slow breath.
But for the first time in this entire mess, I wasn’t calculating cost. I wasn’t wondering if I could afford the imaging. I wasn’t deciding between pain and debt.
I slid carefully off the exam table and reached for my crutches.
And as I opened the door to head back into the waiting room, I wasn’t bracing for the bill. I was bracing for Raphael’s reaction.
The doctor finished his notes and opened the exam room door for me.
Raphael was already standing the second we stepped into the hallway, like he’d been tracking footsteps. His eyes went immediately to my face.
“Well?” he asked.
“MRI,” I said. “Hospital.”
His jaw tightened, but he nodded once, already recalibrating.
The doctor stepped forward, addressing him directly. “She has significant swelling and bruising,” he said. “I’ve ordered an MRI. You can take her to the hospital, and they’ll get you all set up. We’ll know more once we have imaging.”
You.
Not me.
I felt it immediately, that subtle shift in tone. The assumption that the man in the suit must be in charge. The man must be handling the logistics. The man must be the decision-maker.
My spine straightened.
“Thank you,” I said, reaching forward and taking the paperwork directly from the doctor’s hand before Raphael could. “I’ll go down there and get it scheduled.”
The doctor blinked, just slightly.
“Oh — yes, of course,” he said.
