Adam and Steve

Adam and Steve

Chapter 7

Heart Troubles

Steve was waiting patiently with Adam in the exam room, well, not so patiently. "Adam, how can you just sit there?"

Adam looked down at all the wires coming out from under his t-shirt and smiled. He was hooked up to a few monitors, so he knew why he could just sit. If he moved too much, he could cause some of the results to be off. "Steve, please sit down, or you know they will throw you out." Adam was trying to stay calm as he watched Steve pace.

When the technician came back in to check on Adam to do the next leg of the stress test, she caught a glimpse of Steve pacing before he stopped and smiled. "Okay, Adam, I'm going to take you back to do another part of the test, but Steve, you will have to wait here."

"Why can't I come with him?" Steve asked.

"Steve, we have to do the treadmill and then have him relax for a bit to do another set of images of his heart. He will be back here in about thirty to forty minutes. Depending on how long it'll take to get his heart rate up."

"Then will he be done?" Steve asked.

"Yes, Steve, unless the Doctor would like to talk to you."

The technician unhooked Adam from the monitors, and they left the room, leaving Steve. He paced back and forth while waiting. He couldn't believe that he loved Adam so much and he could lose him. Steve continued to pace, hoping and praying that the results would show that nothing was wrong. That this was all the stress from their recent break-up.

The technicians took Adam's blood pressure once more before Adam got on the treadmill. They were going to monitor it a few times while he was on the treadmill, but they wanted a resting reading. They informed Adam to notify them as soon as he experienced shortness of breath or pain.

They started him out with a slow walk, which Adam was fine with. He could do that all day long, then they sped it up and up. Until he was running, Adam was still okay. The technician sped up the treadmill to get Adam running faster because Adam hadn't reached his target heart rate yet. They asked him if he was feeling anything. Again, he said no. When he finally reached his target heart rate, they ended the test.

They had him lie on a gurney, and they gave him another shot of nuclear dye and told Adam to lay still for twenty minutes, and they will conduct another scan of his heart. Adam watched other patients have their stress test and then join him in gurney land, then he was escorted to the machine to have his heart reimaged.

Adam laid on the table and was asked to raise his arms above his head during the scan. The machine rotated around him, taking images of his heart along with recordings again. He could see a little of it on the monitors above his head, but it was a little hard to watch.

When the scan was complete, he was taken back to the room that Steve was in. The nurse performed one more set of EKGs and blood pressure readings on Adam before taking the tabs off of him. "The Doctor would like to look everything over and see you back in a week. You can set up the appointment on the way out. Okay?"

"He's not going to speak to us?" Steve asked.

"Steve, let him look over the images," Adam stated. "We'll see you next week." Adam smiled, and the nurse left the room.

"But." Steve got out before Adam pulled him close.

"Steve, He wants to take a week to look them over. He didn't pull us in today and say, 'Hey, we are heading to the hospital now.' Did he?"

"No," Steve said.

"So, that's a good sign."

"Yeah, I guess."

Adam hugged Steve and kissed him. He knows Steve knows it is too. "Let's go home. I have a game tomorrow, and I already missed practice today."

They made Adam's appointment for the following week, and Steve would make it come hell or high water. When they arrived home, Steve pulled Adam off to the family room to cuddle on the couch for a bit. They had been trying to take life easy since rekindling.

Jeff and Teddy walked in after practice, "Are you going to be at the game tomorrow?" Teddy asked.

"I'm fine Teddy. How are you?" Adam asked.

"Adam, I'm sorry. I hate when Coach Rose is taking over for you."

"Why do you hate Marc?"

"He's not you. We know how much you are going to push us, but Coach Rose is different." Teddy stated, and Adam just laughed.

Steve decided to be cruel since Adam never answered Teddy's question, "Adam won't be able to be at the game. His next appointment with Dr. Phelps is tomorrow at three."

Adam knew exactly what Steve was doing and was trying to keep from smiling. "No, it's at four, so I have already informed Marc that he will have to cover for me."

"Ohhhhh noooo." Both boys moaned, and Adam and Steve smiled.

"Adam, can't you miss your appointment? Please," Teddy asked.

"No, I can't. Marc is a great coach." The boys went off to Teddy's room.

"So when are you going to tell them?" Steve asked.

"I don't know. Maybe I will ask Marc to cover it." Adam laughed.

Adam called Marc and asked what he did in practice that made Teddy upset. Marc informed Adam that Jeff and Teddy were fooling around, so he made them run laps, and when they backtalked him, he had them doing sit-ups and push-ups.

Adam told Marc what he had joked about with the boys, about him covering him tomorrow. Marc told him, why not? "I should be at the game tomorrow."

"Damn Adam, you haven't missed one in the entire time you have been a coach here. Stay home tomorrow, relax. Hell, you deserve some time off."

"Hey, maybe I will. I'll give the office a call in the morning. Will you be okay with doing it all tomorrow?"

"Yeah, have faith in me." Marc laughed.

"You know I do. Have a good night. I'm sure I will hear from the boys how they did. Or maybe I'll show up and sit in the stands."

Steve looked over at Adam, "If you're taking tomorrow off, we will do it together, and I think you can stay away from your school for one game." Steve laughed.

"Oh, do you think?" Adam chuckled and pulled Steve over to kiss him before he laid down in his lap to rest.

The week for Steve went agonizingly slow when Friday's appointment for Adam finally came around, and they were sitting in the waiting room to be called in. Adam could just feel the anxiety coming off of Steve. They were taken to the doctor's office when they were called in, not an exam room. Steve's red flags were rising. "Steve, calm down, will you."

"Have you ever been called into a Doctor's office for good news?"

"Steve, I've never been in a Doctor's office before, only the exam room. So maybe it's nothing."

Doctor Ken Phelps walked into the office, "It's not nothing." Because he overheard Adam. He looked at Adam and then Steve. "I'm sorry to state it that way." Then he sat down at his desk. "It might be nothing, but I would like to take a look inside Adam's heart to make sure."

"What do you mean that it may or may not be nothing?" Steve asked.

"Well, let me bring up the images from the two scans that we did of Adam's at-rest and stressed heart." He brought them up on the monitor and had them running side by side. He then made the at-rest heart larger to start explaining it.

"Let me try to explain these two for you and then show you the two images side by side. Here is Adam's heart, the at-rest one. You can see the blood flow entering and exiting the heart. As you can see, it fills the chambers of the heart, completely, as the heart pumps and does its circuit." Ken points at the screen to show Adam and Steve the blood flow. They follow the movement of blood through the chambers of Adam's heart.

"Yes." Both Adam and Steve agreed.

"Okay, now, let's take a look at the stressed heart." Ken makes the images of the resting heart small and enlarges the stressed heart. "Now, look how in the upper chamber of Adam's heart, the blood doesn't fill it completely?"

"No," Adam stated.

"Yes." Steve agreed with the doctor.

"Well, let me show them side by side." Ken brought up the images and let them run side by side, and then Adam could see that the chamber wasn't filling completely.

"Alright Doc, what causes this?" Adam asks.

"Adam, that's why I would like to take a look inside your heart." Ken looked between Adam and Steve. "Do I know if it's anything? No. Do I know if you need a stent? No. I will not know until I get in there and see."

"When can you do it?" Steve asked.

"It's up to Adam. When was your last episode?"

"It's been a while," Adam stated. "I haven't had one for a few months."

Steve pulled out his wallet and looked at a wallet-size calendar that he had. "He had one on the twentieth of February." Adam looked over at him and, if looks could kill. "I made him take his nitroglycerin."

"Any other dates?"

Steve looked. "Minor times, the third of February, the tenth of March, going back to January eighteen. I made him take his nitro on the sixteenth of December." Adam put his hand on Steve's arm. "But these are only the times that he was with me. He refuses to take the nitro because it gives him a headache."

"Yes, it will do that," Ken confirmed. "Adam, any other times?"

"A few, but I didn't write them down, and I didn't know that Steve did."

"Well, can I get you to promise to tell Steve the next time you have an episode since he will write them down?"

"If I must," Adam said in a flat tone.

"Damn it Adam. I love you. Can't you see that? I want you to live." Steve stated.

"I know that, but Ken knows there is something wrong. Why do I have to mark down every time I have a problem? They don't happen every damn day. Hell, you seem to have most of them." Adam got up and was about to walk out of the room.

"Adam, please stop. I'm sorry, you need to realize that this is serious."

"I know it's serious, I knew I had an episode a few months ago, and I haven't had one since. I will take a nitro when it is bad enough, I hate it, but I will take one." Adam calmed down and looked at the Doctor. "Ken, can I hold off for a bit on this, or when does this have to be done?"

"Honestly, Adam, the sooner, the better, but you can hold off if you need."

"Why do you need to hold the procedure off?" Steve asked.

Adam looked at Steve, "For baseball to end."

"Adam, just have the procedure done. Marc can cover a few games." Adam just nodded his head. He didn't want to have the procedure yet, but it looked like he had no choice in the matter.

"Okay, Adam, let me get my scheduler in here, and we will get it set up." Ken Phelps left, and his assistant came in.

The assistant was looking through the schedule, "Well, it looks like there's a spot this coming Monday."

"We'll take it," Steve responded for both of them.

"Okay, well, the hospital will call you later today to tell you what time to report." The assistant was telling them as she was typing Adam's information into the computer. "They will go over some information with you of what you will need to do before you come that morning. Such as no eating after midnight, and you may want to pre-shave your groin area. They will still do it there, but it may be less embarrassing if you do it beforehand."

"No problem," Adam responded, then the assistant printed out a few forms for them to sign, gave them copies, and showed them out. "Thanks for ruling over my life," Adam said sarcastically as they were walking out to the car.

"Adam, I just want you better. I want you to live a long time. I love you."

"Babe, I know and I'm sorry, I'm just being pissy. Let's stop at the school on our way home. I have to talk to Mike the Principle to let him know I will need some time off and also Marc."

"Sure."

When they stopped at the school, it was still in session. So they did run into Teddy in the halls, and he was acting out until he saw Steve. Steve sat in the outer office when Adam went in to talk to Mike. Mike gave Adam the option of using short-term disability or his vacation days. Adam said he would use his vacation days that he didn't think would be out that long.

When Adam left Mike's office, they went down to the athletic center and talked with Marc. Marc was surprised and said he would stop by after the procedure to see how it went. Adam wished Marc success in the game that evening.

The weekend went by fast for Adam. Adam grabbed up his electric razor kit and was about to head off into the bathroom when Steve stopped him. "What are you doing?"

"Remember, I have to shave," Adam responded.

Steve smiled, "Yeah, I do. Wait here, please." Steve pushed Adam to sit down on the bed and left the room. He came back with an extra-large towel that he laid on the bed. "Please take your clothes off and lay down on the towel." Adam looked at Steve. "Well, if you need to shave, why don't we make it interesting?"

Adam laughed, "There's not much to shave."

"I know." Steve smiled again. "Do you mind me doing it for you?"

Adam laughed as he started to remove his t-shirt, "Nope, but please lock the door. We don't need two teenagers accidentally walking in."

"Good idea, they do normally knock. But you're right. The times we don't are the times we're in interesting positions."

"It's like they know," Adam responded, and Steve laughed as he went to lock the door. Stepping back to Adam, he kissed and pushed him to lay down on the bed. "Pushy."

Steve had other plans than just shaving Adam. He climbed up on Adam's naked body and he kissed him again. "Babe, I love you." Then he kissed his neck, producing a moan out of Adam.

"You don't just want to shave me, do you?" Adam asked as Steve licked down his chest and looked up, smiling. "The kids are here.... Oh God, Steve." Steve sunk down on Adam's cock and produced a loud moan.

Steve grasped Adam's balls in one hand as he held his cock in the other while he was sucking him. After Steve had Adam panting and hard as a rock, he looked up at him with an evil grin. "Would you like me to shave or fuck you now?"

"Do you really have to ask that?" Adam panted heavily.

Steve laughed as he stood up and removed his clothes. Adam rolled over and crawled up the bed to grab the lube from the drawer. Steve kissed his ass and proceeded to kiss up his back. Adam started to flip around so he could lay back down, and Steve stopped him. "No, stay on your knees."

Steve poured some lube down the crack of Adam's ass, some hitting its target, some dripping to his balls. While he was opening Adam up, he used the excess to massage his balls and cock. Steve added some lube to his cock and pushed into Adam, producing yet another loud moan from him. Steve thought they needed to start remembering to put on the radio to muffle them a little. He realized Adam was thinking the same thing because he reached over to the nightstand and turned the radio on.

"Steve, now fuck me." Which Steve began to do. He pulled out of Adam and pushed him over and pushed his legs up to reenter him. That gave Adam access to his own cock. He knew Steve was close, and so was he. All he had to do was touch his cock, and he was cumming. When Adam tightened around Steve, it triggered Steve to release, and he slammed into Adam with a grunt, collapsing down onto Adam.

Adam embraced Steve and kissed the side of his forehead. "Let's go get cleaned up, and I will shave you for real." They both chuckled.

"Let's just go to the bathroom, I'll shave quickly, and we'll get cleaned up."

Lying in bed later that night, Steve had his head on Adam's chest. "In a few weeks, let's go to my cabin. We'll take the bag of things that Marc got us that we've never used and see about having a good time."

Adam smiled up at the ceiling, remembering what was in the bag from the cabin. Chuckling, he asked, "Did you want to use the swing?"

"Maybe," Steve responded.

"We're going to have to bring some tools and bolts with us."

"I think we can get those. Adam I love you."

"Thank you Steve. I know I don't say it often enough, but I appreciate that you look out for me. I love you too." Steve pulled Adam down for a kiss before snuggling up to listen to his heart before falling asleep.

Of course Monday morning Steve was a ball of nerves, which stressed Adam a little, not that Adam wasn't, but he didn't want to scare Steve even more. Arriving at the hospital, they checked in and were escorted up to an actual hospital room.

"This is different," Adam stated. "I've never gone for a procedure and was taken to a room before."

The person that escorted them responded. "Since you are a surgical case, they always start you out in a room and bring you back to the same room. This is the surgical floor, so if they need to keep you overnight, they can automatically do it without having to find a bed."

"Well, that makes sense," Steve responded.

The escort left, and not a minute later, the nurse came in. "Hello Mr. Cort. Can you tell me your birthdate please and your full name?"

"Adam Daniel Cort, the twenty-fifth of December, 1984. Steve was all ears for this because he had wanted to know for a while when Adam's birthday was. He could have pried and looked, but Adam found a way to dodge the question every time he asked.

"Thank you. Okay, Do you want me to call you Adam or Mr. Cort?"

"Adam is fine."

"Adam, I need you to undress fully and put on the gown, open in the back. I will be taking blood work from you and starting an IV."

The nurse left the room so Adam could undress. She came back with everything she needed to start the IV and take the blood work. When she was done, she was surprised to see the Doctor already on the floor. Ken Phelps walked into the room.

"Well, are you ready?" Ken asked.

"What is going to happen today?" Adam asked.

"We are going to take you in. Numb your groan. So I can run a catheter up to your heart and view it via a monitor. I will shoot dye through and see if there are any blockages. If there are any, I will open them up by either a balloon and or a stent." Ken responded.

"Okay, well, that sounds simple enough." Adam laughed, and Ken smiled.

Ken was filling out all the forms in Adam's chart as he was talking to Adam. "The Anesthesiologist will be in to check on you. Then the team will be here in a bit to take you back."

"How long is the procedure?" Steve asked.

"Once we are in there, about forty-five minutes. He will be brought right back to this room. He will have to stay lying flat for about four hours, maybe longer. I prefer to go through the groin rather than the arm for these procedures."

Ken left the room, and the Anesthesiologist came in and asked all of his questions. Then it wasn't long before Adam was wheeled out, and Steve was sitting alone.

They were a little longer than the forty-five minutes in the Cath Lab. When they brought Adam back into the room in his bed, he was wide awake. Steve was amazed. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, other than that, I'm still a little numb. Ken said he will be in after he talks to his next patient."

"What did he do?" Steve asked.

"He'll talk to you. I'm just going to lie here." Which was the only thing Adam could do. "Oh, after a while, when they will let me, you may need to help me use a urinal."

Steve laughed, "No problem, I know you are stuck in this position for a while."

Not ten minutes later, Ken came into the room. "Well, Adam, did you do the honors, or are you leaving it to me?"

"I left it for you, Doc," Adam responded.

"What's going on? Were there any blockages?"

"Well, I found one narrow artery. It wasn't by plaque, just smaller than it should be. I did an Angioplasty and widened it."

"I'm sorry, what did you do exactly?" Steve asked.

"I inserted another catheter into his artery with a tiny balloon at the tip. I inflated the balloon when I had it in the narrow section of the artery so it would open it up. Because I wasn't pushing plaque out of the way, I also placed a stent to keep this area open. I would like to keep him here a little longer than the four hours, just to see how he is doing. Then he may go home. I would also like to see him back in the office next week. I will have the nurse set it up before you leave here today. Any other questions?"