Zayne and Brinxton kept up the same general schedule, and it was February before Zayne knew it. His dad's driver was able to take him to his first ablation of the nerves along the spine, but the second ablation, set for two weeks after the first, was a busy day for Zach and their dad, and Elias had a shift scheduled, leaving him completely without a ride, and he wasn't allowed to drive himself home afterwards.
The household was talking about it before Brinxton came over, and still didn't have any resolution by the time Brinxton knocked on the door. Zach got up and opened the door, deciding he would let Brinxton in without stopping his thought, so Brinxton heard his muffled voice before, "...and it's not like we can just have you wheel yourself back home or something. You're also not allowed to take a taxi or uber."
Zayne sighed. "I could reschedule it."
"Reschedule what?" Brinxton asked, absent-mindedly kissing Zach on the cheek.
"My..." Zayne trailed off while Zach got a grin on his face.
"Well nice to see you too, hot stuff," Zach said before he pointed at where Zayne was sitting in his chair.
Brinxton winked at him and kissed Zayne full on the lips before muttering, "Look it was bound to happen eventually, I just decided to head it off while you were present."
Zayne chuckled. "Well, you did say you wanted to know what dating a twin was like. We were talking about my ablation though. I have no ride and they won't let you uber or taxi from it. I'm not allowed to drive for a few hours after the procedure."
"It's important though because his left leg keeps giving out on him thanks to pain," Zach pointed out.
"Plus he has more nightmares when it hurts," Elias added, which got him a glare from Zayne since he hadn't mentioned his nightmares to Brinxton yet.
"Nightmares, huh? I didn't know you even liked horses," Brinxton quipped. "When is it?"
"Wednesday at eight AM," Zayne replied.
Brinxton took out his phone and texted his boss. The reply came quickly and he looked up with a smile. "I can take you! Apparently my boss has been bugging me to take PTO for a while because I have some use/lose time coming due at the end of my work year."
Zach and Elias gave each other a look, but Zayne smiled at Brinxton. "I appreciate it. I'll order brunch for us to make up for you having to drive me."
"Yeah, I'm sure brunch is all you'll do to thank him," Zach said, making it clear that they all knew better.
Brinxton smiled broadly, not seeing a need to confirm or deny his interest in such activities. He was sure that Zayne would find a way to make the day special no matter what happened. Zayne told him to ignore the two idiots though as he wheeled into the kitchen and pulled out two water bottles and a box that looked like medication. He motioned to Brinxton with his head and then wheeled down to his room, where he put the waters to the side and sat down on the bed after shedding his pants.
Zayne opened up the bag that the box came in and pulled out a shot as well as a bandaid and alcohol wipes. He started to wipe down an area on his leg before he moved on to getting the shot ready to take. Brinxton watched with interest, sensing that this was a new evolution in their relationship. Zayne wasn't particularly shy about medicating in front of him, but this was the first time he had seen this particular ritual.
"Monthly migraine medicine," Zayne explained as he put the shot up to his leg and pressed the button. Brinxton heard the shot click as the needle went into his skin, and then Zayne gave a pained expression as the seconds ticked by. Another click, and then Zayne moved the shot away and cleaned off the blood before putting a bandaid on and putting the shot back together and in the box, which he threw away in a sharps container that was attached to the wall. "I have it pretty well under control between that shot, injections in my neck every three months, and rescue medicine."
Brinxton winced at the look on his face when the needle penetrated his skin, but he could see how that little bit of discomfort may be worth the benefits. Zayne explained that many of the injections he got were a little painful but not horrible, but his monthly shot, and the ablation, were always intense to go through. They were worth it though.
The next week, when Wednesday hit, Zayne dressed in a long sleeved t-shirt and joggers that were easy to get off. He made sure he had his wallet and phone before he slipped his sneakers on and got into his wheelchair. He met Brinxton at the door and they went out to Zayne's car since it was the best set up for the wheelchair, and low enough to make it easy for Zayne to get in and out after procedures.
Zayne gave directions and they pulled up to a building that was specifically for his spine doctor's office. When they got into the building, they took his insurance card and ID and got him checked in, asking for Brinxton's name and number before having him sign that he was responsible for Zayne's transportation that day.
When they called Zayne's name, they let Brinxton come back to the room. Zayne explained it was part of his care plan because he'd had times in procedures where he went non-verbal because of anxiety. Brinxton could stay in the recovery room rather than seeing the procedure if he wanted, but he could also come into the room with Zayne to advocate for him if it was necessary. The nurse came in and started going over everything with Zayne, checking his vitals, and having him take his Xanax before the procedure where she could see the bottle and watch him take it.
Brinxton sat down in the chair in the room, his and Zayne's jackets in his arms. They gave Zayne about twenty minutes for the Xanax to kick in before the doctor came in to speak with him. They went over exactly what they would be doing, though Dr. Kaur commented that he knew Zayne knew all of this already. He let Zayne get his shirt off and handed it to Brinxton before Dr. Kaur had them put the side of his bed up and then they went into the procedure room.
They let Brinxton sit off next to the wall, giving him a mask to wear. Zayne's bed was moved to right next to the procedure bed, where the side was pulled down and Zayne carefully rolled over onto the new bed onto his stomach. They put a pillow under his stomach and under his feet for comfort, and then had him put his arms up near his head. He laid his head down to one side so he could see where Brinxton was sitting. Brinxton smiled encouragingly, his face concerned but confident in the doctor's skill.
The doctor gave Zayne warnings whenever he did something, like pulling his pants and underwear down so they were sitting right at the bottom of his butt. The doctor draped covers all around Zayne so only the part of his back they would be working on was visible. Then they cleaned off the area with alcohol.
The doctor and his team worked methodically. He started with one extremely long needle that was attached to wires. He warned Zayne there would be a poke, then put the needle in, slowly working it down while asking one of the technicians to keep taking images to make sure he was going into the right spot. Zayne's face really only showed what was going on when the needle got down into the bones on the side of the spine.
They did this three more times, the needles all parallel to the spine on the left side. Each time the needles reached the bone, Zayne's upper arms and face would tense up. Zayne closed his eyes and took some deep breaths to try and get through it, knowing this wasn't even the worst part of the ablation.
"How are you doing?" Dr. Kaur asked Zayne.
"Okay," Zayne replied, his voice tense but evening out.
"Alright, we're going to do the difficult part," Dr. Kaur said. "You know the drill. Let me know if it's going down your legs, okay?"
Zayne gave a brief nod and a thumbs up. They went through testing it one needle at a time, going through different frequencies to see which one wouldn't go down his leg. Zayne's whole body looked tense, though it was clear he was trying to keep his back as relaxed as possible. He cried out a few times as the frequencies went down his leg, causing pain to spread all through the sciatic nerve.
Once they found the right frequency for one, they moved onto the next one, going through the same routine for each one. Zayne tried his best to stay as quiet as he could, but he cried out more than once with each needle.
When they found the right frequencies for each one, the doctor gave Zayne a warning that they would start the actual ablation at that point. It used soundwave frequencies to burn off the nerve endings, and they would do it for about five minutes before giving him a break and then doing it for a few minutes more.
Zayne closed his eyes against the sensation of the frequencies being sent through the needles, focusing on his breathing. His brows were furrowed from the pain and his shoulders looked tensed up but that was the only sign anything was going on besides the noise from the machines. It was only once it was done that Zayne really relaxed. The doctor carefully pulled the needles out and then wiped away some of the blood from the injection points before laying down a large bandage on top.
Zayne pulled his pants back up once the sterile sheets were taken away and they brought the other bed back over and helped him carefully shift over to that one, this time laying on his back. They got him back into the recovery room where the nurse came in to go over all of the normal risks and what he should be looking for as worrying signs, like extreme pain, fever, being unable to walk, and the like.
She helped Zayne stand up and then had him carefully march in place to show he was stable enough to handle getting into and out of his wheelchair. Zayne gave Brinxton a grateful smile when he held the wheelchair steady so Zayne could get in.
"You take care of him, okay, handsome?" the nurse said to Brinxton as they went to leave. Brinxton smiled at her but didn't otherwise acknowledge the compliment.
Zayne rolled his eyes. "Stop flirting, Lorraine. You don't have the right goods for him."
Lorraine's eyes were sparkling with humor as she winked at them. "Can't blame a girl for trying, can you? Next time bring that twin of yours. He always flirts back."
Brinxton carefully got Zayne into the passenger seat of his car and put the wheelchair away. As they drove back to Zayne's house, Brinxton looked over and commented, "So that was an experience. How often do you have to do that?"
