"All right Mr. Anderson, you ready," The nurse had said to him. He hadn't let go of Lillian's hand and anyone could see the fear radiating off the green in his eyes.
Lillian kissed his forehead, "It'll be okay. I won't leave until you're out."
Darren smiled nervously, "Thank you, I'll-umm- see you later then." Darren knew the risks of the surgery and he knew there might not be a 'later'.
"Y-Yeah see you later," Lillian waved at him as he was wheeled through the door.
Darren felt bad that he hadn't said I love you, he held on to knowing that he was going to tell her when all of it was done. The bright lights in the operating room blurred and blackened as the anesthesia kicked in and the surgery began.
Lillian sat in the waiting room. Her head was in her lap. She was here for the long haul.
Hours had passed indicated by the loud and broken clock in the waiting room, soon a nurse came out to greet Lillian. "You are here with Darren Anderson, correct?"
"Yes," Lillian's head snapped up, "Is he okay?"
"His surgery was good, he's okay. He's in the ICU right now with a tube keeping his brain from swelling because the surgery irritated his brain. Don't worry this is normal, you can go in to see him if you would like. You'll just have to be gentle with him," she paused, "He's…..Fragile right now."
Lillian nodded, "So I can see him?"
"Yes, right this way." The nurse led Lillian to a room where Darren was laying with tubes and IV's all over. The gauze that wrapped his head made him look pale and fragile.
Lillian looked at Darren she sighed softly, "Oh my."
"Same as before," The nurse said, "Call someone when he wakes up, okay?"
Lillian nodded and sat next to him, "Okay."
(Gtg)
(Adios, see you later.)
(Do you know if you'll be back later?)
(Yeah, but it'll be at least an hour maybe two. Playing for graduation.)
(Congrats have fun!)
(Probably should have waited with the whole ‘brain tumor’ thing until Lloyd got back. He gonna be overwhelmed!)
(Lol yeah. IM BACK. BACK AGAIN!)
(YAY!)
(So……………rp?)
(Yeah!)
(Sorry about the length of this next thing…)
Darren was asleep for hours after that. At some point, a doctor had come in to talk to Lillian about the surgery. He told her "The surgery wasn't supposed to 'fix' him, it was to lessen the size of the tumor so he has longer to live," The doctor explained, "There might be some long-lasting effects, but these things would have happened either way with the stage the tumor was developed to. He must be pretty tough because the headaches that you get from this are extraordinarily painful." The doctor let out a small laugh before continuing, "There are going to be episodes that he'll get often. They will be bouts of anger, rage, yelling, crying that kind of thing and he won't even know he's doing it. Another thing is his memory. He won't just forget everything in a day, more likely it'll be slow and begin with his short-term memory, such as what he had for breakfast or what he did the day before. He mentioned something about being in a musical, so he might forget lines or lyrics. My suggestion is to be patient and let him remember on his own before telling him." Dr. Britain flipped through his papers, "Also the chemotherapy might be a little hard on him. It will make him sick. When he tries to eat he'll throw it up, or he won't be hungry at all. A combination of the Chemo chemicals and not eating will make his bones brittle and subject to break, along with he'll lose a lot of weight. Other than all of that, do you have any questions?"
Lillian shook her head. She squeezed Darren's hand as she heard what was going to happen to him. The whole ordeal was scary.
"Okay then, I'm gonna let you two alone. Just remember to call someone as soon as we wakes up, okay?"
Lillian nodded. She looked at the time, it was getting late. She turned back to the doctor, "When do visiting hours end?"
"They don't end for family with loved ones in ICU." The doctor smiled at her.
Lillian let out a small sigh. She glanced back at Darren, "Thank you."
