AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was brief, but he narrowed his eyes at Dawson. “Yes.” There was a slight snap to his words and when I turned toward Dawson, he was sheet white.
“Yeah, that’s fine,” he mumbled. “I’ll be back in a few.” He scurried out of the room with another nurse who I didn’t recognize.
“He’s weird.” Tru snorted, clearly having missed the silent exchange between the nurses.
About twenty minutes in, Milo’s lids began to droop, and he let out a jaw-cracking yawn.
“You can go to sleep, Milo. Don’t force yourself to stay awake if you can’t.” I lightly ruffled his hair.
“I…okay.” His lids fell, and soon he was asleep.
“He won’t even wake when he’s disconnected from the meds. They’ll bring in the second bottle soon so we can change it out, but he won’t notice a thing.” Finch answered questions that rolled around in my head before I had a chance to voice them.
“Tru, how about your dad takes you home?” Finch’s gaze darted to mine. “I’ll be here and won’t let him out of my sight.”
Tru was staring at Milo’s hand, her finger tracing a tiny vein there. “What if he wakes and we’re not here and we didn’t get to say good-bye or he doesn’t wake up and we didn’t get a chance to say good-bye?” And that was all it took for her sobs to break through.
“Oh, Tru-bug.” I grabbed her and in an instant she had her face in my chest and was crying and shaking.
Finch stayed put, his eyes tearing up in empathy as he watched my brave girl fall apart.
“When he wakes, Finch will tell him we had to go home. He already heard Dawson say you had to leave, and he’ll understand.” My need to stay right here with my son was warring with my need to be with my daughter. Being a single parent was the hardest job I’d ever had.
“Absolutely.” Finch backed me up and I shot him a grateful smile.
“And he will wake up, Tru. For many years to come.” I said a silent prayer, hoping I wasn’t lying to my daughter.
“You don’t know that.” Her voice was muffled, but I understood her.
“I do so. I won’t have it any other way.”
She didn’t respond to that, just stayed right where she was until her crying slowed, and when she lifted her head she had blotchy skin, red-rimmed eyes, and tears staining her cheeks.
“Here.” Finch handed her a few tissues.
“Thanks.” She blew her nose and cleaned herself up.
My heart was sore. Milo and Tru were my whole world and both were struggling, and I had no power to make it all better. Feeling helpless as a parent was painful.
“If anything happens, I promise I’ll call your dad and let him know, but, Tru, my honest professional opinion is that this will go swimmingly, and Milo will wake up tomorrow feeling fine.” Finch’s expression was a mixture of sympathy and determination.
“But he has the biopsy tomorrow, right?” She tossed the used tissues in the pail and crossed her arms.
“Yes, they will take his blood in the morning, usually around seven or eight. Then, if his platelets are high enough, they will get him ready for the biopsy.” Finch wasn’t put off by Tru’s protective nature for her brother, not one little bit.
“And what if they wheel him in when Dad isn’t here? Because I know I can’t come.”
“I won’t let that happen.” Finch was resolute.
Tru stared him down a moment before offering a curt nod.
“Okay.”
Finch reached into his pocket and handed Tru a face mask. “You’ll need to wear this.”
She took it and put it on. I had one of my FPFD masks, so I placed that on.
“Thank you, Finch.” I then leaned closer and brushed a finger over Milo’s cheek. “Sleep well, Buddy.”
