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“Good morning, Charlotte. How are we feeling?” an older gentleman asks with a smile, holding his hand underneath the hand sanitizer dispenser until it shoots some out into his hand.
“Feeling okay. Ready to get this over with…” she says, then chuckles shakily.
“Understandable. The surgery itself will last about five hours. Do you have any questions or concerns right now?” he asks.
“No, I don’t think so. We covered a lot at the last appointment.” She nervously laughs again, and I gently brush my thumb over her leg to let her know that I’m right here with her.
Cupping Charlotte’s face, I lean down to claim her lips with mine. “I love you so goddamn much, Char. I’ll be right here when you wake up, okay?”
She nods and bites down on her bottom lip. “Okay. I love you.”
She’s anxious, which is only feeding my own nerves, but I don’t want her to see how fucking terrified I am right now.
The nurse wheels her out of the room, and being left to my own thoughts is so much worse than I anticipated. A different nurse escorts me to the waiting room. I have to sit here for five hours and wait, wondering and hoping that everything is going great. I’m going to drive myself fucking insane.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. Jensen is calling me.
“Hello?” I answer.
“Hey, man. How’s it going so far?” he asks. “Holding up all right?”
Sighing, I admit, “She just went back, and I’m already fucking stressed.”
“It’ll be okay. They do this surgery all of the time, like you said. Take your own advice for once, Goldy, and try to relax,” he says, as if it could be that simple.
I can never relax when it comes to Charlotte. Not when her life is in the hands of someone else. I hate feeling so out of control about something, especially when it comes to her.
“Yeah, yeah. I know you won’t be able to relax until she’s done. Do you need anything?” JD offers.
Shaking my head, I answer, “No, my mom and Abby are going to stop by in a bit, and I think we’re gonna grab some food from the cafeteria while we wait.”
Someone yells in the background of his call.
“I’ve got to go, Reed. Keep us updated, okay?”
“I will. Thanks for calling.”
“Of course. We’re family,” he says matter-of-factly and hangs up.
We are family. I know I cherish these boys, and I appreciate the friendships we share. But it’s more than that. We would do anything for each other, on and off the ice.
When I told them about Charlotte, they all hugged me and offered anything they could. I can’t imagine that there is anything that I could ask of them that would help Char. But if there was something, they would do it for her. Not only because they care about her, but also because they care about me.
“Reed!” a familiar and sweet voice calls out to me.
Looking around, I see Abby racing toward me.
“Hey!” I exclaim, stand up, and open my arms for her.
She wraps her arms around me and rests her head on my chest. “I missed you, Reed!”
Hugging her back, I squeeze her a little too tight, and she grunts. “I missed you too, Abbs.” My little sister is pure fucking sunshine. “Where’s Mom?”
Abby releases and plops herself down in the chair next to me. “She’s coming. She had to park the car.”
“All right. She doesn’t think you’re waiting for her by the doors, does she?” I ask, knowing that this wouldn’t be the first time Abby adventured on her own when she wasn’t supposed to.
“I knew she wouldn’t be able to wait, knowing you were inside,” my mom cuts in with a smile.
