Array
(
[text] =>

Adonis

From the moment they wheeled her into surgery, I paced up and down. Every moment that passed became more difficult to keep my nervousness from breaking through, I was a mess.

She'll be okay. I told myself repeatedly. Wishing it was true. I ran a hand through my hair as I stopped to lean against the wall, my eyes fixed on the door that they had wheeled Lacey through.

Movement beside me pulled my attention to Aiden, who was standing beside me.

"She'll pull through." He echoed my thought.

"She has to," I said.

There was no other option, she had to make it through the surgery. She had to survive. I heard a door open and my eyes found my bandmates walking toward me; I pushed off the wall as they stopped in front of me.

"Sorry it took us so long." Link gave Lacey's mom and dad a sympathetic look.

"How did you know?" I asked, surprised they were here.

"Alex called me," Link answered. I shot a look to my best friend, and he just nodded his head.

"Glad you guys made it." I wasn't handling things like I'd hoped. My band mates weren't just my band mates they were family. I do anything for them and they'd do the same for me.

"How long has she been in?" Sage asked.

"An hour," I answered. It had felt so much longer.

"How long is the surgery?" Link asked.

I shrugged. "The doctor said it could take anywhere from a few hours to eight. He said it all depended on how complicated it was to remove the tumor."

Saying the words out aloud made me think of what was happening in surgery and I felt a cold fear settle in me. It felt like a physical pain in my chest thinking about them cutting her open. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked to Link, who squeezed my shoulder reassuringly.

"She'll be okay, man," he said.

I nodded.

For the next few hours, my friends stayed to support me. While I paced the hallways trying to talk myself into the fact that every minute that passed without news meant she was probably still alive. But on the flip side, the longer I took, the more complicated the surgery was becoming, and that wasn't a good sign either.

Finally, after seven hours of waiting, I saw the doors swing open and Dr. Clark walk out, still dressed in his scrubs.

Everything had led up to this moment.

I followed Harp's parents, who walked up to him. Alex was beside me and Link stood on my other side. I felt the fear twist in my gut when I couldn't decipher the doctor's expression.

"We got it out," he told us. Relief flooded through me. "There were no serious complications, but the next few hours are going to be the most critical."

Most critical. Echoed in my mind and the fear I'd felt before stepped up a level to terror. I couldn't think about that, I had to believe she would wake up.

"Thanks," I said to the doctor. "How long before we can see her?"

I wanted to see her so badly. I wanted to hold her hand in mine while I watched over her.

"They're busy cleaning her up, she should be in her room in about twenty minutes."

As the doctor walked away, I rubbed my hands over my face. I let out a deep breath, trying to ease the building nervous fear inside of me. Mr. Harper hugged Mrs. Harper. When I looked to Reece and Aiden were standing together.

The wait wasn't over.

It was late, but no one left. I even told my guys to go home, but they refused. Link and Sage went to get coffee while everyone else waited patiently to see her.

The moment the nurse walked into the waiting room and told us we could see her, I was on my feet and following behind her to Lacey's room.

I stopped for a moment before I entered her room, the sight of her in the hospital bed hooked up to machines took my breath away. It brought the reality home of what she'd been through and reminded us she wasn't in the clear yet. We were halfway there. All she needed to do was wake up.

Not everyone could come into the room to see her at once, so while everyone else rotated the visits, I sat down beside her and held her hand in mine. I lifted them to my lips and placed a soft kiss on her hand. If it weren't for all the machines, it would have looked like she was sleeping peacefully. They bandaged her head. My fingers brushed gently across her cheek.

Reece and Aiden left early morning intending to come back after a shower and a couple of hours sleep. Sage left, but Link refused to leave. Alex took his parents back to the house to eat, shower and get a few hours of much needed sleep.

But I was running on empty. I wanted to see her when she woke up, but the events of the day had taken its toll on me and I lay my head beside her hand on the bed. Then I drifted off to sleep.

[text_hash] => 36bb741e
)