Page 74 of When Stars Collide
That didn’t happen.
In fact, I’m pretty sure my screams can still be heard throughout the Nuclear Medicine department to this day.
“Your kind eyes lie, Jordan! Your kind eyes lie!”
*****
I’d always wondered what happened when a person was put under for surgery, whether they dream and, if so, whether their anesthesia dreams were more vivid than their normal dreams. The answer to both of those questions is an unfortunate resounding no. Perhaps it was supposed to be that way for a reason; maybe you really do dream, but the anesthesia prevents you from remembering it. Either way, the last thing I remembered before I was put out was the mask being fitted over my face and being told to count backwards from one hundred. I don’t even remember what number I reached before everything went black.
Waking up, the first thing I noticed was the light in the room blinding me when I opened my eyes. I wasn’t in a recovery room, more like a recovery bay, with curtains on either side of me and what I believed was a nurse’s station in front of me. In chairs set up next to my bed, Elle and Luke sat patiently waiting for me to wake up. Luke was reading something on his phone while Elle’s head rested on his shoulder. Her eyes were closed, though I suspected she wasn’t sleeping.
“It’s a good thing I’m in the hospital, because you two are so cute it’s making me sick.”
“Hey!” Elle’s eyes flew open. She sprung up from her chair to stand next to my bed. Luke also stood, choosing to stay at the foot of the bed.
“How are you feeling?”
“I don’t know … tired … great … high. Is this what being high feels like? If so, I’m totally on board.”
“Wow, you haven’t been in recovery long at all, and you’re already awake and somewhat coherent.” A nurse with gray hair, due more to the latest color trend than age, entered my recovery area to check my vitals on the machine near the other side of my bed.
“Recovery room MVP,” I said, pumping my fist in the air. “Do I get a trophy, or one of those head piece things you use to listen to patients’ hearts?”
“A stethoscope,” Luke chimed in.
“You and your … doctor knowledge.” I raised my eyebrow at him as he suppressed a chuckle.
The nurse smiled. “Ah, the effects of the anesthesia.”
“It’s not the anesthesia,” Luke said matter-of-factly.
“I’d flip you off, but I can’t remember which one of these is my middle finger,” I said, holding up my hand and wiggling my digits.”
“Are you nauseous?” asked the gray-haired nurse.
“No. In fact, I’m ready for some graham crackers and juice so I can bust out of here.”
“There will be no busting out of here. And you’re going to have to take it easy for at least the next week. But since you’re feeling up to it, I’ll bring you some juice and crackers to see if we can’t work toward getting you discharged soon.”
“You’re good people, nurse lady.”I gave her a thumbs-up as she completed whatever it was she was doing and scurried out of my recovery area. “So,” I turned my attention to Luke when the three of us were alone again, “how did the surgery go?”
“It went about as well as to be expected. They removed more tissue on your back, around the area where your melanoma was. You presently have seventeen staples back there, and it’s going to smart in a few hours, so make sure you keep taking your pain medication. Plus, you have about a two-inch incision in your groin area, where they removed five of your lymph nodes.”
“Okay, but did they get all of the cancer? Was there cancer in the lymph nodes?”
“I don’t know, and neither will they until the pathology report comes back.”
“Damn it, Luke, that information is about as useful as a VHS tape.” I sighed. “I just thought it would all be over today.”
“It will be in about a week when the results come back,” Elle added.
“There’s a chance it won’t be.”
“You can’t think like that,” Elle tried to comfort me. “You have to stay positive.”
“About the only thing I’m positive about is that I really, really want to get out of here.” Before Luke and Elle could stop me, I stood up from the bed, wishing pretty close to immediately that I hadn’t. As soon as my feet hit the floor, my vision blurred and my knees buckled. Thankfully, Luke was by my side to catch me before I could hit the ground. “On second thought, I think I may stay here for a little while.” When I looked up and my vision began to clear, all I saw was Elle’s stern face. She was about to say something to me, until she noticed I’d become distracted by something else.
“I should have known all I had to do was follow the commotion and it would lead me straight to you,” Phineas said, standing in front of my makeshift room. In his hand was a bouquet of blue orchids.
