Page 105 of Hot Summer Nights

“Yes.” Aspen says, leaping from her seat.

“How is she?” I ask, wrapping my arm around Aspen’s shoulders.

“She’s stable now. We were able to remove the tumor and we believe that we got all of it.

She’ll have to come back for regular checkups for a couple of months but barring any regrowth, she should be great.” He says with a smile.

Aspen’s whole-body sags with relief and she cries as she thanks the doctor.

“When can I see her?” She asks.

“It might be an hour or so before she’s awake. She’s been in observation for a while now. We wanted to make sure she was stable before we came and talked to you. You can go back to her room now though if you like but only one visitor at a time for right now.”

Aspen nods and he tells her the room number and that Adeline will be tired and weak for a couple of days still. We thank the doctor again and tell Aspen that we’ll be waiting right here for her and for her to take her time. She reaches up and brushes a kiss against both of our lips before she starts to head for her friend’s room.

FIFTEEN

Aspen

I don’t knowwhat I expected to see when I walked into Adeline’s hospital room. When I walk in most of the lights are off, except for the lamp on the nightstand next to her. She looks so frail laying in the bed in her thin hospital gown. She has white bandages wrapped around her head and IV’s running into her arm and hand.

She looks so pale but I’m hoping that it’s just the lighting in here. I look over her and am comforted by the steady beeping of the monitors next to her and the rise and fall of her chest.

I move around the side of the bed and drag the chair closer to her bedside. The sound of the chair legs scraping across the floor is loud in the quiet room. As I settle into the chair, reaching forward to hold her hand in mine, I see her eyelids start to flutter.

“Hey, Addy.” I say softly.

She groggily blinks her eyes open and tries to focus on me.

“Hey.” I say again softly when her eyes meet mine.

“What happened?” She asks, clearing her throat.

I reach over and grab the cup of water that the nurse left on the table for when Adeline woke up. I bring the straw to her lips and explain to her what happened.

“When I came home this morning, I couldn’t get you to wake up. I had to call 911 and they sent an ambulance. They couldn’t wake you either and they think the tumor grew too big and pushed against your frontal lobe. They had to do the surgery today but the doctor just talked to us and said they think they got it all. It’s gone, Addy. You’re going to be ok.” I say and relief washes over Adeline’s face as I give her the news.

“It’s gone?” She asks.

“Yeah.” I say as it finally sets in for me and tears start to stream down my face.

“Oh, Aspen.” She says.

“Oh god, Adeline. I was so scared. I didn’t want to lose you; I was so scared that I was going to lose you and be all alone.” I cry into her shoulder.

“I know. I was scared too. I thought I was going to die.”

She holds me and cries with me.

Finally, we’re able to calm down and I reach over to hit the button to call the nurse. She comes in and checks over Adeline’s vitals before she leaves to get the doctor.

“So, Roman and Flynn are here.” I say once she’s gone.

“What? Here?” She asks excitedly.

“Yeah, I called them this morning after I got here and they’ve been here with me all day. They wanted to meet you but the doctor said one visitor at a time for right now.”

“Get out! Get out and send them in then.” She says, waving me towards the door.

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