Adopted

Chapter 56

Brendon's POV

Jess was taken down to surgery at 8am. Sarah had gone home to sleep and I'd stayed the night with Jess. Sarah came back at 7 to be here when Jess went for surgery.

"I'm scared," Jess said, as they were loading her onto the gurney to take her down to the operating room.

"It'll be over before you know it and you'll be back up here. Mom and I will be here waiting for you. Probably buried in Starbucks cups."

That got a smile out of her. She held my hand tightly.

I kissed her on the forehead.

"You're going to be okay, Jess. I promise. And we'll be right here when you get back. Okay?"

"I don't want to go," Jessica started crying.

"You're going to be fine," I said. Really hoping I wasn't lying.

Sarah went to the other side of the gurney.

"One surgery. Then you can go home. You can do this."

"I want PopPop," Jessica said tearfully.

"I'm right here angel," my dad said. They'd come to the hospital with Sarah. "Be brave for your PopPop, okay?  Go get your head all fixed up so we can bring you home and spoil you rotten. Bogart and Penny are missing you something terrible."

"Okay PopPop," Jessica yawned. Her eyes were dropping shut from the sedative the nurse had already given her before they loaded her on the gurney. 

I held my wife as they wheeled our girl away toward the elevators and down to the operating rooms. We were told the surgery could take several hours.

Sarah offered to go get coffees for us all and my parents and I went back into Jessica's room. I sat down in one of the many chairs that had migrated into her room and found myself staring off into space.

"Brendon?" I heard. My mom touched my shoulder.

"Yeah?" I said, my voice thick.

"She's going to be okay," my mom said. I nodded. I knew she'd be fine. Logically I knew that. But she was supposed to be okay at school. And now we'd been in the hospital for ten days because she hadn't  been okay at school.

And it was still surgery. With all its inherent risks. With everything she'd been through, was she strong enough for this surgery?

Sarah came back up with four coffees.

"Look who I found," she said brightly.

Pete, Patrick, Andy, Josh and Tyler walked in. Zack and Kala followed.

"Hey B," Pete said, giving me a hug. "She's already down for surgery?"

"Yeah," I said.

The guys all sat around talking. I tried to stay engaged but all I could think of was the time and how long the surgery was supposed to be.

"Bro, come with me," Pete said.

"What?" I looked up at him.

"You're staring at the clock. Come with me. We'll take a walk. A short one. You need some air or something."

"I need to be here when Jess comes back," I said.

"We will be. It's only been an hour. We won't be gone more than 20 minutes. 30 max,"

Sarah nodded at me. I got up with a sigh and followed Pete. 

"How're you holding up?" Pete asked once we were out of earshot of the room.

I sighed and leaned against the wall. I looked up the hallway, and then suddenly I was on the floor, crying. Pete had his arm around me.

"She's going to be okay, B. Look how far she's come in just a few days,"

"I just can't believe this happened. That this is happening.  What if she's not okay? What if they make a mistake?"

"And what if everything goes perfectly smoothly and she's back in her room in a couple of hours with a killer headache but otherwise fine?"

I sighed, stood up, hugged Pete, and continued walking down the hallway toward the elevators that had taken Jess downstairs for surgery.

"Thanks, man," I said.

"No problem. Let's go into the courtyard. There's press at the front of the hospital," Pete said.

"How come?" I asked.

"Uh, because some famous guy's kid got beat up and he had to postpone his tour and rush home. Oh, and the kid nearly died. Oh, and now the kid is having surgery because of the other kids kicking her ass?"

"They're here about Jess?"

"Duh. You've been going out from the parking garage. They're hanging around the front. I'm guessing you've been focussed mostly on not crashing your car between here and home and getting back to Jessica."

I nodded. I hadn't noticed any press outside the hospital and ignored the ones outside the house.

Pete and I sat in the courtyard for a little while. I held my head in my hands and let the sun shine on my back and neck.

We didn't say much, which I appreciated. Pete's a great guy. He knows when to say things and when to keep his yap shut.

After a while, I had to get back upstairs. I was worried I wouldn't be there when Jess got back. And I'd promised her I would be.

We went back upstairs and back to Jess's room.

She wasn't back yet. At this point, she'd been in surgery for two hours.

We all just sat and talked quietly. We tried to avoid talking about the surgery and how we thought it was going.  I made silent promises to Jessica that if she got through this surgery and got better, I'd spend a whole lot of time with her after the tour. Maybe I'd take her with me when she was released from the hospital. She wouldn't be going back to school just yet. I could get the teachers to give me her lessons. Maybe get a tutor to work with her.

The more I thought about it the more I realized it wouldn't be fair to her. She'd still need some physical therapy first on her left arm so she could strengthen it until her cast came off then she'd need physiotherapy on her right arm. Plus they were saying she might need more occupational therapy after the surgery. Tour would be too strenuous for her. And I'd have to have someone around all the time to keep an eye on her. And while obviously, that would likely be Sarah, she'd be doing what she'd be doing at home, but cramped on a bus.

"Hey, Mom," I said.

"Yes, Brendon?"

"Are you guys doing Thanksgiving at your place  this year?"

"We are. Kyla and Kara are coming with their families.  Why?"

"How would you feel if Sarah Jess and I came for Thanksgiving this year?"

"Are you going to be home for Thanksgiving?"

"Tour ends just before Halloween. The postponed dates will be moved to the end of the next leg. And Jess really loves you guys. I don't think she's had a real family Thanksgiving, at least not since her parents died."

"Brendon, we would love it if you three came for Thanksgiving." My mom said, hugging me. Sarah was just looking at me. She didn't look upset. Maybe a little stunned.