Us (boyxboy) ✧Book 1✧

✧ Twenty-Eight ✧

Damon

     After an additional couple of days in the hospital to make sure my lung was okay, I was given the okay to go home.

     I wasn't in as much pain, but I was still sore, and I wasn't gonna have any kind of freedom at home until I was completely healed. Jamie was putting me on a strict bedrest, except for when I needed to go to the bathroom, and even then, he wouldn't let me walk by myself. He was such a worry wart.

     "Am I annoying you with my constant need to make sure you're alright?" He looked at me with those big blue eyes of his as he sat on his side of our bed.

     "Why would you think that I think that?" I raised a brow.

     He shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure you're not secretly hating me right now for being kinda strict on you."

     I let out a chuckle. "I know that you're doing it because you, care, Jamie. I don't like, resent you or anything."

     "Good." He smiled. "I just wanna make sure you heal up, properly." I ran my fingers across his cheek, then felt his lips. I couldn't wait until I was all healed. I just wanted to touch him. But who knew when that was about to be. I let out a sigh and he made a face. "What's wrong?"

     "Nothing," I said with a smile, "I just like to look at you."

     He rolled his eyes but smiled, a blush creeping up on his face. 

Two Weeks Later

     Fourteen days was too long for me to be on downtime. I was going crazy. I was too cooped up in the house. Jamie lifted my bedrest after a couple of days once he was confident I wasn't in any pain, and that I wouldn't rip out my stitches doing something stupid. About seven days after the surgery, I was able to get the stitches out, and now there was, as to be expected, a small scar on the upper right side of my chest.

     But today, I had an appointment with Dr. Chang. I was getting a few blood tests, and some x-rays, and then we would decide from there. I was hoping I wouldn't have to go through any rounds of chemo, but I knew realistically, that was nearly impossible.

     Jamie came home early this morning from work and was still sleeping by the time I had my appointment. I didn't want to wake him, knowing how exhausted he was and how stressed out he had been, so I left him a note on the kitchen table and then left. 

     I was the only person in the waiting room, and that made me slightly wish I'd brought him along. Finally the nurse called me name, and upon realizing I was the only one out here, motioned for me to come back. I followed behind her, letting her weigh me and take all my vitals before she left me by myself once again. She came back one more time to draw my blood and half way through her doing that, Dr. Chang came in.

     "How are you feeling today?" He began to wash his hands.

     "This is probably the best I've felt in a while." I admitted, watching as my blood started to fill into the tube.

     "How's your chest feeling?"

     "It doesn't hurt at all, actually."

     "Really?" His face showed he was genuinely surprised. "All your vitals look good, as soon as your blood is finished being drawn, we can run back for an x-ray."

     The nurse took the tourniquet off and then pressed a cotton ball to my arm and then placed a bandage over it. "All yours." She smiled to another nurse as she entered the room.

    Once the x-rays were over, I was returned to the room with Dr. Chang. The nurse who led me there and back handed up over the x-rays and he clipped them up to the board before turning off the lights. Looking at the x-ray made me grab my chest. It was so strange to actually see that there was a chunk of my lung missing.

     It was a few minutes before he turned the light back on. "We had another biopsy ran after the tumor was extracted, and it had turned malignant, so we pulled it in time." He explained. "Your numbers are quite good, given the circumstance. But They're still a low, and on top of the tumor becoming malignant, I believe the best course of action is to begin with a round of chemotherapy, and then see where your numbers are at. We can start the 15th."

     I knew it was coming, so I hadn't had my hopes too far up. "So next week?"

     "Yes," He nodded and wrote something down. "I believe with your numbers being as they currently are, we could nip this in the bud. Of course, that's not an exact statement, so it can't actually be held up."

     "I understand." I nodded.

     "Good." He held his hand out and I shook it. "Any questions before I send you on your way?"

     "I do have...one question, actually." I bit my lip.

     "Go on," 

     I scratched the back of my head, awkwardly. "...Since having the surgery, how long would you say to wait before doing anything...strenuous?"

     "Usually after any kind of surgery the usual wait time do begin any kind of physical activity would be about six weeks. So, about the time you would be returning work is when you can start regularly exercising again."

     "Okay," I nodded, "What if I'm not the one being strenuous, though?"

     He hesitated and then chuckled awkwardly as he caught on to what I was getting at. "Well, both parties I would think are quite a bit strenuous to an extent, don't you think?" 

     I shrugged. "I mean, what if it's more of a 80-20 split?"

     He let out a laugh. "I would say, if you really can't wait that much longer, than try to not over exert yourself, and if you feel like you're in pain...in your chest that is, then definitely stop."

     I nodded, taking in everything that he said. "Thanks, Doc."

     He nodded, looking slightly uncomfortable, but at the same time highly amused. "Any other questions?"

     "Nope," I shook my head. "That was all."

     "Okay, then," He let out a sigh. "I'll see you on the 15th."