See you again

Chapter 23

"Are you sure you want to go to the hospital with me?" Aaron unsurely asked as he pulled a beanie over his head. "Yes, Aaron. I'm sure," I reassured. "I just don't want you to be upset when you hear bad news."

"How can you be so sure that there's going to be bad news?" I asked with a frown. "I just know," he said with a sigh. "After you," he said, opening the door. I assumed that we were going to walk to the hospital, but I was taken by surprise when I heard the garage door open. One of the cars in the garage beeped unlocked as I glanced behind me at an audi r8."You can drive?" He simply nodded as he walked over to the passenger side of the door and opened it as he waited for me to get in.

I slowly got in as I gave him a skeptical look. He let out a chuckle as he closed the door and walked around to the other side and got in the car. "There really is a lot you don't know about me." I playfully rolled my eyes at his statement. He didn't need to keep reminding me as if it wasn't drilled into my head numerous amounts of times. It was something that I already knew too well.

"The test results came in this morning," the doctor stated. "And there does appear to be a slight decrease in the size of the tumor." I glanced over at Aaron, and I saw a glimpse of hope appear in his eyes. "But it is recommended that you proceed with the surgery we talked about anyway."Aaron nervously fidgeted in his seat. "What is the success rate?" he asked."Thirty-three percent." A chill went down my spine. I would have felt a lot better if it was at least half, but it wasn't.

After a long moment of silence, I heard Aaron let out a heavy sigh. "I'll do it."

"What?" The word accidentally slipped out of my mouth. The doctor seemed to ignore my comment. "Are you sure?" Aaron nodded as the doctor wrote something down in his clipboard. "The procedure can be done as soon as tomorrow. Surprisingly, we have a clear schedule and you are an utmost priority. Is that alright with you?"

"Yes."My jaw nearly dropped to the floor. "Alright no eating 6 hours prior to the surgery and drink clear liquids only. I will let your father know of your decision and I will see you tomorrow, okay? I'll have a nurse give you the paperwork you're going to need to fill out." Aaron nodded again and the doctor left with small smile in my direction. "You look more nervous than I do," I heard Aaron say as I stared at the floor. "I told you that you shouldn't have come."

"Are you sure you really want to go through with the surgery? I mean, thirty-three percent isn't a lot..."

"You don't understand. I can completely get rid of my cancer in one surgery. I won't have to live through pain anymore. I won't have to live not knowing if I will wake up the next morning. So, yes, I do want to do this. For me. And maybe for you too," he said standing up and walking over to me. He grabbed both of my hands and pulled me up. "I'll be okay," he said before gently placing his lips on my own reminding me of a feeling I missed a little too much. He pulled away and left his forehead on mine.

"Even if I don't make it-" I interrupted him with another kiss. "Don't talk about that." He chuckled before going in for more. His hands removed themselves from mine and found their way to my waist. I cupped his cheeks with my own hands as we attacked each other with our lips. He pulled away first and I looked at him with confusion. "As much as I've wanted to kiss you, I don't think the hospital is the right place to do it."

"Yes, you two should probably head home." My heart nearly jumped out of my chest when I saw Aaron's  father standing at the door. How long had he been standing there? Aaron and I both removed our hands from each other and took a good step away from each other. Aaron awkwardly rubbed his neck as he stared at the floor while his father longingly watched his son. I let out a sigh.

There was so much unnecessary tension between the two."Yeah, we should get going," Aaron  said as he slipped out the door past his father without even as much of a glance at him. I sympathetically looked at his father and he merely shrugged his shoulders. He watched Aaron walk away before turning back to me.

"You two are a lot closer than I thought." I felt the blush rise on my cheeks. "Don't be embarrassed. I'm glad he's found himself a girlfriend. I wouldn't want him going through this alone."

"He's been going through this alone?" I asked, dumbfounded. I knew Aaron was lonely, but I never knew it was to this extent. "He insisted that he go through this without me. Back then he wasn't indifferent with me and he actually spoke his mind. But at least he actually spoke to me..."

"I'm so sorry..." If I would have never met his father I would have thought that he was a heartless evil man. But the more I saw him, the more I began to sympathize with him. All he wanted was for his son to acknowledge him. "Don't tell Aaron, but I'm the one performing his surgery tomorrow," he said in a hushed tone. "What?" I said as my eyes widened. "He doesn't even know who's performing the surgery?" He shook his head.

"He thinks it's the doctor you saw earlier."

"Isn't that illegal?"I asked.

"Technically. But I'm the only surgeon who can perform the procedure and I know he wouldn't go through with it if he knew I was performing it. It's for his own good. And the chief of surgery owes me a favor."

"Can you promise me that he'll be okay?" I knew it was a lot to ask, but Aaron was all I had left. I needed him to be okay. And that fate was essentially all held in his father's own hands."I can't be sure-"

"Promise me." He let out an uneasy sigh. "I promise."

"I hope you know what you're getting yourself into."

"You've only warned me a hundred times. I think I know." Aaron fell back from his sitting position on his bed. "You don't know the half of it." My head tilted in curiosity as I waited for him to continue. "If I do survive the surgery-"

"You will," I interject. He let out a dry chortle. "Well, when I survive my face isn't going to be the same. They're cutting my face open. It's the only way they can get full access to the tumor." "What is the problem with that?"

"I don't know. I figure I'll be pretty unpleasant to look at, if I'm not already unpleasant to look at anyway."I threw a pillow at his head. "Shut up. You are beautiful and you know it."