Coming Home (#Wattys 2017)

18; Surgeries

Harrison woke to the smell of bacon and sausage drifting through the house. He was instantly on his feet making his way into the kitchen to see what his wife and daughter were making for breakfast.

Carrie was at the stove cooking a few pieces of bacon while Billie ran back and forth through the kitchen grabbing things for her mom. "Look at that. Mommy's little helper."

Billie ran another plate over to her mom. "Hi daddy!"

He slowly knelt down as his little daughter gave him a big bear hug. "Morning Billie."

Harrison then walked over to where Carrie was standing and snaked his arm around her waist. She slightly jumped, making him chuckle. "Morning sweetheart," he said. Then quieter so Billie couldn't hear, he asked, "anymore nightmares?"

She shook her head. "Nope. I slept so much better after that."

"That's good."

Carrie turned in his arm to kiss him. As soon as their lips touched, they heard Billie saying, "eww!"

Harrison deepened the kiss. Normally, they tried to avoid kissing like this in front of Billie. But today was different.

One of her hands landed on his hip as she held the pan of freshly cooked bacon in the other. "Mommy and daddy's that's just nasty."

Both of them just looked at Billie and laughed. "What?"

"You always say that when we kiss."

Billie crossed her arms over his chest. "Because it's nasty. And I don't need to see it. At all."

Carrie looked at her husband. "Well she told us."

She stepped away from Harrison and asked Billie to bring her a fork. "Here you go mommy."

"Thanks B."

✎✎✎

Two hours later, after the family of three enjoyed a family breakfast, Harrison and Carrie both checked into the hospital. They gave Harrison a room as the OR room was prepared. Carrie sat with Billie on her lap beside her husband's hospital bed. "What are they going to do to you daddy?"

"They're going to fix my leg B."

"What needs to be fixed?"

"You know I got shot just like mommy did. Well, when the bullet hit me, it tore some of the muscles in my leg. And it hit the bone in my leg too."

"Is it going to hurt when they fix your leg daddy?"

Harrison shook his head. "I'm not going to feel a thing because they're going to knock me out."

"Knock you out?"

"The nurses are going to give me this thing called anesthesia. It's going to put me to sleep for a little bit so they can preform the surgery."

Billie nodded as one of the nurses came in to administer the anesthesia. Carrie and Billie both gave him a kiss. "I love you daddy."

"I love you too B."

Carrie kissed him again. "Love you Harry."

"I love you more."

She playfully rolled her eyes. "I don't have time to argue with you about that. We'll see you in a little bit hotshot."

He smiled as both his wife and daughter walked out.

✎✎✎

While Harrison was in surgery, Carrie helped keep Billie's mind off her father by playing checkers with her. She looked a little nervous when Harrison told her about the anesthesia. And Carrie knew there was a little doubt inside her about losing her father again.

But it wasn't long before Harrison was out of surgery and the two of them were allowed in to see him. "Daddy!"

"Hi B. I told you everything would be fine."

Carrie sat down in the same chair beside his bed with Billie on her lap. "How did it go?"

"They said everything went great. They repaired my femur and quad." He pulled back the hospital gown to show her the stitches.

"When can you be up and walking?"

"Anytime now."

✎✎✎

Not two hours later, Carrie was giving a room to prepare for her own surgery. Harrison sat in the chair beside her bed while Billie sat on her bed. One of the nurses was in the room doing a quick sonogram on the baby. "Well Mrs. Ford, it looks like you're three and a half months into this pregnancy. Anesthesia won't affect your baby. The surgeons have suggested a regional anesthetic instead of the full anesthesia. You and your baby will be closely monitored through and after surgery."

"Thank you."

Once the doctor left, Harrison told her, "three and a half months. That sounds about right. From... you know when..."

She nodded. Billie then asked, "what's a regional anesthetic?"

"Instead of knocking me totally out, they're going to numb my shoulder where the surgery will take place."

"Oh. So you're not going to sleep like daddy."

"Nope."

Another doctor came in and told Harrison and Billie it was time to leave. "I love you mommy."

"I love you too B."

Harrison was the next one to give her a kiss. "I love you more," he said before she had the chance to say it.

"We'll see about that," was all she said as they walked out. "Harry, I love you too."

✎✎✎

While Carrie was in surgery, Harrison took Billie to get something to eat downstairs. When they came back up to the floor she was getting surgery on, one of the doctors came to get him. "What's wrong?" he immediately asked.

"Nothing sir. She's doing perfectly fine. Although I have something to show you and your daughter."

He and Billie followed the doctor into a small room where a single screen sat in front of a few chairs. They could see Carrie's face looking into the screen. "Hi guys."

"Hi mommy!"

They sat down as the doctor left. "They're letting us video chat you in the middle of surgery?"

She nodded. "I guess. Maybe it's a way to keep the stress off the baby. So I'm not worrying about him or her."

Billie and Harrison video chatted with her until the end of her surgery when she was transferred into another room. "How'd it go?" he asked.

"It went well. Everything's fixed and the baby's doing perfectly fine."