The Bright Side of Darkness

Twenty-Six

As soon as the nurses take Tay to prep him for the surgery, my anxiety shoots up. There isn't an easy way to know how the surgery is going unless a nurse comes out to tell me, and that makes everything worse. How are we supposed to know if he seizes or something? I'll be stuck hoping everything is fine without knowing for sure.

Somehow, I end up in the waiting room, slouching in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs for hours. I can't force myself to do anything other than make the person in front of me uncomfortable with my staring. He shifts back and forth in his seat and turns to whisper something to the woman on his left. She glances up at me and laughs softly.

"Hey, Travis and Jackson are here," Laurie says as she takes a seat beside me. She hands me a coffee and blows on hers to cool it down.

"Hey." Travis places a hand on my shoulder. His voice is about as soothing as the research I'm compiling on vitrectomies. Having him here does nothing and I ignore his attempt to comfort me. Having him here does nothing and I ignore his attempt to calm me down and open another vitrectomy article on my phone.

I sigh. It's not his fault. He's just trying to be here to help. "Hey."

"You know, if you worry any more about Tay, he won't be the only one in surgery. You'll blow a valve or something." His joke doesn't work, but I smile at him anyway.

Travis is at a loss for words and looks at Jackson for help. He just shrugs and plops down on the seat beside me.

He puckers his lips and stares at me through his peripherals, wiggling his eyebrows up and down. When his antics don't elicit a reaction from me, he turns to face me and puffs his cheeks out while poking his index fingers into them.

I can't help it. It's hard not to laugh at a sight like that. Jackson is usually so calm and collected. He's seldom the type to make silly faces and jokes.

"There's that smile." He pokes my nose and relaxes in his seat, giving a smug look to a scowling Travis.

The door to the waiting room opens, and out steps a young doctor clad in a surgical mask and light blue scrubs. "Statin?"

Laurie stands up quickly, tapping me quickly on the arm. I stand and take her hand in mine. The doctor smiles through her mask as she makes her way over.

"Everything is going well. We expect it will be about half an hour longer before Tay is out. It'll take a bit for him to wake up, but as soon as he's out, you can wait until he's up, okay?"

I nod. "Thank you so much."

After about half an hour, the doctor from earlier comes to tell us Tay is back in his room and ready for visitors.

"He won't be able to open his eyes for a bit, but the swelling should go down soon." She smiles and leads us to Tay's room.

"Tay?" I walk in, careful not to make any loud sounds in case he's not fully aware yet.