Chapter twenty one: Recovering in hospital

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(Brad's P.O.V)

Jen has been in theatre for half an hour now and I've just waited in her room for her surgeon to come back and talk to me about how the surgery went but since I've got around 30 minutes left, I decided to go down to the hospital gift shop and get Jen a bunch of flowers, Lillies of course, a get well soon card and a little teddy bear.

As I'm walking back into her room I can see her surgeon walking towards me. We both enter her room and we sit down on the chairs.

"Her surgery went very well and we managed to get the entire appendix removed. It was very swollen and inflamed which is why she was in incredible pain. She has three incisions on her stomach. One just below her belly button which is the one where we pulled the appendix from, one just above her pubic bone and one on the left hand side of her stomach where we had our cameras. The surgery was a keyhole procedure so the scars will be minimal. I will go into more information about how to treat them just before she's allowed to go home. She has just been wheeled into recovery, she's still under general anaesthetic at the moment but in the next five minutes we will be slowly waking her up. When she's fully awake and conscious one of the nurses will bring her back up to you". The surgeon tells me everything I need to know. God I'm so happy everything went well.

*Twenty minutes later*

I'm on the phone to my mom telling her how Jen's surgery went and as soon as we hung up, Jen was being wheeled back into the room. I stand up and she's being wheeled by the side of me. She still looks in pain, bless her. Which is understandable a she has three wounds on her stomach. When she sees me her face lights up and she puts her hand out for me to hold it. I sit down next to her bed when it's finally in it's place and take her hand in mine stroking it with my thumb trying my best to avoid all the wires that she has attached to her. I lean over and give her a soft kiss on the lips.

"Hey my baby girl"

"Hey you" She replies in a groggy voice

"I have something for you" I stand up, walk over to the window sill and get her flowers, card and teddy bear and walk back to her.

"Thank you baby but you didn't have to" She opens the card and she cries as she reads it. She's overly emotional from coming off the anesthetiser.

"My favourite flowers. They are beautiful" and she laughs when I hand her the teddy bear.

"How are you feeling beautiful?" I cannot stop staring at her so thankful that she's okay

"I'm alright I guess. I'm in a lot of pain and my throat hurts from the tube they had to shove down there but I feel so much better than earlier".

"Brad... can you help me move over a little bit please. I want you to come and lay with me" I stand up and slowly move her across the bed slightly, I put the railing up on her side so she doesn't fall out and then I climb back in next to her. She snuggles up to me immediately and takes a little nap.

*The next day*

Jen and I ended up falling asleep and cuddling all night last night. She woke up a few times during the night in pain but I'm so happy she had a goodish sleep. She hasn't got out of bed yet and that is one of the tasks that she needs to do today. She has a catheter in at the moment and a nurse will come and remove it at some point this morning and as long as she can walk some what comfortably and she is able to have a wee, we should be able to go home this afternoon.

(Jen's P.O.V)

It's the morning after my surgery and the nurse has just come in to remove my catheter. It hurt a little but I'm just glad it's finally out. I've just finished eating my breakfast. I had some toast with a cup of tea. I didn't eat much of it as I'm not that hungry but it was nice to have something to drink.

"Brad baby... I think I need to go to the toilet now. Can you please help me?" I ask as I need his assistance with walking and to sit down on the toilet

"Of course I can"

He gets up and helps me sit on the edge of the bed. I stay there for a few seconds before I attempt to stand up. Brad holds me under one of my arms and I hold on to him for support. We walk slowly as I can't move very fast. We finally get to the bathroom and he helps me to sit down. I do what I need to do and he helps me back up again pulling up my underwear for me as I have too many wires attached to my hands and I'm scared of them getting caught. I wash my hands as good as I can and we walk back to my bed.

*Early that afternoon*

The nurse and my surgeon both come in to my room at the same time. The nurse hands Brad my discharge papers and the surgeon sits down as he's going to tell us what we need to do when we get home.

"For the next week I want you to stay in bed as much as you can. It's extremely important that you don't do any heavy lifting or bend down too low for the next six to eight weeks as you could potentially tear your stitches. For the first week I don't want you to shower or bath. You can have a wash with a cloth and warm soapy water but it's important that you don't get your dressings wet and after the first week you will have to start changing your dressings regularly to prevent infection. I've prescribed a two week course of antibiotics as another barrier to prevent infection. Do any of you have any questions?"

"When can I go back to work?" I ask just so I know what to tell the producers and directors

"Definitely take the next two weeks off and if you're feeling okay after that you can go back"

They take all my IV's out and we say our thank you and goodbyes and Brad helps me get into a wheelchair as I can finally go home.

*Back home*

It feels so good to be back in my own bed. Brad is packing all my stuff away and I decide to ring Courteney as she has no idea what has just happened.

"Hi Court, it's Jen"

"Hey girl what's up"

"Well what a weekend I've just had. Yesterday I had to have emergency surgery as I had appendicitis. That was that stomach pain I had on Friday. I've just got home from the hospital and Brad is being so fantastic"

"Oh my god Jen. Are you okay? Are you up for any visitors?" Court says shocked to hear the news

"I'll be fine honey. I'm in a lot of pain but I'll be fine. I think I'm just going to sleep the rest of today but you could come over tomorrow if you'd like"

"You get as much rest as you can and I'll definitely come and see you tomorrow. It's going to be strange in work without you. Did they say how long you have to have off?"

"Yes they said I need to have at least two weeks off and to just see how I feel after that"

We continue to talk for a little while before I tell her that I'm getting tired. We hang up and Brad comes into the bedroom holding a hot bowl of tomato soup. I ate it so quickly as it's the only thing I've really eaten in the last two days. Brad makes sure I have everything I need and then climbs into bed next to me. We watch an episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S to cheer me up, I take my dose of antibiotics and I fall sleep peacefully in Brad's strong arms.

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