The Cowboy's Promise (UNDER HEAVY REVISION)

Sick of Hospitals- Part 1

Elliot is at my door bright and early the next morning, banging his fist against it. I crawl out of bed and open the door to see his smiling face.

"Damn it, El. You make enough noise to wake the dead. What do you want?" I grumble. Too damn early for this.

"Going to your doctors appointment. Nice boxers," he smirks.

I look down at my Family Guy boxers and grab the nearest pair of basketball shorts. "The hell you are."

"Mom told me to. So get dressed and meet me downstairs. I have breakfast and coffee." He turns on his heel and heads back to the kitchen.

"Since when do you listen to Mama?" I call after him, but he ignores me.

I sigh and pull on a pair of jeans, buckling my belt as I walk. I grab a button down from the laundry and button it as I move to the kitchen. Elliot was covering his eyes when he saw me.

"Oh, God! Too white! I'm blind!" he yells dramatically. I pull my shirt on then copy him, smiling.

"Oh, God! Too ugly! I'm blind! I'm BLIND!"

"You're one to talk, asshat. That face would shatter a mirror," Elliot laughs, handing me a coffee mug and a muffin. Red, who had the luck to get the downstairs bedroom, yells at us to shut up. We look at each other then bust out laughing. My keys are snatched from the counter, and I follow Elliot outside.

€*€

I step out of the truck and follow my brother into the clinic. He steps up to the counter with me, a huge grin on his face. Like I need an escort. I shove him away and point to the chairs. The nurse, a skinny blonde with a pen behind her ear, turns to me.

"Name?"

"Blake Dodge," I reply. The nurse types on her computer then looks at me again, her face lighting up. We recognize each other in the same moment.

"Oh, hi Blake! How have you been, sweetheart?"

"I've been good, Mariah. The family alright?"

"Oh, yes. Erin graduates in two weeks. But anyway, Dr. Indin will see you soon. Give this to Elliot for me." Mariah hands me a couple of Hershey kisses.

"Mariah, I have to ride home with him," I protest. She waves me off with a laugh. I hand Elliot the chocolate when I sit down. I lean forward on my elbows and gnaw on my fingernails. El places a hand on my knee, stopping its bouncing and causing me to look over at him. Even though he doesn't say a word, I know what he means. Don't worry. We'll get through this. I smile at him.

After a few minutes, Dr. Indin calls my name. Elliot and I get up and walk through the clinic with him. We file into a room and he closes the door behind us, grabbing my file as we go. We sit in chairs while he sits on a stool, paging through the papers.

I shift impatiently, and Elliot glares at me. Finally Dr. Indin turns to us. I start bouncing my leg again.

"So, Blake. Doin' alright?"

"Yes sir. Except for my head," I answer.

"Hmm. Getting any worse?"

"Yes. Blackouts are getting more frequent, and I've been having headaches."

"Anything you wanted to tell me, specifically, today?" Dr. Indin asks, marking a few things on the papers.

"Just came in for a checkup. See how the monster's doing," I tell him.

The doctor nods and checks my vitals. Heart, lungs, eyes, ears. Stuff like that. I'm good, just irregular breaths. That's only because of my nerves. He calls a nurse over to schedule an MRI of my head. This was after I explained it had been four years since I discovered the tumor and was worried about it.