Just Me and You

Chapter 20

"I love you little P," I say as I kiss her forehead and brush her hair behind her ears. "Sweet dreams okay?"

"I love you mommy. Can you make sure mama is here when I wake up?"

"Yeah baby, I will."

I watch the little girl get wheeled back into the operating room, and I freeze in my spot in the hall. Dozens of people have walked by and tried to speak to me, but I keep staring at the door. Everything sounds muffled around me and all I can picture in my head is the same little girl at 6 months old in my arms with just me left to take care of her. Of course this time there's so many more people to support her, but right now I can't even put it all together.

I'm not sure how long I've been standing in the hall when I feel arms wraps around my waist from behind. Smelling Kristie's perfume I instantly relax and finally close my eyes.

"What time is it?" I ask as I feel myself sink to the ground. I don't make it far until she is picking my up, and I'm soon placed in a chair in which I assume is the waiting room.

"It's 4pm."

My eyes fly open and I look around me to see the whole team sat in chairs around me.

"She's been in there an hour. Oh god have you heard anything? Have you called my parents? What about Lucy? Holy shit she probably feels so bad I need to call and tell her it isn't her fault."

"Take a breath," Kris says as she wipes my tears away and pulls me closer.

"I called your parents and Sam called Lucy and Keira on our way here. The nurse called me in the middle of the meeting to let me know she couldn't get you to move. I rushed right here. How are you?"

"How did I not see this coming?"

Before I can get anything else out I burst into tears and am sobbing uncontrollably. My whole body shakes and I feel like I can't breathe. I feel dizzy and hot and after a few minutes I run to the nearest garbage can and empty my entire stomach.

As I finally come to, I make eye contact with the rest of the team. Most have tears in their eyes as they give me small looks and sympathetic smiles. I compose myself and make my way back to my seat next to Kristie.

"Thank you all for being here, but please go back to the hotel. You have a huge week ahead of you, I'm sorry to wreck camp before it even started."

"Don't be silly lex," Tobin says from the corner of the room. "We aren't leaving. Vlatko is also on his way, he is bringing us all food. Training was cancelled tonight and tomorrow. We are here for you every step of the way."

Hearing that made me cry even more, but this time I smiled through it all. I can do this, especially with all the people behind me.

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"Family of Pia Sanders?"

The entire room stands but Kris and I rush to the doctor, hand in hand, waiting for what he has to say.

"Surgery went well. We repaired to blockage in her aorta, it was about 90% occluded. We placed a stent, and also cleared a smaller blockage further down. She is still on the ventilator, we are going to keep her on it overnight to give her heart and lungs a rest. We will slowly wean her off sedation in the morning and if she is tolerating it fairly well, she will be awake by lunch. Now I know all of you want to see her, but due to the state she's in, I can only let 2 of you in and be with her, overnight as well. But she is on the mend, it's a good thing we caught it when we did."

"Thanks doc," Kristie says as I stand there in silence with my mouth wide open. "Thank you so much, you have no idea. Can we see her now?"

"Yes, I will walk you to her."

"Ready babe?" Kristie asks and that's when I finally snap out of my daze. I nod my head but don't say anything as we follow the doctor down the hallway to the ICU. He stops outside a door and I can hear the nurse inside talking to Pia, even though she can't respond. The doctor leaves us he and just as Kris goes to open the door I stop her.

"What're you doing? We have to go in she can't be in there alone lex, she needs us."

I pull her toward me and kiss her slowly on her lips before pulling away.

"I love you, you know that?"

"Of course I do," she says with a smile. "I love you both so much."

"I need to prepare you. She is gonna have a tube down her throat, her eyes are gonna be taped shut. She's also gonna have a tube coming out of her chest, and there will be blood coming out of it. She'll be hooked up to several monitors and IVs, but they're all helping her. She won't look like herself for a while, and she won't act like it either. But we need to be there for her okay?"

"I am never going to leave your side, ever. If we're stuck in Florida for a year so she can heal, so be it. Our life is on hold until she is okay."

Opening the door, the nurse talks us through everything she is hooked up to, and answers all the questions we have to ask. Kristie asks many, and although I can answer them myself being a nurse, I let her ask all she needs for peace of mind. As the does that, I take Pia's hand in mine and pull a chair up next to her bed. Looking over all her vitals, I then look down at the little one laying in bed.

Once the nurse exits, I begin talking to her, as does Kristie. We spend an hour telling her random things, before Vlatko pulls us out to eat something. I let the girls all filter in so they can all see her, as well as Vlatko who brought her flowers and a painting he did himself this afternoon. By the end of the night as Kristie and I make our way to her room for the night, there's so many flowers and balloons there's barely enough room for our bed.

As I sit next to Pia, playing with her hair, Kristie sets up our bed for the night. She changes into comfy clothes and helps me into mine before pulling me down onto our makeshift bed for the next several days.

"How are you?" I ask Kristie as I place a kiss on her neck before closing my eyes and snuggling into her side.

"Surprisingly I'm alright. I know with you by her side she will be okay, and she's got so much support. It's not going to be anything like it was when she was little, you know that right? She has so many people here for her."

"I know," I say looking up to her with tears in my eyes. "Thank you."

I fall asleep that night knowing tomorrow is the start of something brand new, and it would be a hard road ahead of us.