Together (Sequel of 'Broken Hearts')

Chapter 40: Ante

I sat down, feeling like the ground crumbled under my feet. With eyes full of unlashed tears, I looked over to Nazar. His eyes were closed and one of his hands held his head. I slowly got up and went next to him before hugging him.

"I'm going to call Imogen and ask her to cancel the meetings I have for this afternoon. We need to go back to the doctor."

"Y-You can't cancel on them all at the last minute like that..." He said in a slightly shaky voice.

"You're more important. We need to know what the next step is." I whispered as I passed a hand through his hair.

He simply nodded without answering. I did my best to keep the tears at bay; I needed to be strong for him.

"I'm going to get ready." He said a minute later, getting up and breaking the embrace.

I watched him leave the kitchen, the shoulders slumped. My heart was beating painfully against my chest and I took a few deep breaths, trying not to break down. I sent a quick message to Imogen to explain the situation before washing the dishes rapidly. Once this was done, I called a taxi and we waited in silence for it to arrive. We were both lost into our thoughts but, without any doubt, we were thinking about the same thing.

The trip to the doctor's office was quick and we sat in the waiting room. The wait was kinda long as we didn't have an appointment scheduled but the doctor was nice enough to take us between two patients.

"Thank you for receiving us so quickly." I said once we were sitting in his office.

He nodded before immediately diving into the topic. "So, the brain tumor is confirmed. The good news is that we caught it quickly. Now, we need to do a biopsy to get a sample and know what type of tumor it is and how it's classified based on the WHO tumor classification. It will also allow us to see if there are signs of rapid growth in the tumor cells and what is its grade." He explained before adding. "I will schedule an appointment to get the biopsy done as soon as possible."

"What are the survival rates?" Nazar asked out of the blue.

The doctor looked up from his computer to look at him. "We need to wait for the results of the biopsy before knowing this. But, from what we can see on the MRI, it should be possible to operate and try to remove it."

I nodded, listening to them talk. I was doing my best not to break down and hearing Nazar ask such a bold question, brought me back to the reality even more. I couldn't imagine Nazar dying. It was out of question. The biopsy needed to come back with some good news. After all these negative results, we needed at least something positive. 

When we left the doctor's office, I couldn't help but ask. "What are the survival rates? Really?"

"I need to prepare myself to all possibilities." He said softly as we walked in the direction of Ethan's school.

"Isn't it a bit early? We don't even know if it's cancerous yet!"

"Care to remind me the way my father died?"

"I- It's not the same and you know it!" I exclaimed, hating the way my voice cracked toward the end.

"Not the same but he still died of cancer. I just don't want to get my hopes up..." He whispered, tears forming in his eyes.

I stopped myself, knowing arguying about it wouldn't change anything. We needed to wait for the result of the biopsy. Until then, I needed to keep calm and support Nazar the best I could. I couldn't imagine how scary things must be for him right now. We stopped in front of Ethan's school and waited for him to come out. The doctor was able to schedule an appointment for Friday which was great as it wasn't too far away and the results would come early next week. But, on the other hand, it still felt so far away. Between this and the meeting with Mr. Collins, Friday would be full of emotions.

I smiled slightly when I saw Ethan comes out of the gates, his eyes lighting up as he saw us. He ran toward us as he exclaimed. "You came with Nazar!!"

"How was school?" Nazar asked with a smile. It was easy to see it wasn't a true smile but I knew he was doing his best not to worry Ethan.

"It was fun." He replied as I took the bag from his hands, putting it on my shoulder.

We walked back home listening to Ethan tell us how his day was. I let go of Nazar once we entered the home and I handed back Ethan his bag. I watched him go upstairs to put it away and turned toward Nazar. "You're sure you're alright?"

"Nothing changed between yesterday and today. Same pain, same feelings." He whispered before adding. "In less than a week we will be fixed so let's just enjoy these moments as much as possible, alright?"

I nodded slowly, feeling hopeless. I took him in my arms, hugging him strongly and he returned my embrace a few seconds later. Feeling his heart beat against mine was reassuring but my thoughts kept going in dark directions. He was my whole world; I couldn't lose him...

♂+♂=♥

On Friday, I got up after a restless night and put some clothes on before going downstairs to prepare breakfast. Ethan joined me a while after, ready to go to school. I served him some pancakes and went upstairs to check on Nazar. I smiled slightly when I saw he was awake and getting dressed. I waited until he was done before walking closer to kiss him. "Ready?"

"I guess so." 

I nodded, knowing he was nervous even if he tried to hide it. These past few days had been busy. There had been lots of paperwork to fill and lots of different tests were done to clear him for surgery. Thankfully, he already had blood work done so it mainly was a chest x-ray and an electrocardiogram. Fiducials, small markers, were placed on his forehead, behind his ears and on the back of his head to help align the preoperative MRI to the image guidance system.

We went downstairs where Ethan was finishing his plate. I washed the dishes while they were finishing getting ready and we left the house. Firstly, we walked Ethan to school before making our way toward the hospital. He was going to be put under general anesthesia and a small amount of hair was going to be shaved in order to make a small incision. Then,  a small burr hole would be drilled in the skull and the biopsy needle would be passed into the brain and into the tumor. Several small pieces of tissue would be obtained and sent to the pathologist. 

It was crazy to think that the whole thing would only take a couple of hours. But it was nerve wracking. The risks were low but I knew no surgeries were without any risks. While he was asleep, I would take a cab and go meet with Mr. Collins. At first I was supposed to meet him toward the end of the afternoon but I asked to move it forward. I wanted to be there with Nazar once he would wake up.

I accompanied Nazar into his room at the hospital and hugged him one last time. "Let's order sushis once we go back home, alright?" He asked as I stepped away. "I really want sushis right now."

"Sure." I chuckled, not expecting it. "I will see you very soon."

I helped him sit on the bed and walked toward the door, ready to leave when his voice stopped me in my tracks. "Ante?"

I turned around, looking at him curiously. "I love you."

My heart melted at these words, making me teary. "I love you too." 

I looked at him for a minute before turning around, letting the nurse finishing getting him ready for the biopsy. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called a cab to go see Mr. Collins. It was still early in the morning but so many things were happening; I had no idea how today would end...