MagicAnimalClub: Happenings

19: Operation

Davids pov

I woke up. It was the same grey colour I had woken up to the previous morning. I looked beside me, there was Joe. His eyes were closed, his face was slowly healing, but it still looked incredibly bad.
I looked further over to see Beth. She lay peacefully.
"David." It was Joe, I looked over.
"Morning Stamps." I said,
"You collapsed last night- are you alright?" His voice was still croaky, it wasn't any better than yesterday.
"I'm fine, Stamps. How are you?"
"I'll say nothing." He croaked. I almost felt his pain. I looked at his stomach, there were stitches, he had been operated on.
"How'd the operation go?"
"Good, I think." He replied, feeling his stomach with his bandaged finger.

Beth was getting better, apparently. I was told that it was now unlikely that they were going to die, although they were both in intense pain.
"David Spencer?" I looked around in bed,a member of staff walked up to me.
"Hi." I greeted, he was a man, he had short blonde hair and looked like he was in his early twenties.
"Hi, eh, David. I have some water for you, it has some hydration tablets in it, so don't get worried if it tastes different. Are you feeling alright?"
"Yeh, I'm alright, just this cut is getting to me." I pointed at the large wound on the side of my face.
"I'll check it out." He handed me a glass of water, I sipped it, it tasted similar to water, just slightly orange-flavoured.
After a couple of minutes I was asked to lie on my other side while they looked at my wound. I was staring at Joe.
"Having fun?" He chuckled.
I squinted as my wound was touched and poked, "yeh!" I squeaked, seeing Joe laugh made me happy. All I wanted was for him to be happy in life after the war. But it didn't work.
"David?" It was one of the nurses,
"Yeh?"
"We might have to operate on your cut."
It was Joe who replied,
"Is there no other way?"
"Sorry- it's infected, the operation won't be long, about half an hour."
"Yeh alright then." I sighed, I was scared, but it didn't want to show it. I never liked the idea of operations, but to be honest, who does?

They gave me a drug, they told me that after a few minutes I would fall asleep.
I took the drug,
"What does it taste like?"  Joe asked,
"It's pretty, bleh." I said,  I was already beginning to feel weary.
"Bet your gonna fall asleep in five.." My eyes slowly started closing, "four-" they were shut, "three, two.."

Joes POV

I laughed as David fell asleep exactly on time. But now it was the fear of him not wakening up.
I thought to myself, why worry? Beth woke up after her back injury, why won't he?
But my thoughts just tensed, and my worries blazed in my mind.
My face felt as if it was ripped off, despite the morphine, I was still in intense pain.
I wanted to roll over to see Beth, but every time I tried my side would hurt, as if I was rolling onto a dagger.
Davids curtains closed, I shivered, was this it?

**********

Davids pov

I woke up. It was dark.
My first instinct was to check if my face was still there.
I touched the side of my face, it hurt, I felt the stitches along my face.
I checked my phone, it was four o'clock in the morning. The operation must have finished hours ago.
"David, Is that you?" It was Joes voice. I pulled back part of my curtain. I saw him lying on his bed. Beth's bed had been pulled beside Joes, she must have woken up.
"You okay?" He asked me,
"Yeh.. Yeh.." I sighed,
"You sure, I.. I-" he got out of bed and hugged me, I was confused, yet comforted. I hugged him back, carefully putting my arms round his back. "Stamps.." I was shocked he could walk.
"You alright, mate?" I asked, He sat down on his bed, he put his hands over his eyes.

----FOURTEEN HOURS EARLIER----
Joes POV

David had been asleep for hours, people were working at him. I saw silhouettes of men and women with machines and utensils and I heard their voices.
"What- but- No! Claire don't that's his- Claire get out of my sight!" I saw a woman emerge from the curtains and run into the female toilets.
"She- oh god get some tissue that's a lot of blood- okay come on see what we can do here, Jack I need.."
I was frightened. Something had gone wrong, I saw Nicole enter the corridor. She ran to the curtain.
"Nicole." I said, trying to catch her attention.
"Joe- what's going on?" She asked,
"He's being operated on." I said. She put her hands over her mouth and sat down beside me.
"And.. And how are you? You feeling any better?" She asked me,
"Bit better, thanks. Where are the kids?"
"They are downstairs in that big ball pit, staff said I could leave them there for an hour or so."
Nicole flicked her hair away from her face, her eyeliner was smudging slightly. I didn't know how to comfort her.
A man came in to make us feel worse.
"Hi, you know David Spencer, right?" He said, we nodded.
"There are a few issues.. His brain has been damaged slightly so.. So we are going to have to do another operation on the brain to prevent brain damage or further injury."
Nicole rested her head in her hands, I put my arm around her back, I nodded to the man signalling him to go.
"He's gonna die." Nicole cried. Maybe she has the same fear as me. I hugged her, allowing her to cry on my shoulder.
It was a while later when Nicole had to collect her children.
I eavesdropped on the operation,
"..what else can we do?" "..I don't think he'll make it.. " "go on we have to try-"
"no, we've done enough." "Doctor Drake, I'm not having it. He's got two young kids-" "well so have I!" "And how would you like it if you had to die the first day you met them?" "Well I don't...okay! Come on then.. Back to work." "Good."
I shivered. I didn't want David to die. I had witnessed enough deaths to last a lifetime. I had had enough.
"Joe?" I heard Beth's voice, I turned over, I reached my arms out and pulled her bed towards mine.
"Joe are you alright?" My heart was warmed, my fear was being diluted.
"I'm more than alright now."
I put one hand on her bed and the other hand on the side of her face and kissed her, it was short. She looked into my eyes before putting her hands on my face and kissing me again as my eyes watered more and more. I was so overwhelmed with emotions.
"I.." Her words were muffled between our kisses, "I love.." "You.." She tried to move closer to me, albeit both of us were in significant pain, I just wanted to be with her.
"Are you alright." I asked her, "any pain?"
"I'm fine, Joe. What about you?" She asked,
"Grand." I lied, there was pain, but it was bearable.
A man who was operating David walked over to me, his hands were covered in blood,
"Joseph- um, your friend, he-" my eyes widened, I got out of bed.
"What, is everything alright?" I was scared again, Beth's kisses didn't take me from reality.
The man took one glove off and put his hand on my shoulder.
"Joe. David may not survive this operation."
My heart stopped. My nose and eyes tensed, tears started to form.
"No! No I don't care if.. What's-her-face tampered with his brain just.. It's simple! Oh my god! It's just.. Please!" I charged into Davids cubical but was dragged back.
For a split second I saw him. The side of his face was opened up and bloody.  The curtains closed before my eyes.
Tears shimmered my vision.
Was he going to die?
Not me, not Beth.
David.

A mask was put over my face, they made me lie down onto my bed.
"It's alright. Shh. It's alright.." They soothed. But I was still in panic.
"Lie down, lie down you're alright.."
I looked around, I felt dizzy. David, dying, Beth..
I dropped my head on the pillow with tears in my eyes.
A mask was stuck to my face, I breathed in the weird gas before my vision became blurred and gloomy and I fell fast asleep.