"Mike?"
Mike jumped at the voice, waking up from a well needed nap. He sat up and realized who the voice had come from and felt tears fill his eyes.
"Hey" he cooed softly, rubbing her hand softly with his thumb.
"Where am I? Why are there wires everywhere?" Carrie started to breathe heavily, noticing the many wires and machines she was attached too.
"You're at the hospital. You're okay, don't get yourself worked up. It's okay. You had surgery this morning." Mike spoke softly, rubbing her arm gently to try and calm her down. He tried to keep himself calm and put together even though all he wanted to do was cry tears of joy that she was awake. Dr. Montgomery had told him she wouldn't remember much when she woke up and that she'd probably be frightened and freaked out.
"What surgery?"
"You had a brain tumor that they had to remove. We didn't think you were going to make it."
"Oh." She mumbled, still looking around the room confused as she tried to figure everything out.
"How do you feel?" Mike rubbed her arm softly.
"My head really hurts."
"Yeah, I'm sure. It's probably going to hurt for a while. Let me call the nurse and see if she can get you some pain killers to help." Mike pressed the call button on the side of her bed.
Carrie started shivering so Mike pulled the blanket at the end of her bed up over her.
"Hi Carrie, it's nice to see you're finally awake." A red headed nurse named Emily entered the room with a smile. Carrie tried to smile back. "How do you feel?"
"Not too good." Carrie said groggily. "My head hurts."
"I'll get some pain medicine pumping into your IV and it should kick in quickly. Right now sleep is the best thing. You're brain is trying to function again, that's why you feel so groggy and out of it. It's going to take a while to remember everything. Just sleep some and let your brain rest. Dr. Montgomery will come by in a little bit to check in." The nurse checked all the monitors Carrie was hooked up too, checked her vitals, and inserted some medicine into her IV pump.
"Thank you." Mike smiled.
"Why don't you try and get some sleep Care, it's okay." Mike leaned forward and carefully kissed Carrie's cheek. Carrie nodded, letting her eyes flutter shut.
Carrie was sound asleep within seconds. She looked so pitiful. Her whole head was wrapped in a big white bandage and wires and patches were all over her head. She looked pale and thin.
Mike scooted up close to her bed, held her hand in his, and cried over her, thanking God for giving them a miracle.
Today had hands down been the hardest day of his entire life. He'd said goodbye to the one person he loved more than anyone else in the world. He'd left her alone in a hospital room to die. He'd sat in a hard waiting room chair for hours upon hours waiting for news, thinking his wife was dying. He'd watched her doctor walk through the swinging doors and awaited the dreaded words.
Mike awoke from the sound of a the door shutting. He looked up and saw Dr. Montgomery and instantly his entire body froze up.
This was it. He was about to hear the words he'd been waiting to hear all day.
I'm so sorry. She didn't make it.
Mike stood up as she reached him with what looked to be a smile on her face.
"It was successful." She beamed. "I got the entire tumor out."
Mike's hand went to his mouth and he felt his body give out as happy tears started streaming down his face.
"Oh my god." Mike almost fell to the floor, but caught himself. He couldn't control his emotions.
"She's stable and healthy. We're just waiting for her to wake up now." Dr. Montgomery said, still smiling widely.
"Thank you thank you thank you." Mike hugged her as he cried. "Thank you so much."
Dr. Montgomery hugged him back and tried to keep herself from crying as well. "She was a fighter Mike, she really was. She wouldn't let go."
"Oh my goodness, I can't believe this." Mike panted, shaking his head in shock.
"Want to see her?"
Mike nodded frantically, wiping the tears off his face and getting himself under control.
"She could wake up in a couple hours or a couple days, we never know with brain surgery. But I'm very confident she's going to wake up and she's going to have a full recovery." Dr. Montgomery led Mike through the doors and down a long hallway to her room.
"Thank you so much. I don't know how we can ever repay you. You saved her life."
"I'm happy that I was able too. You've got a good one on your hands." Dr. Montgomery smiled. "I'll leave you to it. Just let us know when she's awake. A nurse will be coming in to check on her often."
She turned to walk away and Mike took a deep breath and entered his wife's room.
The surgery was successful. She was tumor free. She was going to be okay.
It wasn't her time yet.
This wasn't it.
