Shine a light| Fletchers fanfiction

~11~

Gi's POV
'Good morning Eden.' I silently whispered whilst shaking the newest member of our family awake. It was currently 5:45 in the morning, not usually the time we woke up but we had to be at the hospital by 7 and we never know how bad the traffic might be.
'Morning.' The ten year old gulped from under her covers. I could sense the nerves radiating off her and she slowly stepped out of bed and made her way over to her little bathroom and I made my way downstairs to where Tom was up already, having a coffee in my office.
'What a surprise? Coffee in the morning.' I smiled at my husband who had somehow miraculously gotten changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt whereas I was still in my pyjamas. His hair was still a fluffy ball on his head as he obviously hadn't put any product in it yet and his glasses just sat lightly on the bridge of his nose. I've no idea how he's managed to make himself look so effortlessly cool in such a short amount of time and at such an early time in the morning. Honestly sometimes men really can surprise you!
'It's not even 6am yet and I'm gonna have to drive soon.' Tom smirked. 'I'm gonna need it.'
'It's gonna be a long day!'
Just as I commented we could hear the sound of clinking crutches then soon enough Eden came into my office, still dressed in her pyjamas with her dressing gown tied tightly around her waist. She looked so anxious.
'Are you ok sweetie?' I asked. Giving her a hug whilst Tom downed the rest of his coffee and most likely scolding his throat and mouth at the same time. Who needs a throat anyway!
'Yeah.' She replied in almost a whisper. 'It's either now or never. Quite literally!'
'Right. I just need to get dressed then we will be on the road!' I quickly ran up the stairs and threw on a pair of leggings and a shirt dress, trying to be as quiet as possible to not wake up Buzz and Buddy. I'm jut a few minutes I managed to get fully ready and throw my hair up into a loose messy bun before running back down stairs with my boots in my hand. I'm greeted at the door by Tom and Eden and just as I was throwing my coat on Debbie arrived to look after Buzz and Buddy. We swapped a quick hello and goodbye whilst she wished us luck and we quickly made it into the car, both Tom and I fully dressed but looking a little worse for wear whilst Eden sat in the back still in her Disney pyjamas.
The journey to the hospital didn't take very long and the usual trip that takes 40 minutes only lasted 25 as we sped down the silent motorway. The road that is usually chocker block with cars was so eerie silent that it was almost drilling a further sense of fear into the car. We are all worried about today. All of us. None of us have said anything but it is evident from the atmosphere around us three that we are all worried. None of the kids have ever been in hospital for something like this, Buzz was in hospital for around a week as a newborn but then we seemed to know that everything will be alright. Now it's like we are driving a poor child into the arms of unbearable pain that we can't get rid of.
Once at the hospital both Eden and I made a swift exit from the car so Tom could get off to his meeting. I kissed Tom goodbye and he sealed the parting with a quick 'good luck' and thumbs up sign to Eden, who seemed to be growing paler and paler by the minute as we slowly began to walk into the hospital.
'How can I help you?' A tired looking woman asked at the desk as we walked up to the correct children's ward after following the signs which were very confusing and complicated. One minute we seemed to be following a blue line to the ward, when suddenly we had to follow green, then red, very confusing in my opinion!
'Hi, we are booked in for an operation today.' I smiled back at the woman who seemed to be visibly exhausted, whilst placing my arm lightly around Eden's shoulders. She hadn't really spoken today and it's beginning to become worrying. I know she's nervous but having a child which you know doesn't want to be in that situation is hard and it's almost impossible for you to comfort them and relieve some of the stress placed on their shoulders.
'Under what name?' The lady asked as she began typing into the computer in front of her.
'Eden Homes.' I smiled. Although we are getting Eden's surname changed we  haven't gotten round to it yet. It seems so strange calling her by her last name though, I've been so used to saying Fletcher at the end of names now that it seems strange to be stating any other surname.
'Ah yes here we are.' The woman started as she clicked onto something on her computer. 'So you are in room 14 which is just down the corridor here on the left. A doctor will be in to see you soon.'
Eden and I began to walk down the very small corridor and then opened the door to room '14' to find a simple hospital bed along with two, blue plastic chairs, one on either side of the bed. I quickly sat down in one of the plastic chairs whilst Eden sat down on the bed, looking rather sorry for herself.
'Gi, can I ask you something?' Eden suddenly broke the silence. It slightly shocked me but made me feel relieved that at least she willing to talk, even if it was just to put her mind at ease.
'Sure.' I smiled. 'Fire away.'
'How did you and Tom meet?' She gave her signature nervous smile, I couldn't help but smile back after thinking about how Tom and I met all those years ago. It honestly feels like only yesterday that we met but in reality it was 17 years ago!
'Well,' I started. 'Me and Tom met at school.'
'Is that it? There must be something more to it.'
'We were both 13. My surname back then was Falcone, and in assembly we had to sit in alphabetical order so Tom and ended up sitting next to each other because of him being Fletcher and we kinda just hit off from then really.'
'Were you together all the way through school then?'
I couldn't help but smile at all these questions that were suddenly being fired at me from out of nowhere. It feels like forever since I last told the story of how Tom and I met so it's nice to re-live it so to speak again.
'Not really, Tom being the flirt he was back then, he was always flirting with me but he had all these other girlfriends through school. Then, when we were eighteen we got together here we are now;married, three kids, two cats and two successful careers.'
'That's a really interesting story!'
We spent the next few minutes speaking about nothing too in particular and about the school which Eden would be joining when the autumn term starts in a few days time, then before we knew it we had the doctor in talking us through the procedure and Eden was being wheeled down the theatre.
I couldn't help but feel hopeless as the doctors began to jab several different needles into her arms for multiple different reasons and it was heartbreaking seeing the fear in her eyes as they spent so long prepping for theatre before actually putting the ten year old to sleep. It was obvious to anyone that Eden was scared to the bone of what was going to happen to her but she stayed strong and didn't complain or whimper once, even as the doctors were struggling to place different wires into her arms she didn't batter an eyelid or complain. It's something quite admirable.
As strange as it felt walking down to theatre, it felt even stranger to walk back without a child. As I was walking back, along with a nurse who seemed to be adamant about telling me that 'the op could take several hours' and 'your daughter will be ok, it's a very straight forwards procedure', I quickly messaged Tom to tell him that Eden was now in surgery before texting Debbie to ask how Buzz and Buddy are. It's nothing but relief that flushes through me as Debbie replies letting me know that both boys are fine and just as I get back into the small hospital room Tom messages wishing his love and letting me know that he would be jointing me at lunch time. Once back in the small room I instinctively wipe out my laptop from my bag and begin to tap away at the keyboard, emerging myself in the world of a fictional character in the hopes that it would take away some of the guilt and worry that I have now.
-
'Heya,' Tom smiles as he walks into the little hospital room, his bag thrown lightly over his shoulder whilst holding two takeaway cups of coffee. As he puts his bag down he offers me one of the cups before sitting down on the plastic chair opposite me. Eden's crutches were still placed lightly in the corner of the room and somehow it gave a sense of relief that she will be up and going before we know it.
'Good rehearsal and meeting?' I reply before taking a sip of my coffee, not realising how hot the contents of the cup really would be and scolding my mouth in the process.
'Yeah,' Tom replied, getting his phone out of his pocket. 'How long have you been in here for?'
'Three hours almost now.' I breathed out slowly as I realised how long I really had been in this room alone, whilst also worrying at the lack of work I had done and hoping that my editor would understand the worry that I can't seem to write through. 'And the boys are ok. Buzz apparently went off to nursery upset that he hadn't got to see us this morning and Buddy couldn't be happier.'
'Aww bless them.' Tom smiled slightly whilst still engrossed with whatever he was doing on his phone, presumably scrolling twitter or Instagram.  'Any idea how much longer we're gonna be here for?'
'I have as much idea as you have. Won't be much longer though I presume.'
Just as I finished my sentence a nurse came through to let us know that Eden was out of surgery and would be coming back. I could feel a wave of relief wash over me and I could see Tom visibly relax as the words cascaded around the room, then before we knew it we had our daughter back with us.
-
As we walked out of the hospital I could feel a sense of accomplishment that we have gotten through one milestone in life and I felt so proud of Eden for getting through something as hard as having to walk into the unknown. Rather then getting a wheelchair to transport the injured party back to the car, Tom decided to carry her whilst I carried all the bags, along with Eden's crutches. It's quite surreal to be walking out of a hospital with a ill 10 year old. When Tom and I walked out of hospital last time, we were carrying a newborn who was strapped into a car seat, now Tom is carrying a 10 year old with a leg covered in plaster cast who still seemed to be fairly out of it due to the amount of pain killers she's on.
-
'And we are home!' Tom announced as he carried Eden into the house, before placing her on the sofa in the lounge and being bombarded with hugs from Buzz. I quickly followed suit whilst carrying several bags and a pair of crutches. Once we were finally home, after getting caught in rush hour, it was 17:45, meaning we had been out of the house for almost 12 hours!
'Hello mumma'' Buzz leapt onto me as soon as I placed down all the bags and made it into the lounge, to find Eden on the sofa with her leg propped up and Debbie in the corner, giving Buddy a bottle.
'Did everything go well then?' Debbie smiled as Buzz quickly jumped from me and went to see his sister, who was trying to stay awake whilst also trying to ignore the pain which we were warned she probably would be in.
'Yup. I am officially part robot.' Eden smiled lightly whilst giving Buzz a tight hug. I couldn't help but laugh at her humour, even Buzz seemed to find it funny, although I could see the slight sadness in his eyes as he saw that the leg, which was once covered by a bright red cast, had now been replaced with a blue one.
'Five screws is quite an achievement!' Tom laughed from the kitchen, earning a slight gasp from his mum.
'Five!?' Debbie repeated, bouncing Buddy up and down slightly as she burped him.
'Yep, five.' I confirmed before Buddy was placed straight into my arms and Debbie made a swift goodbye.
'Right then.' I stated, passing over Buddy to Eden. 'Shall we make some dinner?'
As I walked out of the lounge I could hear Eden putting Buzz's mind at ready and telling him that, although she no longer had her 'lightning McQueen leg' she now has 'dynaco'. My mouth curled into a smile as I could sense just how much Buzz would love that one of his favourite Disney movies was still being considered whilst Eden as in hospital. It was also really thoughtful to tell Buzz that it was now coloured after his second hero, I could hear Buzz laughing at this new piece of information he had discovered.
-
Once dinner was ready I came to get the kids, only to find that both Buddy and Eden had asleep, both of them hugging as they slept peacefully on the sofa. I quickly went to get Tom before grabbing a photo on my phone of the two of them.
'Bless!' Tom mouthed, as he also captured this sweet moment before carefully picking Buddy up without waking him up. 'I'll go and put this one down.'

Tom's POV
After putting Buddy down for the night I returned downstairs to find Eden still asleep on the sofa. It's not surprising how tired she is baring in mind that she had been under anasthetic for several hours then topped up with several lots of pain killers to keep her comfortable, if I was in that position I think I would be out cold for weeks!
'Shall I got put E down too?' I looked over at Gi as she took a bite out of the toast she had made. I knew that neither of my girls have really eaten today so I was kinda hesitant to put Eden straight to sleep on an empty stomach.
'Yeah, I think she'll be best comfortable there.' Gi replied, nodding her head lightly whilst Buzz ran wildly around her legs, obviously hyper from sugar, or just being typical Buzz before bedtime!
'Come on then you, let's get you to bed,' I whispered, as I slowly picked up the ten year old, trying to be as careful as possible so that I didn't wake her up. Once I was certain that I hadn't woken up my new daughter I carried her up the stairs and into her room, softly laying her down in her bed and tucking her into bed lightly, before lightly kissing her forehead. 'Night night, robot girl.'