On Tour

Chapter 64- The Final Chapter

8 YEARS LATER

"Nice save today Doc!" I hear someone say over my shoulder, "Thank youuuu." I say, walking over to the disposal. I take off my bloody gown, throwing it away. "Phewww," I exhale deeply, "What a long day," I mutter, walking out of the OR unit. "Nice Job in there," my partner/attending surgeon, Sam, says walking up behind me. "You didn't do too bad yourself," I say back, we walk down the hall, passing scrambling interns, "Why are the interns so physicked?" I ask, "I think their competing for their first assisted solo surgery," "Ahhhh makes sense." I say, softly taking off my surgical cap. "Hey I got a surgery in an hour, want to assist?" He asks, as we turn a hallway. "I'm not too sure, I should probably get home and-" "This guy swallowed 17 knives, call it crazy, or a failed magic act." "Count me in." I say, hitting his arm, as we walk our separate ways. Well I guess I have an hour to eat, I walk down the sterile hallways and into the large cafeteria. Do I want Taco Bell or Subway? Taco Bell, duh. I walk over and thankfully, there's no line, "Hey Cali," I say, greeting her, "Let me guess, Baja Blast, Quesadilla, and a cinnamon twist?" She says, "Either you know me too well or I get the same thing everyday," I say, handing her a twenty, "I'd like to think both," She laughs, "Keep the change," I say and she thanks me, as I sit down on the bench in front of Taco Bell to wait. Everyday I come here, and smell the smell, it vividly reminds me of the very first time we got Taco Bell on the tour bus.
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When we broke from the hug he took my bags and carried them up to the bus. "We have to go pick up Tyler and Jenna before we make our 2 hour journey to the Hotel," Josh says as he sets my bags down on the bus. I shut the door behind us as I say, "Where are they?" "McDonalds," Josh says looking at me seriously and I raise an eyebrow at him, we both start to laugh, "Taco Bell, my bad," he says through our laughs. All of a sudden the bus moves and I fall into him. I feel my face get hot as I try to say something so it'll be less awkward, "yeesh, thanks for catching me I could've died." I say looking up at him. Let's play a game of who's redder, me, or him. He sets me back up, "Ayye no problem." He says with a chuckle. "Here I'll show you where we sleep," he says as I follow him.
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"Lils," I hear my name called and I stand up, "Thanks!" I say, walking away. I pick the same table everyday, it's the one that has the same purple flowers on it that Josh put in my hair the night I found out my 'tumblr friend' was actually him. You know that's crazy to think, that this all started with tumblr. I smell the flowers, "Mmmmm," I mutter, every time I smell them it reminds me of that beautiful memory.
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"Is this it?" The lady pulls over on a curb. "Yep thank you!" I say to her, giving her some money. She gives me a smile and I open the car door. She pulls away, I take a deep breath, and start walking down the trail. It's kind of spooky and the trail gets darker the more I walk. I consider leaving until I see a glow in the distance. I keep waking until I see a gazebo with white Christmas lights on the inside, and purple flowers all around, and vines. I walk into the gazebo and smile at its beauty, I pick a flower off the vines and smell it. "Hey there familiar face." I heard a deep voice from behind me. I jump from the voice but turn around to see.... Josh? "Josh!" I say, running over to him to give him a hug. He gives me a hug back and chuckles, "You did great tonight!" I say and he shrugs, "Nah." Wait I'm suppose to meeting someone here, I mean like meeting Josh here is amazing but still, "I'm suppose to be meeting someone here." I say and he steps back, he flattens out his shirt and says, "I'm that someone." I'm confused, if he's that someone than...., "Woah," is all I can get out. He frowns and says, "is that a problem?" No it's definitely not a problem! I've been talking to Josh Dun for so long it's crazy! But wow. How could I have been so blind. Lily, you didn't know. Wait... This is crazy! I-I, "It is a problem?" He says biting his lip, I put a hand on his arm and my eyes grow wide at how much muscle he has, this is all too much! "No! No. It's definitely not a problem. It's just crazy!" I say, I feel my cheeks get hot, mentally face palming. He puts his hand on my arm making me blush more, God d*m-"Crazy in a good way, or bad?" He questions. I look up to him seeing him red as well, "Good." I smile. I look at the flowers, "Beautiful flowers," I say, looking at the vibrant flowers. He picks one off, making a small snap noise, he then tucks behind my ear, into my hair. "Beautiful like you," he says, making me blush even more.
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I take the last bite of my quesadilla and crumble up the paper, stuffing it into my empty cinnamon twists. I stand up, and on my way to the trash can, I take the last few sips of my Baja Blast. I throw everything away, and take my small hand-sanitizer out of my scrubs and dispense some onto my hands. I rub my hands together, as I walk down the halls of patient rooms. I wander my way into the ER, hoping I can get myself onto another small case before surgery. I look around the large room, and see a young adult, huddled in the corner, crying alone. I look towards the ambulance entrance to make sure there's no incoming, then I walk over to the girl. I crouch down beside her, softly rubbing her shoulder. "Hi dear, my names Lily, what's wrong?" I say softly to her, she looks up, her face drenched in tears. I pull out a tissue from my scrub pocket, and calmingly wipe her face. "M-my friends and I, we were in a Taxi and the d-driver wasn't paying attention to the road and drove us off a cliff. A-and I can't find any of my friends, and I can't get ahold of my boyfriend, we were on our way to him and now he's alone at the w-water park." She says shakily through her sobs. She goes back to crying and I talk softly, "Almost the same thing happened to me about nine years back. We were in an Uber and on our way..."
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We all look at each other in the back seat, obviously all freaked out by this guy. I don't know, he seems intoxicated or on drugs. I just can't wait for this ride to end, especially because Josh is waiting at the sky diving lounge for us. I've never been skydiving, it sounds fun but I'm really nervous about falling, well not falling, but falling out of the harness and- "You know when I was you kids age," the uber driver starts groggily, he then turns completely back looking at us. The uber driver starts mumbling random stuff to us but I'm not focused on that I'm focused on the car about to hit a wall and go over a Clift. "THE ROAD!!!!" I scream but it's too late. The uber driver turns around and starts cussing. Jenna screeches Tyler's name with pure terror and sadness. The car breaks through the wall to the bridge and the car starts plummeting thousands, and thousands of feet.
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"... And everything turned out fine." I finish, telling my story to her. She seems to have calmed a bit, and I help her stand up. Together, we walk towards a private family room. I let her sit and I grab her a water. "Here, I'll make sure to tell the doctors where you are so they can let you know what's going on. Just relax, and drink some water. Here's the remote to the TV, in case you'd like to watch anything." I say to her, standing up. "Thank you," she says, I wish someone would have done this for me when I was in the crash. I smile and leave the room. I look down at my watch, "2:50!" I mutter, I have ten minutes. I quicken my pace to a run, and carefully run my way through the halls. I past the OR unit and into he scrub room of OR #2, "Thought you weren't gonna make it," Sam says, finishing scrubbing. "Me either," I say, heavily breathing. I take off my jewelry, setting it on top of the large sink. I set the timer for five minutes, and begin to sterilize my hands and arms. My wedding ring glimmers in the light, even after ten years it's still found a way to glow bright.
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"You go first." I say smiling. He slowly unravels the velvet bag and pulls out a tag that says, "Josh <3," on it. He smiles and pulls out a small black box. He pops it open and pulls out the rose gold chain I bought him. He swiftly runs it through his fingers until he reaches the silver heart charm on it that has, "J + L" engraved on it. "Awe Lils!" He says, looking at me with loving, warm eyes, "I love it! Come put it on me!" He says handing it over to me as I hop off the bed. I wrap it around his neck and clip is on, "Hope you like it." I say walking back to my spot on the bed. He looks down at it, grasping the charm, "Like it? I love it! It's your turn now!" He says excitedly putting one of his hands in the pocket of his shorts and the other on his phone that has the new phone case I bought him already on it. I smile like he did, rubbing my small hands on the velvet of the bag. I pull out a small card that says "Lils <3" on it, I love that nickname he chose for me. I giggle and pull out the small black box. I inhale deeply and pop it open to find, "Empty?" I say my stomach drops thinking that whatever expensive item he bought for me is already lost. Josh stands up and gives me a daring look. He pulls out a rose gold, diamond ring from his pocket, "This?" He says raising an eyebrow. He gets down on one knee, "Oh my god." I say, my grin becoming wider and my heart rate rises, "Lillian Gilchorn," he says taking my hand in his strong hand, "We've been through thick and thin, and we've recovered from everything. This makes me think that whatever we go through in life we can get through it together. Your smart, gorgeous, an amazing cook, light up any room you walk into, hilarious, have the most contagious smile, and are a person I want to spend the rest of my living days with. So, Lillian, will you be my wife and marry me?"
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"You ready?" I hear Sam yell from within the operating room. I turn off the sink, and wipe my hands off, I walk through the door and a few OR nurses come and gown me and glove me. "Alright everybody, let's get started shall we." I say, walking over to the left side of the body.
        "That was insane," Sam says, taking off his bloody gown and gloves, "I don't think we'll ever see that again," I say, taking off mine as well. "I'm exhausted, luckily I get to go home to my husband and daughter and a home cooked meal, what are you doing after work?" I say, as we walk down the hall, leaving the OR unit. "Well, me and Alex get to meet our surrogate mother today," he says happily, I squeal and say, "Good for you guys!" "I'm overly excited!" He says happily, I smile and say, "I can only imagine. Well then, you better get going, see you tomorrow Sam!" I say, as we start walking down separate hallways, "See ya!" He yells back. Good for them, they've been looking for a surrogate for forever! I tighten my pony tail, and walk by the neo-natal unit. I look in the window, I come here before leaving everyday. Just to see if there's any families that look to distressed I can come in and help. I love seeing all the babies because it reminds me of the first time I ever saw Amara.
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So she will be ok?" Josh adds in, squeezing my hand a bit tight, "We can't promise anything but like I said, we are highly optimistic that she will suffer no complications and will be heathy." He says, "When can we see her?" I spit out, he smiles at me and says, "As soon as your husband rolls you to the 3rd floor." He grabs a wheelchair from the closet and opens it. I don't understand how he can be cracking jokes when all I am is worried sick. I guess maybe it's becuase he deals with cases like this everyday but still, my stomach is in knots. Josh and the man help me in the wheel chair, and I groan many times, it feels like I've been hit by a bus. The man leads us to the neo natal unit, and the whole time we wheel there, me and Josh are quiet, sick with worry. "This way," he says leading us into the room that has many small babies hooked up to various machines, I smile to the parents that stand next to the babies, they all have the same worry face on that Josh does, they all also look run down and tired. "Here she is, weighing at one pound on the dot." He says motioning to a small baby, about the size of my hand. My eyes start to water, "Hi baby," I say whispering, rubbing her small, soft, innocent cheek with my index finger. She's so small, "What are all these-these things attached to her?" I say, my eyes never leave her small little body. "The tubes you see in her mouth are helping her lungs open up, they are also providing her oxygen and supplements. The blue wire on her left side is monitoring her internal growth. The other wires and stickers you see on her are monitoring her vitals, and the iv in her arm is to keep her sedated so she doesn't try to pull anything out. The sedative will only be used for today, she's gone through a major trauma and after today she will just sleep until she's ready to be taken off some of these machines." He ends, Josh comes over, putting one of his arms around me, and one rubbing her leg, "She's beautiful," he says, his eyes are watering like mine and I smile at him. "She is," I say looking at him, "She really, really is," I say looking back down at her.
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My eyes become heavy, and I know it's about time I got home anyway. I sigh in exhaustion, and slowly start walking my way out of the hospital. The afternoon air is perfect, almost as perfect as the night we brought Amara home. I breath in the fresh air, being stuck in a sterile environment all day, almost makes you forget about the feel and smell of fresh air, almost.
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Do we need to check out?" I ask, he shakes his head at me and warmly smiles. I take a sigh of relief and my smile widens. "Thank you." I say genuinely before we start walking towards the doors. This is it, once I leave this hospital, my life with Amara and Josh as a family, finally, begins. I start quickening my pace towards the door and so does Josh. We must be thinking the exact same thing. The first set of automatic doors open and then are followed with the other. We reach outside, the soft breeze of summer brushing my skin. We stop, and I shut my eyes, freedom. My smile becomes infinite and I let all my feelings flow. I open my eyes and look over at Josh, his eyes are closed too, but almost simultaneously he opens them, looking over at me. "We did it." He says smiling, "We did it!" I yell and we drop everything, Josh gently sets Amara down, and we embrace each other laughing uncontrollably, I start snorting. This, this feeling, this is something I want to hold onto forever, and ever.
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I get into my car, and luckily our house is only a few minutes away from the hospital. I pull in our drive way, and shut off my car. I throw my head back, exhausted after working a forty-eight hour shift. I haven't worked a shift that long in a while. I rub my eyes and yawn, I get out of the car, shutting the door behind me. I walk up our walkway and up to the door, I grab my keys from my lanyard and unlock the door. I walk in the house, the delicious smell of baked chicken flourishing my nose. I close the door behind me and yawn again. "Mommy!" I hear Amara's small voice yell, she runs towards me and Squeezes me tightly, "Hey pumpkin, how was your day?" I say, hugging her small body. I crouch down to her level and put some of her blond hair behind her ear, "Daddy took me to Toy's R Us and bought me a new Lego set! Then we got ice cream," she says, licking her lips, "Sounds like you a had busy day!" I say, pecking her on the cheek, standing up. I hang up my coat on the hanger and then walk into the lit up kitchen, "Hey babe, how was work?" Josh says, laying out plates on the table. It sure does feel good to be home. "Long, glad to be home," I say, exhaustingly plopping myself down on a chair. "You must be tired," he says, handing me an ice cold coke. I pop it open, "You've got no idea." I say, slurping down my refreshing coke. He sets down the steaming baked chicken on the table, and then calls Amara in for dinner. She runs into the kitchen, smiling and innocent. Josh, gives her a water, and she pops it open. Josh sits next to me, kissing my forehead. "Thank you for dinner love," I say to him, grabbing for the chicken. Amara grabs it first and laughs, "Yes, thank you dad!" She says, grateful. As crazy as my life has been, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I have my handsome husband sitting next to me, and my beautiful, happy daughter sitting across from me. I never thought my life would be this way, hell, I never thought I'd end up happy. But as insane as it is, I guess you could say everything worked out fine, and now we all live as one big family, happily ever after.

.....or so we thought