Wish You Were Here

Chapter 20-22

Chapter 20

Miles looked at me, holding my hand, looking scared but talking calmly.
"This is it, baby. This is what we've been waiting for for a long time. Your finally going to get a new heart. I love you. Don't be scared."
I squeezed his hand. "I'm not. This is what we've been waiting for."
Doctor Crawford and a group of surgeons and nurses were standing around me, on a white hospital bed. I was about to have my heart transplant.
"I love you. I will see you as soon as possible."
I took the bipap off of my face, earning a round of "NO"'s from the doctors. But I didn't care. I pulled Miles toward me until his lips were on mine, never wanting to part. But soon, I needed to breathe, so I pulled away and put my mask back on.
"I love you too." MIles said as I was wheeled out of the room, and into the hall, slowly drifting into a painless sleep.
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As I watched Atticus being wheeled into the hall, I couldn't help but wonder if I would ever see him again. I had seen somebody go into intense surgery before, and they didn't come out.
I didn't want that to happen again.
I looked down the hallway. Atticus was nowhere to be seen. I stepped out and went down the gift shop.
As I walked in, I was hit by the smell of flowers. I walked over to the counter, looking up and down at a guy in a tight black shirt with various piercings.
"Flowers?" He asked in a deep, hoarse voice.
"Um, yes." I said, feeling intimidated.
"What kind?"
"Roses. Blue ones." I said, remembering Atticus telling me about Riley's flowers.
"And who are these for?"
"Atticus. Atticus Matthews."
"And from?"
"Miles Hart."
He wrote the names on the tag and handed the flowers to me. I paid for them, and a clear vase, then hurried out of the shop, hoping not to face him again.
I stopped at the water fountain to fill the vase with water. When it had enough in it, I placed the flowers inside. I finally headed back to the hospital room where we were staying and put the flowers next to the bed.
I went back out of the room just in time to see Caroline wheeling a red cart towards the operation ward. I caught a glimpse of the names "Daisy" and "Atticus". I safely assumed it contained Daisy's heart.
Walking through the waiting room to get outside, my prosthetic making noises with every step, I saw something strange. Among the various people waiting to be seen in the emergency room, I saw...
"Mom?"
She looked at me, her blue eyes staring into mine.
"Hi Miles!" She said, smiling. She looked fine, and to my knowledge had no health problems.
She stood and hugged me, her curly brown hair bouncing as she pulled away.
"I just wanted to see you. How's Atticus?"
I let out a sigh of relief and smiled at her. "I thought you were sick!"
"No, not at all! I just hadn't seen you in months, except when you were moving your stuff. School is out for winter break too. I have bad news though."
"I know, I'm going to have to repeat my senior year because I was out for the entire first half."
"Yes. Atticus probably will too."
"Well, you have to remember, you planned on dropping out for the army."
"Well now I can't do that."
"What I think should happen is you should drop for the rest of the year. Same for Atticus. Then, next year, both of you sign up for a new school and restart your senior year."
"That sounds like a great idea. Thanks Mom."
I hugged her again, taking in the scent of her signature rose perfume.
"Why don't we go somewhere, have lunch?" I asked.
"What about Atticus? He's probably wondering where you are. And you still haven't told me how he is."
"Mom, Atticus is having his heart transplant. He's not going to care about anything for a while. He's doing very well, though."
"Good. Let's do it, go get something to eat. Where should we go?" she replied.
After some debate, we finally settled on going to a small diner down the road.
As we sat down and ordered our drinks, I could see my mom's confused look.
"Penny for your thoughts?" I asked.
"I'm just thinking about you guys. Where would you go to school? You're living somewhere different, and I assume since he's living with you it would be the same school."
"Well, the apartment I rented is zoned for a public high school that has good reviews. There's also a nearby private school, but we aren't going to have money to go there. Not the both of us. We already going to have to get jobs to pay for the apartment. Other than me delivering phonebooks."
"Okay, well, I guess you have it all planned out. You don't need my help."
I smiled at her. "I love you."
"I love you too. I have a christmas present for you. But it's at the house."
"What is it?"
"You'll see."
She drove me to my old home, where I had spent all of my life.
She whistled, and the next thing I knew there was a golden retriever on top of me.
"Oh wow! Aww, good boy." I said, petting him. Or her.
"I got her for you and Atticus. And I already named her, but you can choose what you want."
"What did you name her?"
"Daisy."
"Yeah, no, that's not going to work."
I looked at the dog, with her reddish tints and abnormal blue eyes. She kind of looked like...
"Riley."
And, no doubt, I swear this dog winked at me. She barked at the name, licking my face.
"Aw! Riley it is!" I said, amazed.
I jumped up and hugged my mom.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. Now, do you want me to drive you back to the hospital?"
"Yes, but can we drop Riley off at home?"
"Yes."
We went outside and too the car, with Riley sashaying in front of us on a purple leash with a matching purple collar.
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When we got back to the hospital, I hugged my mom.
"I'll see you as soon as I can. I love you."
"I love you too. I'll see you soon."
She turned and walked away.
I went back to the hospital room. It had been 3 hours since Atticus went into surgery. A normal surgery lasted approximately four.
I called a nurse, and Caroline stepped in.
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