Doesn't Surprise Me

Chapter 12

2 WEEKS LATER

8:54AM

Back at San Antonio, everyone seemed to be in full swing ready to leave their shifts apart from one, Dr Scott Clemmens who seemed to be glued to his computer and had been for most of that shift.

Jordan and TC were walking towards the automatic doors when the female doctor caught sight of the surgeon. They had separated now but but remained close friends after she had been seeing TC behind his back, not that Scott knew this but he had always had an incline. 

"Hey, I'll catch you up in a minute." Jordan said to TC, before turning on her heel and wandering back towards Scott who remained engrossed in the pages he had just printed.

"Everything okay?" She asked, she only received a slight hum in response and decided to question further, "It's just, you've been stuck to that computer for nearly 5 hours."

"It's nothing" Scott shrugged, missing one of the papers from the printer Jordan was quick to pick it up and look at what the surgeon had been so engrossed in.

"The Pickford Trial?" Jordan eyed Scott, she had done her own research about this and knew exactly what this was all about. "This is a brain tumour trial."

Snatching the paper back from Jordan he made sure everything was packed tidy, before getting ready to leave himself. "Yes, Dr Alexander. It's a brain tumour trial." He said, remaining straight faced. 

9:25AM

"Stop fussing, please! If you carry on I'm going home with mom" Lori warned as Drew continued moving her around until she was 'comfortable'. She had only been home 20 minutes and had received 4 different combinations of cushions to soothe her aching body.

"Maybe that's a goo-" Their mom began, she had stayed in town along with Liam. 

They had both agreed to stay until Lori was seeing better days which meant they both took some time off work and were living with Drew, Rick and Lori. Since Liam could work away from home anyway, he regularly made himself scarce during the day to give his other siblings some space but unfortunately, their mom had the complete opposite idea.

"No mom, I'm fine here. I just need Drew to stop mollycoddling me." She was quick to retract her statement. 

Drew rolled his eye, "I'm not 'mollycoddling you', I'm just making sure you're comfy." 

It was Lori's turn to roll her eyes. "Drew, any Eastern camp bed would have been better than that hospital one."

Lori had been discharged from San Antonio memorial hospital temporarily, after many debates with her colleagues who insisted that staying in hospital would have been the wiser choice, just in case she had a turn for the worse. She had left under the agreement that she would return with a decision regarding her treatment. 

"Well, I'll go make some tea. Yeah? Your brother will be here in a bit." She left the room, leaving Lori with a scowl on her face.

It wasn't long before they could hear the door open and close, no doubt it was her brother. 

"Hey kiddo." Liam smiled as he entered the living area that afternoon, ruffling her hair as he perched on the arm of the chair. "I brought some visitors for you."

The sound of everyone's footsteps soon followed, TC wandering in first followed by Topher, Jordan and finally Scott. They were all quick to greet their sick friend with a hug before they all found a place to sit or lean.

Conversation seemed tense as everyone tried to avoid the topic of the hospital but as it turned out, Lori spoke up. "How's everything at San Antonio? Surgeries crumbling without me Scott?" She laughed.

Although she didn't out rightly say it, everyone knew what she was thinking, she was definitely one for cabin fever and she wasn't one to hide it either.

"Lo," Drew warned quietly.

Lifting her hands up in defence, she sighed. "I know, I know. I just want to go back to work."

"Lor, you can't be deemed medically fit, you know that." Jordan explained sadly, she knew how much this was hurting Lori. "Look, Ragosa's trying but there's no way the board is going to let you work with a tumour like that."

And just like that, it all became serious again.

As much as Lori hated it, she knew Jordan was right. She was getting worse by the day, her meds seemed to have limited to no affect on her and she was running out of options.

"What about a surgery?" Topher suggested, he knew it was unlikely that Lori would agree to any invasive procedure but it would offer her the best chance. "Or chemotherapy, there has to be an answer."

Lori shook her head, "I- I tried chemo. It was- it was killing me more than helping me."

"Surgery?" TC spoke up for the first time. He had remained mostly quiet throughout this whole ordeal, not wanting to offer false hope to his friend. 

"We've looked. There's nothing for this type of tumour." Rick offered this time, speaking in place of Drew who just seemed perplexed by the whole situation. I mean, who wouldn't, his little sister was dying in front of him and he couldn't do anything to help her.

It was the moment Scott had been waiting for, he reached for his satchel and pulled out a wedge of papers, all grouped together in different stacks. "There is a surgery".

3:43PM

"But they said they couldn't do anything." Drew questioned, curiously. That's what Lori had told him and Lori wasn't one to not know all the facts. She had been the same since she was a kid, she would never walk into anything without a plan. 

Lori agreed, looking at Scott dubiously.

"This surgery, it's, well it's experimental. It's never been done before, well not on living patients." Scott explained, handing some of the papers to Drew and TC to look over. "It could be the difference between having a full life, or a short one." Scott said, softly but harshly. He didn't want to sugar coat this for Lori, she wouldn't appreciate that, she needed to know what she was letting herself in for.

"Scott's right." Jordan finally piped up, gaining a few stares from the others in the room 

Lori nodded, taking everything in. It was at this point everyone remained silent and just watched her, at the end of the day, it would be Lori under the knife. She seemed to stop for a second, and hold a breath almost as if a thought had struck her surprisingly. 

"This sugery..." Lori said, her hand shaking as she held the papers Scott had handed her, "I-I might not get the full use of my right side back." It seemed to click for Lori, she may never be able to operate again. 

Scott nodded silently, "It's a possibility."

"You can't seriously be thinking about this Lori?" Drew questioned. 

"And what else is she supposed to do? Give up and die?" Liam argued straight back. He immediately stood up from the stool he had been sat on and paced, taking a moment he seemed to be looking for the right words before he lowered to Lori, taking her hands in his. "Look Laur, I know, I know this is hard for you, I know that you want to be a surgeon and yes, maybe this will prevent it but Lori, you're so much more than your surgery."

Lori shook her head, tears brimming her eyes. "But this is my job Liam, this is what I'm good at-"

"No" Liam cut her off before she could even begin, "you are good at making the best out of a bad situation. You are good at taking control and knowing that whatever decision you make may have it's consequences but they're for the greater good. You are good at being the level headed one in this family, come on kid, me and Drew are really struggling here." He laughed softly. "Just think about it."

Lori nodded and for what seemed like eternity she wiped away her tears and looked to her brothers, taking in their sombre faces before turning back to Scott. "I'll do it."

*****

Yes it's been a while!! I'm sorry but hopefully I'm back. But I need some help! Let me know of any suggestions or ideas you would like me to include!