With Every Sin

Chapter Twenty One

*Ashley's POV*

It has been a year.

A year since we put Emberly in a medically induced coma. 

A year since Andy swore to save her. 

A year. 12 months. 365 days. 

I lean against the door frame, staring in at the scene before me. Andy, as usual, is parked at Emberly's bedside. He's holding her still hand. 

We've had her on a clinical trial to try to beat the cancer. There have been multiple times that we tried to wake her up, but the drugs from the trial were too painful for her to deal with. We had to fit her with a feeding tube and catheter. We have electrodes attached to all her muscles, stimulating them so she didn't lose muscle mass or use of them. Every two weeks, Dr. Ramsay takes her for scans. So far, the cancer hasn't spread, which is good, but it isn't going away either. 

She is having more scans today and after that, we will decide how to proceed. I decide to make myself known. I rap on the doorframe lightly. Andy turns and smiles at me. 

          "She may be waking up!" He says excitedly. "She tightened her hand around mine." 

          "Andy, you know as well as I do that that was the electrodes stimulating her arm muscles." I tell him kindly. Even though he is a doctor himself, he losing all rationality because of his love for Em. His face falls slightly.

          "I know. I just keep hoping-" 

          "I do, too. So does CC, Jinxx, and Jake. We all want her to beat this. But it's been a year. If these scans don't show any progress, then I think we need to wake her up and come up with a new plan of attack." I say, trying to keep the hopelessness out of my voice.

          "You think that if it hasn't gotten better, I should let her go." He infers. 

          "That will be a decision for the both of you to make together." I tell him. Dr. Ramsay comes in, right on time.

           "It's time for her scans." He skips the pleasantries. 

           "I'll help you." I offer. He nods and grunts. Andy stands, allowing us to take Emberly's bed from the room. I glance back as we exit to see him standing, his head in his hands, his shoulders shaking. 

A couple hours later, Emberly is in her room again and Andy is back at work on the ward. I'm doing paperwork in my office when my pager goes off. It's Dr. Ramsay. I quickly stand, making my way off the ward and down to his office in oncology. 

I find Andy is already there when I arrive. Without a word, Dr. Ramsay dims the lights and turns on the two light boxes mounted on the wall. He pulls the transparent scans from their orange envelopes. Quickly, he clips a sheet to each of the boxes. Andy and I both move in for a closer look. 

          "This is the CT we did of her brain." Dr. Ramsay tells us. He steps back and allows us a closer look since he had already studied the scans before we arrived. I turn my attention back to the images of Emberly's brain and see...nothing. Where there should be masses, there's nothing. I turn to Andy and we both face the oncologist. 

          "There's nothing there." Andy whispers, unable to get his voice any louder. 

          "What about her cervix or lymph nodes? Did any of the other scans show anything?" I question. For the first time in months, Dr. Ramsay openly grins. 

          "They're all clean. The cancer is gone." He tells us. I feel like a huge weight has lifted off my shoulders. I can't stop the smile that plants itself on my face. Andy is matching my joy. We all embrace each other, overcome with happiness and excitement. 

          "Let's wake her up and tell her the good news. It's time to take Emberly home." Andy says, giddy. We follow him up to Emberly's hospital room, a skip clear in our steps. 

He did it. He saved her. She's going to be fine.

*END OF BOOK 2*