With You ✔

37

jk. here's the real chapter 37 :)

Dr. Miller looks young, a little too young to have enough experience to confidently be cutting into people's heads and poking at their brains. If I had to guess, I would say she's in her early to mid thirties.

Dr. Miller sits behind a desk, her hands folded before her as Finn and I sit on the opposite side. We'd introduced ourselves when we first stepped into the room, and after quick handshakes and Dr. Miller commenting on the fact that Finn looks just like Kit, we took our seats.

We've been sitting ever since, and though I know it's only been about a minute, it feels like hours. I feel like I'm suffocating, like there's no air in the room - there's just this cloud of uncertainty hanging over us, and there's the grim look on Dr. Miller's face as she looks at the two of us.

"Have you two gotten any sleep?"

"Barely." I answer her, looking over at Finn who has slept considerably less than I have in the past twenty four or more hours.

"Can you please just tell us if he's okay." Finn says, the stress straining his words - or maybe that's the pure terror he feels due to the fact that there's a possibility the doctor could deliver us bad news.

Dr. Miller gives us a soft smile and leans forward, "Kit told me that he didn't tell anyone he was coming here and having the procedure. Is that right?" Finn and I both nod our heads and Dr. Miller continues, "I asked him why that was, and he didn't really have an answer for me. He started to explain it, but then it was like he didn't believe in what he was saying anymore. I think he regretted not having someone here with him, but he still refused every offer we made to call someone for him."

"He was alone and he didn't have to be. He knew he didn't have to be, but he's too damn stubborn - " Finn clenches his jaw and I notice that his hands are balled into fists. "Sorry." He says to Dr. Miller, who seems totally understanding of Finn's sudden outburst.

"What I'm trying to say, is that I think Kit will be very happy to see the two of you. He may have been too stubborn to call, but he needed you, and he will need you even more now. I need to -"

"Wait -"

"Are you saying that he's-"

"He's okay? He's alive?" We talk over each other, both on the edge of our seats as a smile spreads across Dr. Miller's face. She looks at the two of us, almost as if she's amused as well as happy for us - happy that our stress and worry can now be put to rest. Maybe now we can get some sleep, take a much needed shower, and actually eat. We can feel alive and human again, because Kit is alive. He's really alive, and he's okay.

"He's alive." She says the words, knowing that we need to hear them out loud. As soon as the words leave her mouth the cloud that had been hovering over our heads disappeared, and I was able to breathe again. I don't even remember getting out of my seat, but I'm hugging Finn and he's hugging me back so tightly that it hurts, but I don't complain. Both of our cheeks are wet, but we're smiling - we never thought we'd smile again.

I wipe away my tears when we break apart and I turn towards Dr. Miller, "When can we see him?"

"That's what I needed to speak to you about."

Finn and I both sit back down, "Kit's brain went through a lot during the surgery. Everything went according to plan and his tumor was one hundred percent removed, but it was still a lot of stress to put on him." She gives us a minute to take in what she's saying before continuing, "His blood pressure dropped dangerously low a few times, and there were a few scares, but we took care of all that, and now his brain just needs time to rest and -"

"You won't know if he's okay until he wakes up, will you? That's what the doctors said the last time they cut him open. They didn't operate, but they said that even if they removed the tumor, they wouldn't know if there was any residual damage until after he woke up." Finn interrupts, once again sitting on the edge of his seat.

"That's true, yes."

"How long until he wakes up?" I ask, my voice a lot softer than I had intended.

"That's up to Kit."

"But he will wake up, right?" Finn looks at Dr. Miller as if she holds his whole life in her hands, and in some way I guess she does. Or she did, while she was operating on Kit.

"That's also up to Kit."