Mr E's New Neighbor

Regaining control

Elena told Chris after she woke up from surgery "If I am okay, I will go back to how it was before." Chris held her hand tightly "Baby, right now I don't give a shit about that. I only want you to focus on being healthy. Later we can discuss other things. I love you and what you're telling me is the last thing I want to discuss right now."

Elena laid there resting and hated it. Hated not being able to touch her husband, hated being in the hospital, hated risking infection. She was given medication to keep her remaining kidney from going bad. She told him "I love you too! I just want to feel you close."

He held back from sitting next to her as she was fresh out of surgery. He didn't want to mess up her wires or incision. No matter how much Elena begged him to get closer. She needed him next to her, to feel his body... She was desperate and kept begging.

The nurse walked in to take her vitals "Sir can I have you step out for a moment please?" Chris left the room and called his mom "Hey mom, I have news. I don't know if its good or bad yet. Elena had surgery to remove her bad kidney. We don't know if it took all the cancer with it or not." Mrs Evans gasped on the phone "What? Did you say cancer?" Chris sighed "Yes! She had a tumor in her left kidney. They couldn't see any other spots on the scans. So I'm hoping it is gone. We are hoping it is gone."

Mrs Evans said "That's it, I'm coming out there ASAP. You obviously need extra help when she gets out of the hospital." Chris tried to talk her out of it "No mom. I'll be fine! I don't have a project coming up anytime soon so I can take care of her myself." She insisted "Son, I'm coming tomorrow. I already got the ticket. Don't talk me out of it!"

That was enough for him to realize he could not possibly talk her out of helping. She was packing her bags and while doing so, Chris walked back to his wife "Baby, someone insists on coming here tomorrow. I tried to tell her I would be fine by myself but she won't hear it." Elena knew that could only be his mom.

She smiled and held his hand tighter "Baby, it's ok. I don't mind if your mom comes out here. Then you don't have to feel like you're doing everything by yourself. I might even be able to feel like I can be close to you."

She slept through the night being woken up a few times to get vitals but she did alright. She opened her tired eyes to see a woman standing there at her side. Chris had gone to pick her up and changed at home in the meantime. He now had on a different outfit and clean hair. It was slicked back to be out of his face and his beard was dignified and sexy. Elena looked up at him and over at her mother in law "Hi." Not sure exactly what to call her as Chris knew both as Mrs Evans. Lisa told her "Dear, call me mama Evans. That way it's less confusing for Chris." Elena said "Thank you Mama Evans for coming out here. I know he's stubborn about things but I appreciate it." Mama Evans laughed "Oh don't I know it. He's been that way as long as I can remember."

Chris felt a little weird having her say that, but in a way he did feel good having his mom there to help out. Elena had not been released yet, but she would be soon. Then she would need help bathing, getting dressed, changing the dressing on her incision, and a lot more. Sure Chris could do most of that but it did not hurt to have extra hands. For things like cooking meals or taking Dodger for a walk, even grocery shopping. In fact at that moment she said "Tell me things you like Elena and I'll go stock up the cupboards and fridge. For some reason my son thinks it is okay to have nothing but water and beer in his fridge."

Elena wrote down a list of foods she loved and handed it to Mama E. She asked "Do I need to get anything for Dodger? He was running low on food when I was there earlier." Chris told her which kind he got usually and she went off to find some grub for them.

It was hours later before she came back "He's been fed and your fridge and cupboards are now full of actual food. Including a special treat for my beautiful daughter in law." Elena reached for her hand "Thank you! That is so sweet of you! I don't know when I'll be able to eat it but I will have to check it out once I am home."

Mama E asked "By the way, what is up with the house next door? It's not super close but I noticed there's no fence anymore." Chris explained "We are using her old house as a guest house. When we don't have a guest we are going to air b&b it." She told him "Oh well I guess if she already owned it outright it's smart. Do you just pay for electric and utilities?"

Elena smiled "Yes! I prepay for a year of all of it. If I use less than what I pay for they deduct that cost from the following year."

Tbc...

Will things go smoothly between Lisa and Elena?

Will Chris fully regain control over his wife?

Will Elena ever be fully healthy again?