Emerald Eyes

49 - Surgery

The next morning, I made my way to the hospital again. As I arrived to Martijn's room, his parents and Watse were already there. "Good morning everyone!", I said with a smile as I entered the room. I walked over to Martijn's bed and found him already dressed in a hospital gown, but he was smiling when he saw me. "Hey honey, how are you feeling today?", I said and gave him a long hug. "Good morning, beautiful.", he smiled and added: "Honestly, I'm feeling good. A little nervous, but I guess that is normal." I gave him a kiss and then turned around to greet his parents and Watse. We spent about another half an hour chit-chatting, before it was time for Martijn's surgery. Two nurses came into the room to pick Martijn up for all the preparations, so each of his parents each gave him a hug. Watse followed and then it was my turn. "I'll see you in a bit, okay? I love you, honey.", I said and placed a little kiss on his forehead. "I love you too, baby. Promise you'll be there when I come back?", he asked. "Absolutely. I'll be here waiting for you the whole time.", I answered. Then the nurses pushed his bed out of the room. Gerard and Watse soon excused themselves to a meeting they needed to attend for Martijn's label STMPD records, but Karin decided to wait at the hospital together with me. As the men had left, we decided to pick up a coffee in the hospital's cafeteria and take a little walk through the garden as we waited. The amazing thing with her was that it always felt so super natural talking to her. It wasn't that weird kind of distance that there is sometimes between you and the mother of your partner, but Karin was so loving and welcoming that it basically felt like talking to a family member. After a little while of talking, she looked at me and remarked: "Line, darling, you look a little pale. Are you feeling alright?" "I just... Maybe I need to sit down for a bit.", I answered. We both sat down on a bench and she said: "I hope you are feeling a little better, darling." I nodded my head: "Yes I am, thank you. I hadn't noticed that maybe it was all a bit much for me as well. You know, this is the hospital in which my mum was diagnosed with leukemia almost two years ago. And it's also where she..." Karin interrupted me: "I'm so sorry you and your family had to go through all this, darling. It's incredible how strong you are to return to such a place that holds so many negative memories for you and then be the one to cheer up my son better than anybody else ever could. Martijn told me this morning how you managed to calm him down both in Las Vegas and here, despite it being a super stressful situation for yourself. You're an incredible gift to him." "Thank you Karin, your words mean a lot to me.", I answered. "Would you like a hug?", she asked. I guess I looked like I needed it. I nodded my head and she gave me a warm hug. We then just sat there for a while, watching all these people pass by with their families. I kept playing around with the keychain Martijn had given to me the whole time. Karin pointed towards the keychain and said: "Can I see it? It's a photo of you and Martijn, isn't it?" I smiled and showed it to her: "He just gave it to me on our way back from Las Vegas. He said he wanted me to have something to always remember my very first trip to the United States. It was actually very cute." "That is so beautiful!", she smiled and handed me the keychain. "Can you imagine he even gave me a handwritten letter with it? That was like the sweetest thing!", I mentioned. "Is this really my son we are talking about?", she joked, "He doesn't usually make an effort like this." "Well he apparently does, for me at least.", I laughed, "He's being the sweetest guy ever to me, you really did a great job raising him like this." "That was a lot of work.", she laughed, "No, I am just kidding. Martijn is a lot like his father when it comes to things like this. They are actually very like-minded." "I can definitely see that.", I said and then checked the time on my phone, "Do you think we should maybe head back in? It looks like they could be finished soon." Karin agreed and we both walked along the long hospital corridors back to Martijn's room. We had to wait another 15 minutes or so, before Martijn was brought back to us in his bed. I quickly hurried over to his bed. He was just opening his eyes again as the nurses left the room. "Hey, honey. You made it.", I whispered and gave him a little kiss. He cleared his throat and said quietly: "Hey... You're really here." "Of course I am. And your mom is here as well.", I smiled. Martijn tried to sit up in bed, but quickly decided to lay back down. It was obvious that he still was very exhausted. Karin stepped over to his bed and asked: "Hello Martijn, my darling. How are you feeling?" "I'm fine... I guess.", he answered, "I am just super exhausted. I feel like I could sleep for days." "That is absolutely normal, Martijn.", she said, "You should really take some time to rest now." Martijn nodded his head: "I will." "Would you mind if I went home now? I have to pick Laura up from her trip in a bit.", she asked, "I'm sure she and your father will come by to visit you later today." "Of course, no problem at all.", Martijn answered. "If there are any news, I promise I'll call you, Karin.", I said, "I'll stay here for a little longer." "Thank you, Line.", she smiled and then left the room. I sat down on Martijn's bed and gently let my fingers run through his hair. I watched him for a while as he was struggling to keep his eyes open: "Honey, I really think you should sleep for a while. I'll stay here with you, so you're not alone." "Maybe I should.", he said, "But can you do me a favor?" "Of course, what can I do?", I asked. "Can you give me my phone, please? It would be great if you could text a few people for me and let them know that everything went fine with the surgery. I'm sure they are waiting to hear something, but I'm just way too exhausted.", he requested. "Sure honey. Who do you want me to text?", I wanted to know. "Okay so maybe you could just send something in the "Team Garrix" group chat, as well as to Julian, Emilio and Menno. My mom will inform my family, so that's alright.", he listed. "Okay, I'll let them know, honey. Now you go and get some rest. Sleep tight.", I said. "Thank you, baby. I love you.", he smiled. "Love you too.", I answered.