Beautifully Knight (Jordan Knight Fanfic, Liadan #5)

Strikes and Showers

Warning: Sensitive and mature (18+) content

-JORDAN-

Time held still. The world stopped turning. Life was on pause.

This wasn't real.

It couldn't be real.

I'd done this all before.

I'd seen the worried faces, overheard the hushed whispers from nurses down the hall. Poured out my heart and soul to the stuffy walls of a hospital chapel. Wondered if anyone was even listening and then quickly decided that there had to be because I couldn't bare what it meant if there wasn't.

I'd paid my dues. Said my prayers. Learned my lesson.

I wasn't a perfect student. I made mistakes sometimes—stayed a little too angry for a little too long over things that didn't really matter. Taken for granted moments that ultimately did matter.

But still, I'd learned my lesson. Cried my tears. Healed.

I didn't need to re-open that wound or listen to anyone tell me that life is short and every second you spend with the ones you love the most are precious because they could be your last. I already knew. I didn't need to be reminded to always say what you mean and give all the love you've got because in a split-second everything can change.

I'd been down this road before. I knew the fear and pain of flashing every second you've spent with the person you love the most through your head. I knew from experience.

I'd done this all before and it wasn't something that I needed to do again. I didn't need this to happen twice.

Like a strike of lightning, once was more than enough. No one family—one person—should have to endure that kind of pain twice. It didn't—shouldn't—have to happen twice.

Yet, contrary to frivolous sayings, just like lightning can strike twice, apparently a family could be forced to face such a heart-wrenching terror twice. My family could be forced to endure it twice.

"I-I'm not sure I'm following what you're saying, Dr. Hall," Lia's voice wavered and I turned to see her tear-filled light brown eyes were fixated on me. "J?"

I swallowed the hard lump in my throat and forced a smile that came nowhere near close to how I felt as I cupped her hands in mine and kissed our intertwined knuckles. "Lia—" I began to speak, but my voice cracked before I cleared it and tried again. "Baby, he's saying they figured out what's wrong with you. You've got an aneurysm, but they caught it at the right time and they're going to perform a procedure right away."

Lia's bottom lip trembled as she stared at me before she turned back to the doctor, "But you didn't say procedure. You said surgery, right? Brain surgery? That's serious."

Dr. Hall nodded, "It is brain surgery, but I promise you, I've personally performed hundreds of these procedures and I've had tremendous success. It's a very safe procedure that has been performed for a long, long time, and the incision that we make nowadays for the clipping method is tiny. You are particularly in a good position because your aneurysm is still unruptured."

"But it's causing me symptoms which you said is rare, right? Should I be concerned about that?" Lia looked overwhelmed as I draped my arm around her.

"Well, yes, it is relatively rare for an unruptured aneurysm to cause symptoms, but it's not unheard of. Plus, you have suffered from a serious head trauma in the past, which likely makes you more susceptible to these kinds of symptoms. It's very probable that in the process of healing from your last incident, you developed an aneurysm and it's just gradually grown over the years. Your family history of aneurysms could certainly be a contributing factor too," Dr. Hall explained. "Who did you say had a history?"