Selfless

36

Colby's POV

"Did they mess up? Why is she talking like that?" I asked and snapped my head to Meghan, "relax, she just got out of brain surgery, she's gotta warm up a little bit. It's like when you turn a video game off and back on again, it's gotta load." She said and I looked at her with disbelief, "did you just compare her to a video game?" I asked and she laughed, "I guess I did, how are you feeling Cora?" She asked softly and started checking the machines she was hooked up to.

Cora just stared at her, not even attempting to speak again. "It's okay love, try again. You'll be okay." I said and rubbed the back of her hand with my thumb. "Hhhh." She tried but frowned and looked at me with glassy eyes, "that was good, I'm so proud of you baby girl." I said and brought her hand to my lips.

"Hey Cora, I'm so glad you're awake." Kat said softly and massaged her hand. I noticed she still wasn't holding our hands back, so she must have been really weak. "Hey Cor, Jake brought you some nuggets when you're up to eating them." Sam said and put his hand on her shin, patting it lightly.

"Nnnnn" she tried again as a tear escaped her eye. I smiled at her softly and wiped the tear with my thumb, "you're okay." I assured and squeezed her hand gently. She looked around the room slowly with just her eyes until they stopped on the crib, "m-m-m" she started and I smiled, "yeah, Mia is here too, she's sleeping." I said as she smiled slightly, "sw-sweet-" she whispered and I smiled, "you're going to good baby, keep trying to talk for me." I whispered and looked up at Sam happily. He and Kat were smiling down at her too.

"Sw-Sweet g-g-girl." She whispered and took a deep breath as if that took all of her energy. "Yeah, that's your sweet girl." I said and Meghan stepped up, "okay let's rest up before we try doing anything else. I know you're probably not feeling the best but we need you to hydrate and eat something if you can. You're a badass Cor." She said and patted her leg which made Cora smile slightly.

Even when she was in so much pain she was smiling.

I leaned down and kissed her cheek as she closed her eyes. She hummed as I pulled away, "I love you." I whispered and pulled her blanket up a little more for her.

We settled down and watched a movie together, Sam and Kat snuggled up together on the couch as I sat by Cora's bed. Every once in a while I would force her to drink some water but she hasn't really tried to do anything else yet.

"Did you want to try and eat something?" I asked and squeezed her hand slightly, "yes." She whispered which sent warmth through my whole body, she was already making some progress. "Alright baby, I'll order you some fresh food since these are probably gross by now." I said and she smiled at me, "you're sweet." She whispered but groaned after, closing her eyes against the pain she was feeling.

I leaned over and pressed the call button as I kissed her forehead lightly, "hey you called!" Meghan said with a smile as I looked over, "yeah, she's really hurting I don't know if there's anything you can really do but I can't just sit here and watch her be in this much pain." I said and bit my cheek.

Sam and Kat got up and came over to us, "We will go get her food, just text me what she wants when you have a chance." He said and grabbed Kat's hand before leaving the room.

"Pancakes." She whispered which made me chuckle, "anything you want baby girl." I said as Meghan looked over her chart.

"Alright badass, they never even gave you the pain meds they were supposed to during post op, I'll go grab Dr. Robinson and we can get those rolling, hang in there. I'll be right back!" She said and jogged out of the room.

"So you've been doing all of this with no pain medicine?" I asked her as Mia started fussing. "Guess so." She whispered as I went to grab Mia.

"You wanna see mommy?" I asked her and rubbed her back as she cried. "Shhhh, it's alright. Let me change you, then we can eat and see mommy." I mumbled to her as Cora looked over at us. She was smiling at Mia, "sweet girl." She whispered which caused Mia's tears to falter slightly as she looked over at Cora.

"Yeah, it's mommy!" I cooed and laid her in the crib so I could change her.

Dr. Robinson and Meghan came in as I was finishing up, "welcome back Cora! I heard you're in lots of pain, we are gonna help with that. They never gave you the morphine I ordered so we are getting that to you now. How are you feeling?" She asked and changed the IV bag with what I'm assuming was morphine.

"Hurts." She mumbled as I came over with Mia. "Can you hold her for a second so I can get a bottle ready?" I asked Meghan and she smiled widely, holding her arms out.

"Hi Mia!" She cooed and took Mia from me. I jogged over to the little fridge and pulled out one of the bottles. It was already thawed out so all I had to do was feed it to her.

"Alright princess, let's get you fed." I said as she reached out for Cora. "No baby, she can't hold you right now." I said quietly as Dr. Robinson came up.

"Okay this is gonna hurt a little but stay with me okay?" She said and Cora looked at me with a worried expression. "You got this Cor." I assured and watched as Dr. Robinson started bending Cora's legs and arms. She cried out in pain which broke my heart.

"Why does that hurt her?" I asked and bit my cheek as Mia finished her bottle. "They are going to be really stiff from lack of movement so when we bend them it can be really painful. She's definitely going to have to relearn how to walk after this." She said with a sigh and straightened her legs out again.

She grabbed her arm and started bending it the same way as her legs, "Cora, can you try to squeeze my hand?" She asked and took her hand in her own, Cora groaned and flexed her hand slightly.

"Good. I'm gonna give you guys some stress balls so you can try to build her strength up again. The hemorrhage was right where most of the movement functions are in the brain. That's why you're having a hard time squeezing my hand. It will get better though with time." She said as Cora wimpered.

"Okay that's enough for right now. I'm sorry Cora, the morphine should kick in soon though. You're doing great." Dr. Robinson praised and rubbed Cora's back slowly.

"I'll come check back soon, call Meghan if you need anything." She said then left the room.

"Let me know if you need anything, don't forget that you're strong Cora, you're gonna be able to do this." She encouraged then left the room.

"Sam's bringing your pancakes baby girl." I said and she hummed quietly, closing her eyes again.

I hated seeing her in so much pain.