Treasure Hunt (boyxboy)

Treasure Hunt | Chapter Thirty-Five

     Friday couldn't come fast enough, but tomorrow was finally the day. I had spent every day in between the day she'd been admitted to now with her and I'd be spending the next few days as well with her in recovery. I was told, depending on how her recovery was going, she could be going home Monday morning. I prayed and begged to God that was the case. I hated being here and I could tell she hated it as well.

     It was depressing and smelled of antiseptic, a smell I couldn't stand since I'd delivered Treasure. Maybe it just brought bad memories back, but I didn't know. T, on the other hand, didn't like cooped up, feeling ill or not. She was full of energy and she didn't like having to spend her days, afternoons, and nights in a hospital bed.

     Loran would come home from work and sleep for a few hours, then he would sit with us until it was time to go back to work. Thankfully, he had Saturday and Sunday off, so while Treasure was recuperating, he would be staying with us. Zach came with him the first full night Treasure was here to see her, but he hadn't been back since.

     Loran tried to get me to go home twice, "I'll sit with her while you go home. Take a shower. Take a nap. Eat something that's not hospital food." I had reassured him that I'd be fine. So the hospital shower stayed a little cold, I could deal; sure the hospital futon was a little uncomfortable, I would live; sure the food wasn't the greatest, it wasn't that bad. Then he hit me with, "You have to stop thinking that way. You're pregnant, remember? It's not just you, anymore." That made me mad, honestly. I obviously knew I was pregnant, but Treasure needed me, too. But then I realized he was right. Treasure would be okay if I left for maybe an hour. I didn't want to, but he was right. I had this baby to think about, too.

     For now though, it was just Treasure and I, laying in her hospital bed. I was rubbing her head and she was drifting off to sleep, not sure of what to think about tomorrow morning. 

     At six am, the nurse entered the room to wake Treasure up and begin prepping her for surgery. Loran took the day off work to sit with me while she went in and I'd never been more nervous of anything in my entire life.

     He held me tightly against him, rubbing my arm and kissing the side of my head in reassurance. "Hey, it'll be alright," He nuzzled his mouth against my ear. We weren't the only the only ones that sat in the waiting room, a woman and her daughter, a little younger than Treasure's age, maybe five, sat across from us. The daughter was sitting on the floor, playing with barbie dolls while the mother read a magazine. 

     "Mommy, look, they're kissing," It was a whisper meant for only her mother to hear but it was a little too loud and the mother whipped her head up at us, knowing very well that Loran and I heard.

     "I'm so sorry," Her face went bright red as she lowered the magazine. "Really, I am. She doesn't have a filter on her mouth," She gasped, frantically apologizing, grabbing her daughter by the waist and hoisting her up to look her in the face. "You shouldn't point that out, Aubree, it's rude. Now, tell them you're sorry."

     She turned Leslie around and her daughter hung her head, clearly embarrassed. "I'm sorry," She said and backed away, back into her mother's lap.

     "It's alright," Loran replied, holding my hand a little bit tighter. "Children will be children, eh? Our daughter does the same thing in public."

     "Oh, you have a daughter? How old is she?" Her face seemed to brighten a little bit, the awkwardness of the previous matter subsiding.

     "We have two children, actually," I replied. "We have an almost twelve year old son and our daughter just turned seven."

     "Aubree's about to turn six," She smiled, running her fingers gingerly through the little girl's blonde curls. "My youngest is four, Ariya, she's in the exam room right now with my husband. Aubree's too wild to be back there, so we're out here." She ended it with an exhausted sigh.

     "Crawford?" A nurse in black scrubs called out and we stood.

     "There's ours," I said and followed behind Loran.

     "It was nice meeting the two of you!" She called out behind us.

     "It was nice meeting you, too." I looked back at her and smiled before disappearing behind the double doors.

     "She's still under the anesthetic right now and she's in a post-op room. The surgery went well and the kidney is out. She'll be in a lot of pain for the next few days but it should subside, soon. Do you want to see what the kidney looks like?" We nodded and she disappeared for a moment before bringing out a large jar with what I assumed the kidney had become in it. "This is it."

     It was huge, probably 3/4ths the size of Treasure's entire abdomen. "Is that really it?" Loran looked almost as if he was about to be sick, and it was easily understood why. It was a grotesque orange filled with hundreds of cysts, some a lot larger than others.

     "Can we see her now?" I asked, biting my lip. I missed my baby, I needed to see her.

     She nodded. "Let me just put this back and we'll be on our way." She did as said and we were on our way. Treasure was laying in the bed, she looked so small compared to it. "She should be awake soon."

     Loran thanked her and we sat down next to her bed; I grabbed her hand free of IVs and stroked the the back of her hand with my thumb. 

     I couldn't wait for her to wake up. 

(A/N: Picture is of a normal kidney vs a kidney that suffers from PKD)