Actions Speak Louder Than Fortune Cookies

65 - Don't Judge

AN: Hi all! I can't believe this story's at over 5K views. That's wild! I hope you've been enjoying it! Thank you so much for reading! ☺️

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Tuesday rolled in with soft snow falling in the dull quiet morning. Rylee and Sebastian crunched across the snowy sidewalk and made their way into the hospital.

Sebastian would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. He expected to be going completely under for his surgery, not just getting an anesthetic in his leg.

Sooner than he expected he was laying in a hospital bed that was wheeled into the operating room. He was switched over to the operating table and he heard a familiar voice.

"Good morning Mr. Stan, how are we today?" Dr. Singh said as he walked into the room, covered head to toe in personal protective equipment.

"Pains a 2. Nerves are an 11." Sebastian tried to joke.

"I promise, it doesn't sound like it will be, but it'll be painless...This is Dr. Cunningham, he's our anesthesiologist. He'll be helping us take extra good care of you today.

"Morning...big fan." Dr. Cunningham laughed lightly, making Sebastian say thanks along with a laugh too.

"This is my surgeon assistant, Dr. Carter. And our circulating nurse, Justin."

They all say their hellos and Dr. Singh continued.

"So here's what's going to happen today Sebastian, first Justin is going to sterilize the work area, and then Dr. Cunningham is going to inject the local anesthetic into your calf, so your leg from the knee down will be numb. You may still experience some pressure, or even a crunching sensation, but you won't feel any pain."

Sebastian worried his lips in his teeth at that last part. Crunching sensation?

"Next I'll be diving in to reset the bones and stabilize them with internal fixations." He holds up two small metal plates and a few screws for Sebastian to see. Once you're all put back together we'll stitch you up and we'll be done! You'll hang out here for a day or so and you'll be home before Christmas...sound like a plan?"

"If you say so," Sebastian tried to laugh.

"Alrighty, Justin, ready to start us off?"

Justin gave a thumbs up and dove into sanitizing Sebastian's leg. While he did so, Dr. Singh asked, "So Sebastian, what's your go to karaoke jam?"

Sebastian thought about it quickly, "Hmm. Hungry Eyes..."

"Oooo. Good choice! He pointed to the upstairs booth where Sebastian assumed there were people watching that they couldn't see, seeing as this was a teaching hospital.

Suddenly, Hungry Eyes started playing quietly across the speakers in the corners of the room.

"Sometimes you just gotta jam out yah know?" Dr. Singh said as Dr. Cunningham prepared the anesthetic.

"Alrighty Cunningham, you're up."

Dr. Cunningham walked around the other end of the table and patted Sebastian's leg. "You're gonna feel a small pinch and then you won't feel anything at all from your knee down."

Sebastian nodded.

He felt the pinch the doctor had mentioned but the next sensation was so absurd. They were absolutely right, it felt like he didn't even have a left leg, which felt beyond strange.

"Alright, you're going to hear a lot of noises. Revving. Crunching. Saws. But don't panic. You won't be able to feel any of it."

This was the moment of truth in Sebastian's mind. It's not gonna hurt. It's not gonna hurt.
He heard the whirring of a bone saw and tried not to panic.