Dreaming Of More Than Just A White Christmas {Phan} (Book Four)

🎄Four🎄

"You fucking idiot." I mumbled to myself as I got into my car and began driving to the hospital after turning the car on and pulling out of the driveway. "I told you. I fucking told you, and did you listen? No, no you fucking didn't. I should've known that your dumbass wasn't going to listen."

*****

Upon arriving at the hospital, I, much to my surprise, was immediately given permission to go and see Phil. Right as I was about to enter the room, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I was bracing myself for the absolute worse.

The sight I saw in that room made me almost instantly break down.

Phil was hooked up to so many machines that I didn't even know what some of them did. Not only that, but he was also abnormally pale, and the only sign that he was even alive was the steady beeping of the heart monitor.
"Shit." I breathed out as I slowly approached Phil's bed, my eyes never leaving him. It wasn't until I was standing directly over the bed when I saw another sign of life from Phil; the steady rise and fall of his chest. I let out a shaky sigh as I slowly reached over and grabbed ahold of Phil's hand. His fingers twitched ever so slightly as they intertwined with mine and his eyes fluttered open for a split second. It happened so quickly that one would've completely missed it had they not been looking at him.

*****

It took a long and painful two hours for Phil to actually wake up.

But once he did, a slight sense of relief washed over me, but the fact that I still didn't know what had happened to him still kept me on edge since the doctors had informed me that even they didn't know what was going on since they were still conducting tests.

Then, as if on cue, a doctor walked in. The serious expression on his face made the slight relief I had felt about Phil finally waking up completely dissipate. I sighed quietly and took a deep breath as I braced myself for the worst once more.

Through of all of the medical jargon that was thrown at Phil and me, only one word stuck out to me.
Cirrhosis.
It was the condition that Phil had been diagnosed with.

While Phil somehow became even more pale when he was given the diagnosis, I was just confused. I had absolutely no idea what cirrhosis even was.
"What exactly is cirrhosis?" I asked the doctor quietly as I looked down at the floor, morbidly curious about the answer, but dreading it at the same time.
"Cirrhosis occurs when chronic liver damage from a variety of causes leads to scarring and, in the absolute worst case, liver failure." The doctor explained to me, every single word that he said making my heart sink deeper and deeper. "There are quite a few causes of cirrhosis, but one of the most common ones I see is the chronic abuse of alcohol."
When he said this, I looked at Phil with both and anger and sadness in my eyes. I was angry because, despite my warnings, he had allowed himself to spiral down the path of addiction and gotten sick as a result, and I was sad because my worst fear came true; Phil had gotten not only to the point where he had landed in the hospital as a result of his alcohol abuse, but also caused excessive damage to his liver because of said alcohol abuse.

The doctor then turned his attention to Phil after explaining what cirrhosis was to me. "Now, based on your test results, it seems like the cause of your cirrhosis was alcohol abuse. Do you believe this to be true?"
Phil nodded and blinked, which caused tears to spill out of his eyes. "I've been struggling with alcohol abuse for quite a while now."
The doctor nodded as well and looked down at the clipboard he had been carrying when he walked in. "Well, in that case, we'll get started putting together your treatment, and you should be able to leave by tomorrow morning at the earliest and tomorrow evening at the latest."