His Tiny Dancer [COMPLETED]

XLVI

My gut drops at her words. I'm too late? I was supposed to make him feel better about going into surgery. I should have left the dressed rehearsal sooner, Miss Marie would have understood, I could have...

"Miss?" I snap out of it and refocus my attention on the nurse standing in front of me.

"Sorry, I was just hoping I could make it in before his surgery." My voice shakes with each word. "Do you know how long it will be?"

"He should be ready for visitors in about four hours. You're welcome to stay here and wait, or leave and come back. We could give you a call-"

"I'll stay," I cut her off. "Sorry, I'll wait for him here."

"Alright. Don't worry too much Miss White, it's not a complicated surgery. He just needs it to repair some tissue and prevent further blood loss. But you should know, even if you had gotten here before he went into surgery, you wouldn't have been able to talk to him. He's been unconscious since he first blacked out in the ambulance."

"Thank you," I am extremely grateful for her reassurance, and willingness to inform me about his condition. I didn't know he has been unconscious this whole time, and I'm not sure that Anne knows either.

"Of course. Myself or one of the other nurses will continue to keep you updated and let you know when you can see him. Feel free to help yourself to water or coffee while you wait" With that she turns and leaves, exiting back through the door she came in. That means Noah is somewhere through those doors. Unconscious and in surgery.

I sit back down in the small chair, only a few other people waiting in the room with me. I decide I ought to call Anne and let her know that I'm here, but that he's already in surgery.

The phone rings a few times before she picks up. "Hello?"

"Hi Anne, it's Theresa, I'm at the hospital," I say, calming my nervous voice so she won't think something is wrong.

"Oh good, how is he?" She says quickly.

"I actually didn't get to see him. He had already started surgery when I got here. I'm sorry that I wasn't here soon enough..."

"Oh don't apologize to me darling, we did what we could. I'm sure he'll be alright, he's brave, you know," Anne says with a warm tone.

"Yeah, I know he is," I say with a small smile, but my eyes are still glistening. "The nurse also told me that after he blacked out on the ambulance, he hasn't woken up. So I couldn't have talked to him anyway," I inform her.

"Okay, thank you for updating me Teresina. Are you doing alright?" Asking me how I'm doing while her nephew is in surgery was the last thing I had expected Anne to do. After a second of surprise, I answer her.

"I'm okay. I'm going to wait here until he gets out of surgery. It should be about four hours."

"Four hours? Honey, you'll starve to death!"

"It's alright, I've got... water." I know how pathetic I sound as the words come out of my mouth.

"And didn't you say you were in a performance? Noah said you're a dancer, you must be exhausted and starving-"

"It was just a dressed rehearsal, I'm okay, really," I try to assure her.

"I'll make you something and I can bring it to you. And I'll bring Melody along, as long as she doesn't have to see her brother in pain, she can come to the hospital. You know how much she looks up to him, I couldn't do that to them. Anyway, it's the least I can do since you're helping us out so much Teresina," Anne says. I pause for a moment, thinking about how I can tell her this isn't necessary. But thinking of eating a hot meal and seeing Melody is just too tempting right now. I desperately need that type of comfort.