Kaykay
"She is going into surgery now," Luke said.
It had been a couple of days and she was doing well, so they wanted to continue the surgery.
"Okay,"
"She is gonna be in pain when she wakes up, she's basically had her insides chopped up at this point. I want to keep visiting short, pump her up with painkillers and sleeping meds, and make sure she has someone with her at all times for company,"
"There's a small problem,"
"What?"
"My mum and dad are landing in a couple of hours and they wanna see her,"
"I can tell you she is not gonna be in the mood," he chuckled, "However, this surgery should be good. It means she can breathe. We will do a scan and see,"
"Thankyou,"
"It's my job, go and busy yourself,"
I headed up to the main paediatrics ward and observed a few interns and residents, then decided to pick a couple and take them into the skills lab.
Operating on kids was different. Everything was smaller, even tiny, so I showed them the best way to do certain sutures. Teaching other people the skills, especially the first years, made me excited. They got all excited too.
I could sense hesitation at first, whether that was due to me being emotional, or me being the head, but we all eventually relaxed. There were some promising interns.
"Kaykay, you need to set off,"
"Dr Irwin,"
He chuckled and peered over to look at everyone's work, giving them all nods of approval.
"You're coming with me, I can't drive right now," I said.
"Do you not think you need some time alone with them?"
"I've managed for 8 years. Great job everyone, if anyone wants to watch a surgery, Dr Hemmings and Dr Hood are currently chopping my sister up,"
They scrambled out as the eager interns they were, so Ash and I headed out to pick up my parents. My hands sweat on the way, and I tried really hard to focus on my breathing, but I wanted to bail out by the time we got to the airport.
Gently, he took my hand and kissed my head, looking at me.
"Sorry you have seen me so emotional,"
"Nonsense,"
"There's just so many emotions attached to them. Don't let me punch them in the face,"
He chuckled, and wiped my tears, nodding. We went to kiss but were interrupted by my phone ringing, Ash putting it on speaker.
"Kaykay, are you here?"
"Yeah, we are about to come inside. Where abouts are you?"
"Near the entrance,"
"Okay, we will be there in a second,"
We got out he car and walked hand in hand to the airport, spotting mum and dad with their bags. I forced a smile and went over, Ash shaking dad's hand.
"This is Ashton,"
"He's not your type," mum sniggered, "Does he always look like this or has it been a tough day?"
"I'm afraid I always look like this,"
"He's a fine young lad!" dad said, "Do you like soccer?"
"I don't have much time,"
"Shall we go to the car?" I mumbled, "And take your bags home,"
"He needs to brush his hair,"
"You do know he can hear you, right?"
"Well I haven't met your husband before! I'm allowed to have an opinion,"
"No about whether you are attracted to him or not!"
We got back to the car and she took my place in the front, so I sat in the back with dad, in silence. Mum spoke non-stop to Ash quite inappropriately, and I was already excited for their departure.
When we got back, we took their bags and put them in Isabelle's room which was theirs for the night.
"I'm so sorry, Ash,"
"I'll be okay,"
"I am sorry,"
"We are all here for Izz, do not worry about me,"
"Is this our room?"
"Yeah, dad, for the night,"
"Nice. Your house seems lovely,"
"Thank you... would you like a coffee?"
"I'd like a hug,"
I halted, then turned to him and awkwardly wrapped my arm round him. He had always had a soft spot for me, but was just as bad as mum. I knew that.
However, I was thankful he was not being as downright rude as mum was, so it was the least I could do.
"You guys must earn a lot for a house like this,"
"It's definitely a comfortable life," I smiled, "Is this room okay?"
"It's great. Does Izz get all of this?"
"She does, and she loves it,"
"You're not letting her go to school, are you?"
"I am when she has recovered. She has already made friends in the hospital and she loves it,"
"No, no, no,"
"Why did you want to keep us in so badly?"
"To protect you,"
"From what?"
"Getting hurt by other people,"
"Well, it sucked," I hummed, "We are gonna head back to the hospital soon,"
"May we come?"
"Sure,"
Mum came upstairs so I left promptly, Ash following. He pushed me into our room and shut the door, gently kissing my head.
"You're doing so amazing,"
"I haven't hugged him for 8 years,"
"I know," he soothed, "I know,"
"I'm sorry,"
"Don't be sorry. Everything is a lot right now, you are going through a lot of pain, and stress. Your routine is broken, but you are doing so well," he whispered, "You need me in a time like this, you need someone, so do not apologise or hold things in,"
I nodded and he tilted my chin up, kissing me.
All I wanted to do was crawl into bed with Ashton and crying into his chest as he held me, but instead I had to prepare tea for all of us and hope that Izz woke up.
We went downstairs and began to prepare the food, hearing my mum and dad start to argue between themselves. Ash put the radio on, but nothing could drown it out. I felt so sorry for Izz, and how she had to deal with this so often.
The pressure I felt right now made me want to explode.
"She's out of surgery, and they're gonna reverse the coma soon. I think she will want you there for that, it's gonna be tough," Ashton said, reading his phone.
"She will want you too,"
"Do you think?"
"Absolutely,"
"Okay, I will be there. Do you want me to get them down?"
"Please,"
As he went upstairs, I served the food up and laid it on the table, everyone sitting down. I made sure to sit next to Ash, then quietly tucked into my food and sipped my water.
I wasn't up for table talk, but unfortunately mum and dad were.
"Has Isabelle enjoyed it here then?"
"I'd say so, she loves the hammock for sure," Ashton said, "Obviously this has all halted things,"
"How long until she recovers?"
"A while,"
"She won't mind us going home, right?"
"No, I think she will feel overwhelmed with too many people. Ash and I are trying to get her comfortable with our life too, not yours,"
"That sounds fair,"
"I'm sure she will appreciate the visit, but Kaykay and I are gonna be there for when she wakes up because it can be frightening,"
"Okay, you're the doctors,"
After tea, we got in the car and drove to the hospital, leaving mum and dad in the waiting room. With a sense of urgency, we rushed to Isabelles room and sighed with relief to see her in a gown, all stitched up.
"Brilliant! You're here," Luke said, "Ready to wake her up?"
"Please take the tube out her throat as soon as possible,"
"We will,"
So, we sat and watched as they began to reverse the coma, removing things, and hooking on other bits and pieces. Her heart rate shot up, so I grabbed her hand and kissed it, a small groan escaping her body.
"Hey baby, it's Kaykay, and Ashton,"
Luke removed the tube as she began to panic, then Ash gently held her shoulders to stop her moving.
"Ow," she croaked, "Ow,"
"Painkillers are up and running!" Luke said, "Can you open your eyes for me?"
She began to sob, and whimper, so I kissed her cheek and rested my head beside her so that she could feel I was there. Her grip on my hand was so tight I was afraid it would cut off circulation, and the sobs beside me were ear-bursting.
"You're awake now, Isabelle. I promise this isn't the medicine making you sleep and dream,"
Slowly, she blinked her eyes open and turned her head to me, welling up. I kissed her head and Ashton let go.
Luke checked her eyes but she pulled away again and let out a loud cry.
"Hey, Isabelle, it's Luke. You remember Luke right? We had to take you into emergency surgery a couple of days ago, and then we had to induce a coma. I'm sure you know about them because you want to be a surgeon, but you were in it for a couple of days until now. This is real life, okay?"
"Kaykay,"
"Hey, it's okay. I know it hurts princess,"
"I can breathe,"
"You can," I sniffed, "If you use that ability and calm down, maybe I can get you a drink and we could talk,"
"It hurts,"
"Your painkillers will work soon," Ash said, "You are doing so amazing,"
As she laid in my arms, she began to calm down, realising that crying was probably adding to the pain. Eventually, Luke sat the bed up and then paged a couple of people and asked the nurse for water.
When she came back with water, Lewis and Juliet were following. I felt Izz relax in my arms, and she turned to see them.
"These two have been worried about you,"
"Why?"
"Well they are the ones who made the decisions that kept you alive," he smiled.
"I feel like I'm gonna be sick because it hurts so much,"
"We can maybe let you sleep again soon, but you need to eat, and you have visitors," Ashton said, "And if you only want them in here for a couple of minutes then thats okay,"
"Who?"
"Mum and dad,"
"Are here?"
"Yeah," I said, brushing her hair back, "I'm sorry,"
"It's okay,"
"I'll get them,"
Ashton left and she held her hands out to Lewis and Juliet, squeezing them.
"Thank you,"
"Our pleasure,"
"I feel a bit sick,"
"That's the medicine," Luke said, "You can sleep soon, okay?"
There was a moment of silence where I simply appreciated the sound of her breathing, and the movement of her hand in mine, but it was abruptly interrupted when mum and dad burst into the room.
Mum went to hug her and Lewis rapidly blocked her with his arm, Izz bringing her right arm over her torso. Dad simply covered his mouth and sat down.
"She's very tired, she can only manage a few minutes, mum,"
"May I hold her hand?"
I swapped places with her and gave Izz a reassuring nod, taking Ashton's hand instead.
"I am so sorry hunny, that this happened. How did she get so sick?!"
"She has been sick for a while, remember?" Dad said, "Why did you never tell us?"
"I don't know,"
"But you told Kaykay?"
"She didn't tell me, she collapsed. It's not a competition about who she likes or trusts more,"
"I know... she just looks so sick! Do you feel sick?" mum shot.
"Mhm,"
"Of course she feels sick," dad grumbled, "She has just had major surgery,"
"Well, Kaykay seems to be giving you an unsafe life, but if you're happy then we can't change that,"
"I am," she smiled weakly, "I am happy,"
"Okay sweetheart,"
Mum kissed her head, then dad did too, both of them deciding to leave on their own terms. Juliet also excused herself, then Lewis shut the door and smiled sympathetically, Izz looking up at him.
Suddenly, she started to laugh.
"They can't even visit their daughter after major surgery without arguing,"
I breathed out and started laughing too, shaking my head.
"She looks sick," she mocked, "No shit,"
"Someone's waking up," Lewis said, "Are they staying?"
"For one night, in our house,"
"I'll give it until midnight, you'll be back in the hospital for sure," Isabelle said, shutting her eyes as she adjusted her position, "Trust me, they'll drive you insane,"