Nini Salazar-Roberts wasn't afraid of much in her life but one thing she was terrified of was surgery. it had always been this huge ominous thing in her life. both her moms had procedures done when she was younger as well as her Lola, even a few of her friends too. she had prided herself on always being healthy enough to never need surgery.
that was, until she got a ovarian cyst. it was a benign cyst so she wasn't worried about cancer or anything but she was in pain. it was large and caused horrible cramps, leading to her not being able to get out of bed some days.
Ricky had been amazing throughout everything. with Nini's pain really ramping up within the last year, Ricky had been there to help her through everything. the couple had been living together in a condo they bought in Provo after they graduated from college.
the day of the dreaded procedure had finally arrived and Nini was not happy. Ricky, knowing how upset his girlfriend was the night before, decided to let her sleep a little longer than normal since her procedure wasn't until around noon.
Ricky came into their bedroom, kneeling softly on the bed and placing his hand on Nini's arm, rubbing softly, "morning beautiful. you have to get up, we gotta go soon."
Nini groaned and rolled onto her back, sighing as she looked up at her boyfriend with wide eyes, "i don't wanna go."
Ricky chuckled slightly, pulling the covers off of her body, "don't be silly Neens, get up and get dressed in something comfortable."
Ricky sat in the living room while he waited for her to get ready, scrolling through his phone and texting her moms while he waited. Nini came into the room dressed in a pair of loose joggers and one of his old tee shirts with her favorite pair of fuzzy socks. his face softened when he saw her.
Nini walked to the door, grabbing her coat and purse off the hook and slipping her vans onto her socked feet, "let's go get this over with."
Ricky chuckled and jumped up from the couch, grabbing his wallet and keys, slipping his vans on and meeting her outside the door. Nini was quiet the whole car ride to the hospital, not even humming along to the radio.
Ricky reached over and grabbed her hand, "it's gonna be fine Neens, it's a simple procedure. you'll even get to go home tonight."
she didn't respond, simply squeezing his hand. they pulled into a spot in front of the hospital in Salt Lake. Nini sighed and got out of the car, reaching for Ricky's hand as they walked in.
she was slightly spaced out as she got settled into her hospital room, not really paying attention to anything around her. she changed into her gown and laid down in the hospital bed, Ricky sitting next to her.
"your moms are on their way up, they just texted me that they're here." he said as he pushed a stray hair out of her face.
Nini nodded, "good. i want them here."
Ricky gave her his signature side smile, "i know you do babe."
just then, the two women came into the room. both were gushing over their daughter, Ricky chuckling at the three women all together.
"oh honey, how're you feeling?" Carol asked.
"i'm okay right now." Nini said quietly.
Dana held her hand, "we'll be here all day for you."
Nini smiled, "thank you."
the four adults talked for a little while, nurses coming in and out of the room to check on Nini. finally her surgeon had arrived and came to see her.
an older man with grey hair and a wide smile came into the room, "Nina! how're you doing today?"
Nini tried to smile, "i'm okay Dr Harris, a little nervous."
he smiled, "everything's going to be fine Nina, it's a standard procedure that i do every single day, you'll be fine."
Nini relaxed a little as the doctor went over the basic information. she reached for Ricky's hand after he left, squeezing it tightly.
a nurse came in with a cart, Nini immediately noticing the needles and tubes laid out, "what are those for?"
the nurse looked at her sweetly, "i have to start your iv line for the surgery."
Nini's eyes grew wide, "wait, like a needle?"
"yes hon, it'll be in your hand for the anesthesiologist to put you to sleep." she said as she prepared the tubes and the needle.
Nini frantically looked at Ricky sitting next to him, reaching her right hand out for one of his. he knew she was terrified of needles, his thumb gently rubbed over the back of her hand, "it's okay baby, it'll only hurt for a minute. just squeeze my hand if it hurts."
she nodded and closed her eyes as the nurse prepared her vein, the tourniquet tight around her arm. a tear slipped out as the nurse inserted the iv, Nini squeezing Ricky's hand tightly.
"okay, all done." the nurse said as she untied the tourniquet and taped the iv down to her hand before leaving the room.
Ricky smiled softly at his girlfriend and reached out to wipe the tear that had fallen down her red cheek. his fingers lingered for a moment, swiping over the flushed skin gently.
"Neens, babe you're gonna be fine. it's a simple procedure. it's much easier than when i had my tonsils out last year, you won't even have to stay the night like i did. after you wake up from surgery, i get to take you home and we can lay in bed and watch disney movies for the next three days. okay?"
Nini nodded and sniffled a little, Ricky chuckling a little. Carol and Dana sat back and watched the interaction between the young couple. they always knew that the kids loved each other but it was tender moments like this when that was reaffirmed.
another nurse came in the room, "okay Nina, it's time to bring you back for surgery now."
Nini turned to her moms, the two women standing and kissing her head as they told her that everything would be fine. she looked to Ricky the second they moved away, "Ricky, i'm scared."
he held her face gently in his hands, "you have nothing to be worried about Nini. your moms and i will be outside in the waiting room the whole time, we're not going anywhere, i'm not going anywhere. i'll be right beside you when you wake up, i promise. you'll be fine sweetheart, i love you so much."
Nini nodded, teary eyed, "i love you too." she said softly before lifting her chin up so she could kiss him quickly, wanting to remember his lips on hers before she went under.
he held her hand as the nurse began to push the bed, their hands separating, fingers lingering against each other.
"is that your husband?" the nurse asked quietly as they rolled down the hallway to the surgical wing.
"my boyfriend but we've been together since we were in high school. we've been best friends since we were kids." Nini said quietly, smiling a little at the mention of Ricky.
the nurse smiled, "well you make a beautiful couple."
the last thing Nini remembered before she fell asleep was getting into the OR, being lifted onto a table with her doctor standing over her, before becoming very sleepy and her eyes closing.
meanwhile in the waiting room, Dana couldn't help but notice how Ricky's leg hadn't stopped shaking since they sat down twenty minutes before.
"you're nervous aren't you?" she asked, leaning into the boy.
Ricky looked up from his phone, his brows furrowed, "huh?"
Dana's eyes glanced between the boys face and his bouncing leg, Ricky's face flushing when he realized she noticed. he set his phone down in his lap and willed his leg to stop moving.
"it's not that i'm nervous about the procedure, i know it's routine and she'll be fine, i'm just worried about her. i know shes never had surgery before so she's really scared and i just hate the idea of her being back there alone."
Dana smiled softly at the concerned face on her daughters boyfriend, "listen Ricky, my daughter is a big girl, she can handle this whether she thinks so or not. she's got you to help her recover, which i think is even better than us helping her. just let her rest and relax for the next couple days, both of you, you need it just as much as she does."
Ricky shook his head, "no, i need to take care of her. i promised i would and i'd never break a promise to Nini, ever. i can't relax when she's in pain or hurt, my number one priority is taking care of her."
"that's why i love you Ricky." Dana said as she laid her hand on his shoulder.
it wasn't much longer after their conversation that Dr Harris informed them that he was done with the surgery and that everything went extremely well, they'd removed the entire cyst and Nini would only have a slight keyhole scar from the incision on her lower stomach. Ricky immediately asked to go to the recovery room so he could be there when she woke up.
needless to say Nini was extremely glad that her boyfriend was the first person she saw when she woke up. she smiled lazily at him, still a little drugged up from the surgery, "Ricky. hi."
he chuckled a little, "hi baby. you okay?"
Nini nodded sluggishly, "my lips are dry, do you have my chapstick?"
Ricky smiled as reached into his pants pocket to pull out her chapstick that she kept in his car, puckering her lips comedically as he applied the chapstick to her mouth.
"thank you." she sang her response as he sat back down.
his hand found hers on the bed, their fingers interlacing, "god i love you." he chuckled.
"can we go home now?" Nini whined like a little girl.
Ricky nodded his head, "soon, i just have to sign some stuff and then we should be good to go."
Carol and Dana kept Nini company while Ricky signed all the medical documents. they were each other's emergency contacts as well as their medical care givers so they could make medical decisions for each other in times of need.
Ricky returned to find Nini dressed in her clothes and sitting on the edge of the bed, "i'm ready!" she said excitedly, the loopiness of the drugs still affecting her.
Ricky held her slightly as they walked back out of the hospital. with the help of her moms, they got her back into the car and buckled up.
"you sure you don't need us to follow you guys back home?" Carol asked as she hugged him.
he shook his head, "no we're good. i think i can take care of her on my own. i promise i'll call you guys if i need help."
Ricky bid his goodbyes to the two women he considered his own mothers and got into the car, seeing that Nini had already fallen back asleep. he smiled softly, his finger reaching out to trace her jaw before he started the car and began to drive home.
waking Nini up and getting her back into the house was a little more challenging. she didn't want to walk, her body weight fully on Ricky as he walked them into the house. she basically collapsed into the bed when they got to their room, curling herself under the covers as Ricky left the room to turn everything off for the night.
when he came back, Nini was wide awake and sitting up in bed. he crawled in next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "can we watch tangled?" she asked softly.
Ricky smiled, "anything for you my love, anything for you."
the couple cuddled into each other as the movie played on the tv on their dresser. maybe a couple days of relaxing with his favorite girl wouldn't be so bad after all.