guess she had plenty of vacation time and not enough money to take a real vacation.
“Morning, Mom.” Val leaned in and kissed Mom on the cheek before Mom closed the door behind her. There were only a few feet between the front door and the bathroom, so I could actually get a really good look at my mom. She had dark circles under her eyes and her roots definitely needed a touch up. But she still had a smile on her face. She never stopped smiling, even when her life was falling apart.
“Hey, Val. Hey, Melanie.” Mom stopped at the bathroom door. “Ready for breakfast?”
Chapter 16
It was the longest weekend of my entire life. Not to mention that I had my sister sleeping on my couch and my Mom sleeping on an air mattress on the floor, so my apartment felt even smaller than it already was.
But it was better to have people there instead of being alone. Well, I might not have been alone if John had anything to do with it, but cuddling with John was not an option.
I stared out the window of my mom’s car as we pulled into the emergency room entrance. I was too shocked to even ask the doctor what might happen afterward. If there was any risk that I wouldn’t survive the procedure.
A bored looking nurse sat behind the desk and barely glanced up as we entered. I expected to see more bloodied and beat up people waiting around, but the room was surprisingly empty.
“Hi, I’m Melanie Wilder, I’m here to check in for surgery.”
“Do you have your ID and insurance card?” The woman didn’t even look up from her computer.
I pulled the cards from my wallet and handed them to her. She made a copy of both items and sat back down at the computer. “Okay, it looks like we have you set up with Dr. Rodriguez. A nurse will be with you shortly to get you prepped for surgery.”
“Okay.” I nodded.
I took a seat with Mom and Valerie in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs in the waiting area. There wasn’t a single magazine that was newer than six months old and some boring infomercial on the TV. So I sat and let my mind wander. John wasn’t there. I told myself that he would probably show up later, but part of me thought he wouldn’t come at all. That he finally realized this was all a mistake. I knew I couldn’t worry about John, but he was still on my mind. It was easier to worry about a guy ditching me than to think about what would happen if this procedure wasn’t successful.
When the doors swung open in the lobby, I thought maybe it was John coming in, but instead it was a limping guy on the arm of his wife. I let out a deep breath after they walked to the desk.
“Looking for someone?” Valerie leaned over.
“No. Well, Monica said she’d come by, but she may have meant to my apartment afterward.” Monica did say that she wanted to be there for my surgery, but I didn’t expect her to be.
“Uh huh, and is Monica over six feet tall and looks like she just walked off a body building set?” Valerie raised her eyebrows.
Mom looked over Valerie’s shoulder. “Is everything all right over here? Are we waiting for someone else?”
“Melanie’s boyfriend,” Valerie blurted.
“You have a boyfriend? And he’s coming here?” Mom blinked hard. She had at least three cups of coffee, but still looked exhausted.
“He’s not my boyfriend.” I elbowed Valerie in the side. Of course she had to bring him up when Mom was around. She’d probably eventually meet him, if he did show up, but I didn’t want him introduced as my boyfriend.
“What is he then?” Valerie had a small smile on her face that Mom couldn’t see. Of course she would pin me in the corner. My stupid big sister was always trying to rat me out. She’d been doing that since we were kids.
“He’s a friend. Who I sort of like...” I stammered, trying to think of a word to describe John. I liked him, yeah. He was funny and charming and unbelievably good looking. Yet he also had other girls that were always clamoring for his attention. I guess friends for now would still work. That was what we said. Before last night. Before he made me orgasm in a very public place. “Can we just talk about something else?”
“Like what? The weather?” Valerie blinked.
She had a point. There was that unspoken subject hanging over our heads: why we were here. That I was going in for surgery to remove my cancer. That this might not work. That my body may still be broken beyond repair.
When the door opened again, I didn’t even look up, expecting it to be another set of hobbling people. But then Valerie sat up straighter, puffing out her chest. “Hey, Monica. Hey, John.”
What? I blinked hard before I glanced in the direction my sister was looking. There stood Monica, Trey, and John. Monica smiled at Valerie and Trey introduced himself, but John just stood there with his hands in his pockets, looking like a little kid who was about to be reprimanded.
Mom stood and hugged Monica and then examined a button on Monica’s coat. “Monica, I knew you were dating the governor’s son, but have you switched parties as well?”
Monica rolled her eyes and held out the button that read “Chapman for Governor.” “No, I lost a bet on who would win Dancing with the Stars and I have to wear this for the rest of the holiday.”
Mom turned and shook hands with Trey. “Well, I’m glad that you’re keeping her in line. Someone has to.”
He briskly shook her hand. “The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Wilder.”
Then Mom’s eyes flitted over to John. Mom was petite like me so he towered over her. He was in his usual backwards hat and an AM hoodie. Not that I expected him to dress up to meet my mom, but it didn’t look like he was trying to impress her in any way. Maybe he didn’t think he needed to make a good impression if we weren’t dating.
“You must be the boy that Valerie was just telling me about.” She stepped in front of him.
“Um, I don’t know what boy she was talking about, but I’m John. Melanie’s friend.” He shook her hand, his eyes jerking around nervously before they landed on mine and he offered a small smile.
“Friend? You must be a very good friend to come here for her surgery. I’m sure she appreciates it very much.”
He nodded, letting go of my mom’s hand with his eyes locked on mine. “I’d like to think so.”
Luckily the awkwardness was broken up when the nurse came in with a wheelchair to take me to surgery prep. “Um, I don’t think I need this. I’m not an invalid or actually sick or anything.”
The peppy nurse smiled, bobbing her head. “Sorry, it’s hospital policy.”
“Fine.” I reluctantly sat in the wheelchair.
“And are you all family?” She looked at the entourage I had gathered.
“Yes,” Mom said, not letting anyone else speak.
“Okay, then, follow us and I’ll point you to the waiting area.”
As I was wheeled down hallway after hallway, I thought about all of the steps that led me to this point. The mistake of being too trusting with my ex—and here I was facing a disease. And, ironically, it was my quest for bedding John that led me to getting checked out by a doctor in the first place. If I’d never met John or decided that I liked him, would I be where I was right now? Or would my condition have gotten worse?
The nurse wheeled me to a curtained off area with a small bed and different machines surrounding it. She pulled a gown from a drawer and set it on the bed. “You’re going to need to get completely undressed and put on this gown. Another nurse and tech will be with you shortly to get you prepped. Have a great day and good luck.”
The rest of my entourage was standing around the bed. I didn’t exactly want to get undressed in front of everyone, so I was glad when Monica spoke up. “Um, I think I’m going to head over to that waiting room she talked about. Is that cool?”
“Yeah, that’s fine.” I nodded.
Monica leaned over and gave me a big hug. “Good luck in there. We’ll be waiting.”
