Chapter 5

Once Brian’s decision had been made, things moved quickly. Less than a week after learning he had cancer, he found himself lying flat on his back on a table inside the dermatology clinic. A lump filled his throat as he looked up at the friends and family who had gathered around him. Dr. Sasek had graciously relaxed the rules to allow them into the room to wish him good luck and say their goodbyes before he went under the knife.

“You’ve got this, Rok,” AJ said, giving him a fist bump.

“You’re gonna be just fine, cuz.” Kevin squeezed his shoulder.

“We’ll be praying for you, Brian,” Howie added with a reassuring wink.

“Not that you’ll need prayers to get through this. 99.9% survival rate, remember?” Nick pulled down his mask to flash him a wry smile.

Brian smiled back behind his own mask. “Thanks, fellas,” he croaked, blinking back tears. “Thanks for being here.” Their words gave him courage, yet he couldn’t help but feel afraid. What if something went wrong? What if there were complications, and he died? “I… I just want you to know that if something happens, and I don’t make it…”

“Brian, what are you talking about?” Howie interrupted him, his brown eyes wide with concern. “Don’t say that, please. Nothing’s going to happen; you’ll come out of this just fine, okay?”

“I know, but just in case. I want you to make sure my family’s taken care of.” Brian sniffled, tears dripping down his nose. “And if they do have to take my arm…”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Fuck you, Brian,” he muttered, stumbling backward on his artificial leg. “Quit being so goddamn dramatic. You’re gonna be fine!”

Dr. Sasek cleared her throat as she approached the table. “Your friend’s right. It really is a routine procedure. You’ll be headed home in twenty minutes.”

Brian blinked. “In a coffin?”

She raised an eyebrow. “In your car.”

He took a shaky breath. “Okay… let’s do this.”

On either side of him, Leighanne and Baylee bent down to kiss his forehead, whispering words of love and encouragement into his ear. Then they all stepped out of the room to wait while Dr. Sasek performed the surgery.

“Are you ready, Brian?” the doctor asked.

Brian put on a brave face and nodded. “As I’ll ever be.” He closed his eyes and began to count back from ten, just as they’d had him do in the operating room before his open heart surgery. He hadn’t made it to one before the anesthesia had put him to sleep. When he woke up, the surgery was already over. But this time, he opened his eyes to find Dr. Sasek standing over him with a syringe in her hand.

“Sorry,” she apologized. “I probably should have told you – we don’t use general anesthesia for this type of procedure. I’m just going to give you some local to numb the area. Little pinch here…”

“Oh,” said Brian, embarrassed. He winced when she injected his shoulder, which began to tingle as it gradually turned numb.

Twenty minutes later, the nurse was bringing him back to the waiting room in a wheelchair. “Husband!” Leighanne gasped, jumping up when she saw him. “Are you all right? Are you too weak to walk?”

“He’s fine,” the nurse assured her quickly. “He just got a little woozy when the doctor was bandaging his shoulder, so we thought it would be better if he sat down for a while.”

“I’ll be all right, baby,” Brian said hoarsely. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought.”

“You still have your arm, I see.” Nick smirked behind his mask.

Brian nodded. “And my doctor thinks she got all the cancer.”

“Well, good. Glad that’s over with,” said Nick. “Now let’s get you home.”

“Wait…” Leighanne reached into her Wylee tote bag and pulled out a wide-brimmed hat and a pair of sunglasses. “We have to protect him from the sun,” she said, handing her husband the shades and securing the hat over his naked scalp. “A bald head will burn, you know.”

“Yeah, and I don’t wanna risk losing my head next,” added Brian with a smile. “Amputation sounds bad enough, but decapitation? No, thank you!”

They all laughed, except for Nick, who scowled as he hopped out the door ahead of them.

***

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