Within the next hour, a small gathering of friends had gathered in the waiting room at the hospital.
JC sat at Jenna’s bedside, refusing to leave her. He hung onto her hand, he stared at her sleeping form in the bed.
"I don't know if you can hear me, but they want to do the surgery earlier than Thursday. You are going in a few hours." He felt the tears burning his eyes. “I need you to stay with me, Jenna, I need both of you to stay with me. I can’t do it without you.”
He got no response from her, but felt her spirit there with him and that comforted him somewhat.
“C?” Justin said from the doorway. JC looked back at the door to see him standing there.
He didn’t say anything, just looked back at Jenna.
“I called your mom. They should be on the next flight out," Justin said, stepping into the room and closing the door.
“Thanks.”
“You OK?”
“I’m terrified, T. What happens if this all goes south?" JC asked quietly.
“It won’t. It can’t. She has too much to live for now. You, and now this baby. This will go off without a hitch, and you will have your family," Justin tried to reassure him.
“I hope you are right,” JC said, looking down at Jenna’s sleeping form on the bed, praying in his mind that his friend was right.
...
7:45 AM
The staff had prepared her for Jenna for surgery, which included shaving the part of her head that would require the incision. They had taken care to try to make it as easy to hide the suture line as possible, only shaving the underside of her hair.
She was still unconscious as they loaded her onto the gurney that would take her to the OR. He and Justin walked with her as far as the staff would let them go to the surgical suite.
JC stood there watching them walk down the hall through the door. Justin pulled him after a few minutes of standing there to go to the surgical waiting area.
There they waited for what seemed like forever to hear any word on Jenna.
Several hours later….
Karen stepped into the surgical waiting room. There she saw her son sitting on one of the couches, despondent and staring into space.
"How long has he been like this?” She asked Justin, as they both stood there watching him.
“Since she went into surgery, he hasn’t said a word. “ Justin replied.
“Give me a minute with him,” she said, Justin nodded his head and she walked into the waiting area. She walked over and sat down next to her son. "Josh?”
He looked over at the familiar voice and said, “Mama?”
"I’m here, baby,” she whispered as he moved closer to her and went into her waiting arms. He cried for several minutes, releasing all the unpent emotion from the last few hours.
“Have you heard anything yet?”
“No, it’s been almost five hours now.”
“Did they say how long it would take?”
“Five or six hours,” he said, standing up and beginning to pace the room. "I can’t take much more of this, Mom, I just want her to be ok.”
“Then let the Doctors do their jobs, Joshua. She will be fine, You’ll see.”
“There’s more, mom," he whispered.
“What more could there be?”
“Jenna is pregnant. About 4 weeks. They had to do the surgery now to keep her from having more seizures that they could not treat. Because of the baby...”
“Oh, honey. When did you find out? The last time I talked to her she said the tests were negative.”
“They were, but they were wrong. She is pregnant. Mom, I’m terrified that she is going to...” He let the end of his sentence go.
“No, no way Josh. You two have come too far to think that way. This is really scary, but your girl is tough. So is this baby if I know It’s mom and dad. Jenna needs you to be strong for both of them right now. I know that you are capable of that.”
“I’m scared.”
“I’d think you were smoking something if you weren’t scared right now. But this baby gives you both a reason to keep going. Especially Jenna. “
“I know you’re right. Thanks for talking me down again, Mom,” he said, hugging his mother tightly. She rubbed her hands up and down his back.
Lance walked into the waiting area, "Have you heard anything ?”
“No. Not yet.”
Chris showed up shortly after Lance. "Any news?”
“No." JC shook his head. He sat back down, and rested his head against the wall behind the couch and closed his eyes. He nodded off, and everyone left him alone for a while.
D.r Black appeared in the doorway of the waiting area a short time later. Karen nudged her son awake. “Josh, Dr. Black is here.”
JC stood up, “Is she ok?”
Dr. Black had a huge grin on his face. "The surgery could not have gone any better. We got it all out, and no seizures. She is in recovery right now. It will be like it was with the biopsy for the first 12 to 24 hours. She is currently on a vent, and being monitored very closely. She will be in ICU until she regains consciousness. “
“What about the baby?” JC asked
“Everything looks good so far, no problems as far as the pregnancy was concerned,” Dr. Matthews said, "We will keep a close eye on her over the next 24 hours, but I don't expect there to be any problems," she said, smiling at him.
“Thank God for that,” Karen said, putting her arm around her son’s shoulders.
“Can I see her?” he croaked.
“I’ll send a nurse out to get you when she is settled in her room,” Dr. Black said, and then he and Dr. Matthews left the waiting area.
“Oh my God, C. That’s great news. She is gonna be ok, and so is the little dude,” Chris said, hugging JC tightly.
...
30 minutes later, Sarah came thundering into the ICU waiting room, where all the family and friends had gathered.
“A TEXT MESSAGE? I GET A TEXT MESSAGE THAT MY DAUGHTER IS IN THE HOSPITAL. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!” she bellowed at JC, who was honestly in no shape to be yelled at.
Chris stood and Lance tried to stop him from saying anything, but he was mad and there was no stopping Chris when he was angry.
“Just exactly who the fuck are you?” Chris interjected.
“I’m Jenna’s mother. Who the hell are you?”
“I’m a friend. And one who does not understand why the hell you are coming in here yelling at JC and everyone? What the hell?”
“I have been taken out of my daughter’s life and have no say in what happens to her anymore. And this asshole can do what he wants with my baby,” Sarah said, looking at JC with venom on her breath.
“You can blame me for that,” Kelly said, coming into the room. “Josh had nothing to do with this, other than signing the consents for the surgery. I’m the one who texted you that she was in the hospital. “
The color drained out of Sarah’s face. “Surgery? I thought it wasn’t happening for a couple of days.”
“They had to do it emergently. She was having seizures and they wanted to take it early,” Kelly said.
“And you let them.”
“Yes, we did. Because if we didn’t, it would have killed her, Sarah. Do you want her dead or alive?” Kelly seethed.
“Alive. I want her to be alive, of course,” Sarah gasped, not believing Kelly’s audacity.
“Get out of here,” JC said adamantly, from out of nowhere.
They all turned and looked at JC, who was still sitting on the couch. He was staring at his girlfriend’s mom, and he said it again louder. He practically screamed, "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE, SARAH. “
“YOU DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! I'LL STAY AS LONG AS I LIKE,” Sarah yelled back at him. William had walked into the room after parking their car to find his wife and his daughter's boyfriend standing off with each other.
Karen walked over to JC and pulled him up and said, "Now is not the time to do this, Joshua.”
“Listen to your mother, Joshua. Leave my daughter alone. You’ve done enough,” Sarah spit.
If looks could kill, Sarah would be dead by the look that Karen gave her. “You can shut up.”
“Are you gonna make me?” Sarah asked spitefully.
“You need to calm down honey, before you get us kicked out of here again.” William came up to his wife. “ This is not the way to go about things.”
JC was standing by now. “ I want her out of here. She is not good for Jenna right now.”
“And you think you are?” Sarah screeched.
A nurse walked into the waiting area, and said, "If you people do not hold it down here, I’m gonna ask all of you to leave.”
“You heard her, you both need to calm down,” Lance said, taking JC out into the hallway. JC was breathing heavily, he was so angry he was crying. “You need to calm down, C. You’re gonna have a heart attack and you won’t be any good to Jenna fighting with each other. “
JC ran down the hall to the bathroom, and slammed the door behind him. Where he proceeded to vomit into the toilet. He cried for a while, and after a while of being in the bathroom, he heard a knock on the door. It was Chris. "Man, are you ok in there? C? Come on man, talk to me.”
“I’m ok,” JC croaked, unlocking the door and stepping out into the hallway. His brothers had banded together in the hallway. Chris, Justin and Lance were all standing there. Lance had his phone out, and Joey was on Facetime.
"Wow bro, you look like shit." Joey said without missing a beat.
"How the hell is he supposed to look, Joe? His girl just had a 6 hour brain surgery?" Chris asked him, disappointed, but not surprised, by Joey's attitude
"Stop fighting," JC said quietly
"He started it," Chris said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Enough," Lance said, glaring at both of his friends.
“Man, we are all here for you and Jenna. Whatever you need, you let us know.”
“I need everyone around me to stop fighting with each other. Please. I can’t take it anymore,” JC said,lLooking very much at the end of his rope. “What I need is for my girlfriend to be ok. That’s all I care about right now.”
Kelly walked into the hallway, "JC? The nurse is here to take you to Jenna.”
He looked at the small crowd in the hallway, and said ''Thank you” and followed Kelly to where the nurse led him back to the ICU. The same one she had been a month earlier.
Oddly enough, he was not as scared as he was the first time around. He walked into the room, and kissed her forehead. Noting that the bandage on her head was tight, with her hair in a braid coming out the top. That, he was sure, Kelly had done, because she did not want Jenna to have bed head. He grinned, and said, "Thank God you made it through this. Now you just have to open your eyes and come back to me, Jenna. I need you both.”
He sat on the edge of her bed and took her hand in his. She remained silent, and he knew she would for the next few hours while her body played catch up. He thought back to the day before, waking up and none of this was a thought in either of their minds. He knew this surgery was coming, but to happen sooner than planned… Liam was the silver lining in all of this.
He heard a gentle tap on the door, seeing his mom come into view. “I’d ask how you’re holding up, but…”
“Mom, was this how you felt with Dad? I feel bad that I wasn’t there for more, I did what I could…”
“That’s what matters. Yeah, I imagine this feels like the same, somewhat. I was terrified of losing him, we all were. Jenna’s isn’t cancer, just a growth.”
“For now. Mom, what if it comes back, worse than now?”
“Then you deal with it, together. For now, you take things one day at a time. If that’s too much, an hour, minute, even a second if you have to. I’m gonna be a grandma, again…”
“I never thought this would happen, Mom. I loved Jen, but I never imagined this with her. Jenna has changed my whole world upside down, and I have no regrets except wishing I’d met her sooner.”
“You wouldn’t have been right for each other then. God places people in our lives at the right time. You went to the MMC audition to support your friend, you had no intention of auditioning yourself. Look where it’s led you, Josh. You’re what each other needs, now and in the future.”
“I wanna marry her, Mom. As soon as she’s recovered, I wanna marry her, as soon as we can, so we can start our forever now.”
“You can do that without being married. Don’t jump into it, Josh. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you’re thinking about marriage, but you don’t go in blindly.”
“I know everything I need to know. I love her, we’re having a baby… I’m gonna be a dad. Can I handle it?”
“You’re great with your nieces,” Karen sighed.
“The twins love their Uncle C,” Lance said from the doorway. “Permission to come in?”
“Who’s outside?” JC asked.
“All of us.”
“I’m warning you, there’s a lot of wires and stuff,” he sighed. “Come in if you think you can handle it.”
“We can handle it. For you, for Jenna,” Justin said firmly.
They all made their way into the room, staying around the perimeter to give Jenna space. “We’ll start a meal train, bring food to the house for you guys,” Michael said.
“Excuse me,” a nurse interrupted, “but keep the door closed so no one else sees how many of you are in here. COVID restrictions still have us restricting the number of visitors in a room. We understand the nature of this situation, but try to not be crammed in here for too long. I’m guessing Dr. Black didn’t explain about her after care?”
JC shook his head. The nurse cleared her throat. “She’ll need to go to a facility for full time care, especially given her epilepsy. If she were to have one at home, unmonitored…” She didn’t finish the thought. “I’ll make sure someone gets a list of centers to you for your consideration. I’ll make sure it’s an exhaustive list, not just one that accepts her insurance.”
“Cost is no problem,” Justin said, putting a hand on JC’s shoulder. “She’ll get the best care money can buy.”
“Thank you,” JC said to the nurse, glad to know now that he couldn’t take her home with him right away. He knew she’d need a few days in the hospital, but to not be home with him, he was still worried. “How long will she need to be there?”
“It depends on her recovery. If she’s doing everything she’s told, and recovery goes well, as early as 4 weeks. On the outside, maybe 6 to 8 weeks, or longer if she suffers a setback. Getting her in somewhere you want for that time frame will be critical. Most insurance will only cover 30 days, so moving her could impede her recovery.”
“I’ve got some research to do, I guess,” JC sighed. “I wish I’d known before the surgery so I could have been more prepared, already have somewhere in mind.”
“I’ll make sure you get the list tomorrow morning at the latest,” the nurse replied. “Visiting hours are almost over. Only Mr. Chasez will be allowed to stay after that.”
They all left, leaving JC and Jenna alone. He had been alone with her like this, but things hit him all at once. Tears streaked down his face as the many different possibilities ran through his mind. He fought the demons of the negative, trying to hold onto the light. He looked at the table beside her bed, the picture frame and the picture inside it giving him hope. The frame was simple, but it said “little miracle”, with the newest sonogram of Liam inside.
He sat down in the chair next to her bed, and took her hand in his. “They did another ultrasound this morning. The baby looks really good. His heart rate was 165. I wish you could see this picture. I bought a frame down in the gift shop for it. Please open your eyes, Jenna. I need to know that you are still with me. Please,” he said, kissing the back of her hand. He leaned into the bedrail with his head, and nodded off.
