“I won’t be doing the procedure, but I’ll be there the whole time,” Doctor Mendez said, holding my gaze. “I won’t leave her for a moment.”
I nodded, swallowing hard. She didn’t have to show up that morning, but when I’d taken Rebel in to get her ears checked the day before and she’d seen what a wreck I was, she’d promised she’d be there.
“Looks like I’m with you this morning,” Jan announced to Doctor Mendez as she came back into the room.
“Great.” Doctor Mendez glanced at me. “I heard you kicked one of the nurses out.”
“She sucks. I’ve worked with her before,” I said, holding my ground. They could bitch all they wanted. If Samantha went anywhere near Rebel, I was going to find her in the dark parking lot after a nightshift.
Doctor Mendez laughed lightly. “Okay, then.” She nodded. “You ready?”
“Are you?” I asked seriously.
“Easy peasy,” she replied with a reassuring smile.
I took a deep breath and leaned down to kiss Rebel again. “I’ll be right here when you wake up, boo,” I whispered. She didn’t stir.
I leaned back up, nodded once, and before I could change my mind, Jan was kicking off the brakes on the bed and rolling Rebel out of the room.
“I’ll come get you as soon as we’re done. Quick in and out. We’ll be back before you can finish your coffee.”
“Not quite,” I said tightly.
“Pretty damn close,” she shot back. “And then no more ear infections.”
She walked out of the room and as soon as she was gone, I staggered backward into Mel.
“You’re good,” she said, squeezing my shoulders. “Now, let’s get out of this room for a few minutes. You’re going to be in here for hours until Rebel’s released. No use staring at these walls longer than you have to.” She gave me a little shove and I started forward, pausing only slightly as my dad wrapped his arm around my shoulders and escorted me out of the room.
“Less bloodshed than I’d imagined,” he said as we hit the hallway and turned toward the waiting room. “Nice work.”
An hour later, when I was close to losing my shit, Doctor Mendez found us in the little surgical waiting room.
“Everything went well,” she said before she’d even come to a stop. “No problems with the anesthesia and the tubes were placed easily.”
“Is she off everything?” I asked, moving toward her. I’d already been on my feet. By that point, they were aching from all the pacing I’d been doing.
“Everything but the IV,” she said with a nod. “But you knew they wouldn’t take that out right away.”
“Is she in her room?”
“Jan was taking her there, and I came to find you. By the time you get there, she’ll be there—” The words were barely out of her mouth before I was calling thank you over my shoulder and racing down the hallway.
It had been the longest hour of my life. Longer than the hour I’d waited for news on Mason after someone had told me he’d collapsed on the football field. Longer than the last hour of labor.
I was shaking with relief when I got to Rebel’s room and found Jan tucking her more securely into the bed she was in.
“Didn’t want to leave her until you got here, since they didn’t put her in a damn crib like they should have,” she said, shaking her head.
“Thank you,” I said tearfully as I rounded Rebel’s bed and climbed up next to her.
“No problem,” Jan said as she threw some trash away and moved for the door. “She’ll be waking up soon I bet, but she’ll be groggy—you probably already know that.” She laughed and left the room.
“You did it,” I whispered, curling my body around Rebel’s. “Good job, baby.”
I closed my eyes and shuddered, wrapping my arm around Reb’s body, careful not to jostle her.
A few minutes later, I opened my eyes as Mel and my dad came quietly into the room. They’d been awesome during the surgery, talking to each other and to me, but not expecting me to answer. I’d been like a zombie, completely unable to function until I’d known that Rebel was okay. They were just . . . there. Exactly like I’d needed them to be.
Exactly the way I’d needed Will to be. I shook my head once. I was done worrying where the hell Will had disappeared to.
“Everything good?” my dad asked as he sat down in the chair by the bed.
“Yeah.” I sighed. Everything was good. I let my eyes drift shut again. I was so fucking tired. I guessed that was what happened when you stayed up the entire night worrying.
The sound of a camera made my eyes shoot open, and I glanced at Mel, who was messing with her phone.
“Sorry, I forgot to turn the stupid sound off,” she mumbled.