by Jenny Wood
“Probably not.” Kayson deadpanned. It fell on deaf ears because Kingsley walked to my bed and took my hand.
“That true?” He asked. I could only shake my head; if I opened my mouth, I’d vomit or cry, I didn’t want to chance it.
“What do you say, baby? Wanna spend forever with me?” He smirked, blinking back his own tears. I nodded frantically, still not able to open my mouth. Seeing his wet eyes and gorgeous smile about pushed me over the edge. He leaned down to kiss me and everyone called out in congratulations, making us both laugh.
“Mr. Blackwell, we’re all set. Are you ready to come on back with us?” A nurse came in and interrupted our celebration. My stomach sank, the reality of everything suddenly hitting me like a ton of bricks. I didn’t realize my head was shaking “no” until Kingsley grabbed my cheeks and put his face in mine.
“Hey,” He says softly. “What’s all this?” wiping my eyes.
“I don’t wanna do it.” I whisper, terrified suddenly, now that it was time. “I’m scared.” I tell him honestly. It hurts him to hear that, he flinches and sits next to me on my bed; everyone else has gone out into the hallway to give us privacy, I assume.
“Baby, you’re gonna do great.” He says, pulling me into his lap. I wrap myself around him, sticking my face in his neck, inhaling his scent. I need it right now, the safety of it.
“I wanna marry you.” I say brokenly.
“Yeah?” He pulls back and looks at me, smiling.
“Yeah.” I say. He kisses me, deep and long.
“You want me to go get a priest right now? I’ll do it.” He tells me, making me laugh at his enthusiasm.
“We don’t have time.” I smile up at him.
“When you get back then.” He shrugs; kissing me again.
“Okay.” I whisper against his lips.
“Good, so go get it over with so I can make you Morgan Kennedy.” He laughs.
“Okay.” I agree, taking a deep breath.
“I love you.” He says seriously. “So fucking much.” He closes his eyes and wraps his arms around me one more time before putting me back in bed and standing up.
“Let’s let everyone wish you well before they take you for a nap.” He smiles and calls everyone back into the room.
“You’re gonna be just fine.” Layla says, hugging me tightly, crying her own silent tears for me. Everyone talks about her like she’s crazy but she’s been the biggest mother hen to all of us since she got pregnant. I didn’t know her before, but I’m glad I got to know her now.
“Hope so.” I smile as she steps back and let’s Jinx and Jody both wrap me up in a hug.
“Welcome to the family, little brother.” Jinx says and Jody smiles. “We’ll all be here waiting on you when you get through, alright?” Jody asks. I can only nod. Family; I have a family now. I close my eyes and say a little prayer; Please don’t take me away from these wonderful people who want me to be their family. I say. Kayson is in front of me when I open them. He grabs my hands in his and looks at me so intently. I’m afraid of what he’s going to say.
“I’m wearing a sky blue suit to your wedding.” Is what he says. That, I wasn’t expecting and it startles a surprised laugh from me, making everyone follow suit. He hugs me and whispers “Welcome to the family,” and just like that, I felt calm.
They all shuffle out and leave me with Kingsley once again. The nurse says we have to go and I grab his face and pull it to me one more time.
“I love you.” I whisper.
“I love you too.” He whispers back. “Go, and hurry up and come back to me.” He smiles, kissing me lightly on my lips as the nurses come in and fasten my bedrails and unhook all of my IV’s from the walls. I watch Kingsley smiling while they work, never taking my eyes off of him. I’m going to be back. I’m going to be back and I’m going to be fine because I have a family waiting on me now and an amazing man that wants to marry me. I see him wink at me before they wheel me away and I keep that wink and that smile with me until they put me under.
Chapter 17: Kingsley
Waiting is the worst.
Nobody could tell us an estimated time because it really just depended on what they saw when they got in there. It was going to take a while and patience was not one of my strong suits. Still, everyone sat around, quietly waiting and praying that everything would go okay.
“How you holding up?” Jody asked.
“I’m nervous. I want it to be over already.” I tell him, honestly. He nods in understanding.
“We’ll know something soon.” He says, patting me on the back and sticking close to me. I would be a complete basket case if my family wasn’t here with me; even Kady called and talked to him earlier, offering her support. Merissa had only told her she was having an operation, so she didn’t know the severity of it; still, she offered to bring him corndogs when he got better, which he readily accepted that invitation.
I paced and fidgeted for what seemed like hours. Everyone was getting antsy and trying to get me to go to the cafeteria or to just go for a walk, but I couldn’t leave, I didn’t want to miss anything; an update or a problem, I was scared to leave this area, no matter how long it took.
I hoped he wasn’t scared. I hoped that whatever was going on right now, he knew that I was here, waiting for him. I hoped that even in sleep, he would be dreaming of the life we were going to have together and fighting like hell to get back to me.
Finally, after six and a half hours, a doctor came and called my name. My heart literally felt like it stopped for a whole minute before someone nudged me, to get my attention.
“Me, I’m here.” I croaked. His face was impassive, I couldn’t read any news, good or bad.
“Mr. Kennedy, I’m Dr. Gleeson. I’m happy to tell you that your partners surgery went very well. Fortunately for him, we were able to resect the majority of the tumor.” I sighed so hard, my knees almost gave out. Kayson put his arm around me and I leaned heavily into him for support.
“Now, unfortunately, it’s going to be a rough night; surgeries like this one have many complications and we need to keep an eye on infection and clotting. At the moment, he’s got a drain tube, draining the fluid and we’re going to be keeping him asleep for the night.” I nod in acknowledgement, just barely hearing anything else that he’s saying, yet hanging on every single word.
“Also, while I have no cause to believe that he suffered any complications, we can’t be sure until he wakes up. In some cases, facial paralysis is common, slurred speech, vision loss and sometimes even significant memory loss. We need to prepare for these things in case they happen, but I have every belief that he’s going to be just fine.” He says. I thank him profusely, shaking his hand and hell, I almost want to hug him.
“Can I see him?” I almost beg. He looks like he might say no, but he relents.
“Only you and only for fifteen minutes.” He says sternly; I agree immediately. Turning to look at the room of our waiting family, I tell them I’ll be right back. Kayson pushes me and tells me to go see my boy. I waste no more time.
When I walk into the small room, I can hear machines beeping and swooshing. Walking around the trash bin, I get my first look at my fiancé. That’s the first time I’d called him that; even to myself. I admit, it tripped me up, in the best way. He looks so small lying in such a big bed. He’s got his head wrapped up in gauze-like wrapping, a machine is moving his chest up and down and I notice the tube sticking out of his mouth. The nurse beside his bed smiles politely at me as I sit beside him and carefully take his hand.
“That tube?” I point to the one in his mouth.
“Just a little help, honey. It’ll come out in the morning.” She smiles again.
“Is he in any pain?” I ask.
“Not a bit, he’s resting comfortably.” She answers.
“Can he hear me?” I want to know.
“Some say he can. Never hurts to give it a try and you can ask him when he wakes up.” She smiles and pats my shoulder
on her way out.
“Hey baby.” I murmur softly. “You did it.” I tell him; rubbing my fingers over his hand, it’s warm.
“You made it. Now all you have to do is wake up tomorrow. I’ll be here. I don’t think they’re going to let me stay tonight, but bet your ass, I’ll be the first face you see when you open those eyes.” I vow. I lean over the rain the kiss his hand and I can’t help the onslaught of tears.
“I’m so glad you’re okay, baby. I’m so glad.” I chant. “I can’t wait to take you out of here; I can’t wait to take you home. I’m not ever letting you go, Morgan. Not ever.” I promise. I sit with him for longer than they initially allowed before a nurse came in and enforced the rules. I reluctantly left him lying there but I promised on my heart that I’d be back first thing in the morning.
I went home; to our house. I needed to be surrounded by everything that was him. Kayson tried to get me to come back home with him but it suddenly didn’t feel like home anymore. I needed Morgan and if I couldn’t have Morgan I needed to be reminded of him. I went home and curled up in our bed, hoping to sleep away the hours until I could see him again. I slept curled up with his pillow, it still smelled like him. It reminded me of him telling me that he slept with the blanket that I’d slept on the night we met and I could honestly agree right now that it had the same effect on me. I tried to wonder how it was possible that after only a couple short weeks that this man had become to mean so much to me. When faced with the possibility that the person you care about, might not be here tomorrow; it seems to make things progress at warp speed. It highlighted my need for him, I guess. I wasn’t questioning it; nobody had ever made me feel like this before.
Morning couldn’t come soon enough and it seemed like the longer I looked at the clock, the slower time went. I woke up from my twentieth, cat nap and saw that it was finally late enough that I could go to the hospital and it classify as “morning”. I jumped up, took a quick shower, texted Kayson and Jody to let them know I was going ahead over and I wasted no more time getting to him.
When I walked into his room this morning, there was a very tall, slim, beautiful man standing next to his bed, wearing a very nice fitting pair of scrubs with little teddy bears on them. He had a clip on his shirt with the name “Cameron”
“Good morning.” He smiled. His voice, more feminine and soft than I expected it to be.
“Morning.” I say back. “How is he?” I ask, going to Morgan and taking his hand.
“He’s doing great, we took the tube out around four this morning and the doctor should be back around nine to wean him off the meds; so he should be waking up soon.” He smiles reassuringly. “The swelling has gone down and his drainage is a nice healthy color, we’re hopeful we can get that closed up later on this afternoon or maybe in the morning and it should be smooth sailing from there.” He says soft but proud. I feel like the weight I had on my chest since yesterday had been suddenly lifted.
“That’s great.” I whispered, tracing little circles on the back of Morgan’s hand. I sat there quietly while Cameron checked things and charted. He was in and out of the room off and on for the next couple hours. He was always friendly and patient as he answered any question that I had. It wasn’t until the guys came in that he started ignoring us all in the room and not making eye contact. I saw him looking at Jody several times and getting caught, then he’d blush. I wonder what that was about? Looking over at Jody, I noticed him watching the small man just as often. I couldn’t help but snicker at their obvious checking each other out.
“Got something on your mind?” Jody growled, frowning at me from his spot across the room. Cameron’s shoulders got tense as he chances a glance my way before ducking his head and exiting the room.
“I can’t tell if he likes you or you scare him.” I commented with a chuckle.
“Who?” He played stupid.
“Kayson” I deadpanned, rolling my eyes. He knew damn well who I was talking about; Cameron was the only other one in the room besides us.
“You gotta thing for me, Kayse?” He asked, being a stubborn ass.
“Not a chance, homeboy.” Kayson said back; ignoring our back and forth for a magazine on celebrity weddings.
“Hey, King. Are you going to wear the dress in your wedding, or is Morgan?” He smirked, trying to look innocent.
“Morgan might, if Conner lets him borrow his after you guys get married.” I suggested, wiping the smile from his face quicker than shit.
“Not funny” He murmured, going back to the magazine. I knew my brother loved Conner and I had no doubt they’d get married soon, but they weren’t in any hurry to set a date or anything; they were content with the way things were, for now. Me? I’d marry Kingsley right this second, if I could.
“Good morning, gentleman.” The doctor said as he strolled in. We all stood and greeted him, nervously.
“Looks like everything looks good here, what do ya’ll say we wake up, Mr. Blackwell?” He asks the room after looking over the notes in Morgan’s chart.
“Is he okay enough for that?” I asked worriedly.
“I wouldn’t wake him up if I thought, not.” He smiled at me, politely answering my question.
“Okay.” I reply softly. The doctor writes some things down and a nurse comes in with more paperwork to add to Morgan’s chart. He tells her to go ahead and stop the drip going into his arm with whatever it is that is making him stay asleep.
“It could be anytime from ten minutes to ten hours; he’ll just wake up when he’s done with his beauty sleep.” The doctor smiles at us all. “Everybody’s different but everything seems to be looking good, so…. shouldn’t be long.” He tells us, shaking our hands after asking if any of us have questions. None of us did at the moment so he excused himself and told a still blushing Cameron that he’d be back, once Morgan was awake. We all sat down to wait.
“King” Kayson said, snapping my attention from the TV, to him. I saw him pointing at Morgan and my head twisted around so fast, it’s a wonder I didn’t fall over. Morgan was awake, staring at us all in confusion.
“Hey” I say, quietly; hoping that my voice isn’t too loud for him. He opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out; not a sound. He looks annoyed by it instead of freaked out.
“Do you hurt anywhere?” I ask him. He shakes his head and looks around the room.
“Do you remember who we all are?” I ask, afraid of what the answer might be. He rolls his eyes at me halfheartedly and tries to lift his hand out to me. I grab it in mine and feel him squeeze.
“Gone?” He mouths, just barely above a whisper.
“The tumor?” I ask, answering before he can confirm. “They think they got most of it, it’s not even showing up in scans anymore. It’s too tiny, what they left. They’re convinced chemo for a month or so will get rid of it.” I tell him what the doctor told us.
“Day s’it?” He slurred.
“Thursday. Doc says if you play your cards right, you might get out of here by Monday.” I smile. “I need to call the nurse now that you’re awake and make sure everything is okay. Alright?” I ask, waiting on him to nod in confirmation. While I press the button I can’t help but seek out his lips for a kiss. “I’m so happy you’re okay. Let’s not to this again, k?” I whispered against his lips, watching him smile and nod again. By the time I sat back in my chair, the nurses came bustling in with all their gear, just waiting to check my boy out. Hopefully, Monday will come sooner than later. I’m ready to get us home.
Epilogue: Morgan
True to the doctor’s words, I was home six days later after sleeping for the first two. Still, I was going stir crazy in the hospital, on my own, most of the time. Conner came to sit with me a lot and we were slowly making friends with Cameron, my night nurse, who we found out, had a big ol’ fat crush on Jody. The guys had all went back to work and since Conner was still getting over his ordeal and predominately working from home most of the time; he’d had the time to come sit with me
while I slowly went out of my mind with boredom.
“Morgie, Bubby says that when you guys get married, I get to wear a real pretty dress.” Kady says beside me on the couch where I’m sleepily trying to keep my eyes open. She’d come to our house today while Kayson worked and Kingsley was out picking up dinner.
“Yep, you sure do, get to. I was thinking a really pretty red one, what do you think?” I ask her, knowing she didn’t want a pink one because red was her current favorite color. I’d learned a lot of things about her today because the little girl was a fountain of information. I’m just glad we got along well because I know she’s one of the most important part of Kingsley’s life.
“I could do red.” She agrees, thankfully.
“It’s not going to be until next year though. In the Spring; you’ll be seven then, won’t you?” I ask, knowing she will because her birthday is in February and our wedding, we’d decided was going to be in May. We hadn’t really talked about much else, but when someone would ask us a question about it; like colors, flowers, the date; we answered them spontaneously and went with it. It drove Conner, crazy.
“I’m back with grub!” Kingsley yelled as he came barreling in the front door. “Chicken and dumplings for Morgan; friend chicken for the King and corn dogs and mac-n-cheese for my Kady-bug,” he announces, setting everything on the table and began taken them out of their bags.
“I’ll get plates and silverware.” I tell them, grabbing everything we need from the kitchen.
“Kayson is coming to get you in an hour, Squirt. Your Ma says she’ll meet you at Conner’s bookstore after she gets off work. Kayson and Conner will help you with your health assignment, you know he’s got all the books you’ll need there.” Kingsley smiles at her and winks. I feel like I’ve just gotten a look into my future and I hope that it’s very near to this, right here.
“Morgie says I get a red dress for your wedding.” She tells him, seeming to ignore what he’s just explained to her. He turns to look at me, rather befuddled. “Morgie?” he mouths. Yes, she’s only today started calling me that, but now it’s stuck. She’ll call me nothing else.