by Sandi Lynn
“Do you know where we’re staying?” I asked.
“No. We can figure that out after we see Dr. Finn.”
“Oh,” my brow arched, “so we’re winging it?”
“We’re winging it.” He smirked.
We drove to Cedars-Sinai, and as we were looking for Dr. Finn’s office, a woman in scrubs with a stethoscope around her neck stopped us.
“Oh my gosh, you’re London.” She smiled.
“Yes. Yes, I am.”
“I’m Dr. Grace Finn. Dr. Finn’s wife. We spoke on the phone, Mr. Prescott.”
“Yes. Of course. Thank you so much.” He lightly shook her hand.
Dr. Finn turned to me and gave me a hug.
“It’s nice to meet you. I saw your blog. Your journey is amazing.”
“Thank you.” I smiled.
“Have you seen Jamieson yet?”
“No. We just flew in. We were looking for his office,” Damien replied.
“Oh. You’re in luck. I’m just on my way up there now. Follow me.”
We followed her into the elevator and up to his office. She lightly knocked on the door before opening it.
“Jamieson, Mr. Prescott and London are here.”
“Excellent. Come on in,” he spoke as he got up from his desk and shook my hand and then Damien’s. “Have a seat.” Dr. Finn gestured to the chairs across from his desk.
He took his seat behind his desk and Grace stood next to him.
“So, London, I was able to get your medical records from when you were ten years old and had the tumor first removed. I see they only took out ninety-five percent of it and then you underwent radiation.”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“And now, it grew back. I have your medical records and scans from all the doctors you visited, but I haven’t looked at any of them yet. I want to get a CT scan and an MRI and look at those first. I know you’re a pro at those.” He smiled.
“I am.”
“Do you by chance have your medication on you?”
“I do.” I reached into my purse and set the bag of pills on his desk.
“Great. I’ll look these over while Grace takes you to the imaging room. I’ll be there in few minutes. Damien, you can have a seat in the waiting room, and we’ll come get you when she’s done.”
“Thank you, Dr. Finn,” he spoke.
Damien turned to me and grabbed hold of both my hands.
“I love you, London. Good luck, baby.”
“I love you too.” I smiled as I kissed his lips.
Chapter 24
Jamieson Finn
I took a seat in the control room and Grace sat down next to me.
“How are you doing in there, London?” I asked through the intercom.
“I’m doing good, Dr. Finn.” She gave me a thumbs-up.
Her scans started to slowly load on the computer screen.
“Well, hello there, Teaghan, you big, beautiful tumor,” I said.
“Oh my god, Jamieson,” Grace spoke as her pager went off. “Damn it. I gotta go, babe. There’s a trauma coming in.” She kissed my head.
I stared at the screen and intently studied the tumor. I saw why nobody would touch it. I sighed as I leaned back in my chair and continued to study the area surrounding the tumor. I looked at the machine and stared at London. This woman was so full of life despite this thing growing inside that was slowly killing her. Was this really impossible? It sort of looked that way and I had a decision to make, but then again, I didn’t believe in the impossible.
“London, you’re all done. Andrea will take you to get changed and then back to my office.”
“Okay, Dr. Finn.”
I stepped into the waiting room and told Damien to come back to my office with me. I saw the nervousness written all over him and I felt bad for the guy. As soon as we stepped inside, London walked in.
“You two can have a seat right here.” I pointed to some chairs facing the monitors that were mounted on the wall.
Walking over to my computer, I pulled up London’s new scans and placed the ones she had done over a year ago next to them.
“The tumor is starting to get bigger and out of control. But I’m going to say that this happened over the course of the past couple of months.”
“Is the tumor operable, Dr. Finn?” Damien asked.
“I’m going to be very honest with you. I’ve only seen this type of tumor twice in my life, yours and my father’s. Except my father’s was malignant, and yours isn’t, which actually makes it one I’ve never seen before. But, a tumor is a tumor as far as I’m concerned. I removed my father’s, but yours is a little more complicated. There are significant, and I mean significant risks.”
“Like what?” Damien asked.
“One wrong move or mistake and London will die on the table. She could suffer from respiratory disturbances and circulatory dysfunctions as well as many other deficits. She could lose her ability to talk, walk, even see. The risks are high, I’m not going to lie to you. I need a couple of days to think about this and then I’ll be in touch. You are staying in Los Angeles, correct?”
“Yes. We’re staying.” London smiled.
“Dr. Finn, I don’t understand,” Damien spoke. “You can’t tell us now whether you’ll try to remove it or not?”
“No. There are things I need to work out first and study.”
“If I don’t have the surgery, how much longer do I have?” London asked.
“I’d say about a month before your body starts shutting down. Give me two days. It’s all I’ll need.”
“Thank you, Dr. Finn,” London spoke as she stood from her chair and shook my hand.
“Thank you.” Damien shook my hand.
I left the hospital early, went home, had dinner with my family, and then went right into my study. I brought London’s scans home with me along with the model of her brain and tumor. I sat at my desk and studied both.
“I made you a cup of coffee,” Grace said as she set the cup down on my desk.
“Thanks, sweetheart.”
“How’s it looking?” she asked.
“Not good. The tumor is wrapped around this one vessel right here. There’s no way I can get to it without damaging the vessel. What quality of life would she have if I did this surgery and something went wrong? She’d then wish she was dead. I don’t know, Grace. I don’t think I can do this. The risk is way too high. Higher than what it was for my father.”
“Well, you need to make a decision either way.” She kissed the top of my head and walked out.
As I was sipping my coffee and staring at the brain model, Ava, our seven-year-old daughter, walked in.
“Hi, Daddy. What are you doing?”
“I’m working, baby. Trying to see if I can save this woman’s life.”
She climbed on my lap and looked at the scans on my computer.
“That’s a bad, bad tumor, Daddy.”
“I know it is, baby, and I’m not sure there’s anything I can do. See how part of the tumor is wrapped around this vessel. Daddy can’t get to it without damaging the vessel.”
She intently stared at it for a while.
“Sure you can, Daddy.” She smiled as she looked at me.
“Is that so, little miss?” I arched my brow at her.
“Yes.” She picked up the model brain and held it in her hands. “First, you’ll go through underneath, right here.” She pointed. “Remove part of the tumor from there, close her up, and then go through the top of the brain and remove the rest. Easy peasy.” She grinned.
I looked at her and then took the model from her hands and held it up.
“It’s not easy to go through there, sweetie.”
“Sure it is, Daddy. You’ll have to do it while she’s sitting up.”
I narrowed my eye at her and then looked at the model and then back at the scans.
“Oh my God, Ava.” I kissed her head hard. “You’re a genius.”
“I know, Daddy.
” She giggled.
“Grace!” I shouted. “Grace!”
“What? What is it? What happened?” She ran into my study in a panic.
“I can do it. I can get to London’s tumor that’s wrapped around this vessel thanks to our genius daughter!”
“Huh?” She cocked her head.
“Tell her, baby. Tell Mommy what you told me.” I handed her the brain model.
“Daddy can get to this part of the tumor by going through here first. Then when that part is removed, he can go into the top of the brain and remove rest. Easy peasy.” She smiled.
“Pumpkin, that first area is impossible to get to because of the spinal cord,” Grace spoke.
“Wait for it, Grace.” I smiled.
“Not if Daddy does it while the patient is sitting up.”
“Oh my God,” Grace spoke. “Jamieson, she might be right. Do you think it’ll work?”
“It’ll work, Mommy.”
Chapter 25
London
Damien booked us a room at Casa Del Mar in Santa Monica right on the beach. The sun was about to set, so we went for a walk along the shoreline, hand in hand, and let the waves of the water wash over our feet. I was enjoying every second of this day I could and appreciating the beauty of it, because if by chance Dr. Finn decided to do the surgery, it might be the last time I’d see the sun set over the ocean water. As we were walking, Damien’s phone rang.
“Hello? Hi, Dr. Finn. We’re staying at Casa Del Mar in Santa Monica. Yes, of course. Just text me your address.” He ended the call.
“What did he say?” I asked.
“He asked if we could come to his house. He was going to meet us somewhere, but he’s only about ten minutes away.”
“Did he say why?”
“No. I guess we’ll find out when we get there. We should head to our room and go change.”
I detected a nervousness in his voice, and I knew he was pained with worry, either that Dr. Finn would do the surgery or he wouldn’t.
“Are you okay, baby?” He gently squeezed my hand as we drove to Dr. Finn’s house.
“I’m fine, Damien. I’ve been through this before, multiple times. How are you?”
“I have a good feeling that he’s going to give us good news. If he wasn’t going to do the surgery, he wouldn’t have asked us to come to his house tonight.”
“Maybe,” I spoke as I looked out the window.
We pulled up to Dr. Finn’s house and Damien rang the doorbell. When the door opened, an adorable little girl with wavy long blonde hair answered.
“Hello, there,” Damien spoke.
“Hi.” I smiled as I bent down.
“Hi. I’m Ava. Are you the lady with brain tumor?” she asked.
“I am.” I grinned.
“Come in.”
“London, Damien, thanks for coming over,” Jamieson spoke. “I see you met my daughter, Ava.”
“She’s adorable, Dr. Finn.”
“Hey, guys.” Grace smiled as she approached us. “Come in and take a seat in the living room. Can I get you anything to drink?”
“I’m good,” I spoke.
“Damien, you look like you could use a drink. Scotch or bourbon?”
“Bourbon. Thanks, Dr. Finn.”
Damien and I took a seat on the couch while Grace and Ava sat across from us. Dr. Finn handed Damien his drink.
“London,” Dr. Finn spoke. “I firmly believe that I can remove your tumor.”
The knot in my stomach intensified as I gave him a nervous smile.
“But it’s not going to be easy, and like I said earlier, the risks are very high.”
“Dr. Finn, how is it that you are agreeing to do this when all the other doctors said it was impossible?” I asked.
“I don’t believe in the impossible, London. If there’s a will, there’s a way. That’s why I’ve won more awards than all the other doctors.” He smirked. “Actually, my daughter, Ava, helped me out with this.”
“What?” Damien asked as he looked at Ava.
“My daddy is going to cut away the part of the tumor while she’s sitting up. That was my suggestion.”
“I’m sorry, but how old are you?” Damien smiled at her.
“I’m seven and I’m a genius. I’m smarter than my parents and I’m going to be a brilliant neurosurgeon like my daddy.”
“It’s true. She is smarter than me and Grace. Her IQ is off the charts. I’ve been teaching her about neuro since she could talk.”
“My goodness. Thank you, Ava.” I smiled at her. “You are definitely going to make a brilliant neurosurgeon one day.”
“She’s obsessed with brain tumors, thanks to him.” Grace rolled her eyes.
“I can do the surgery the day after tomorrow, if that’s what you truly want. This is a decision that shouldn’t be made lightly, London.”
“Will you be able to remove the entire tumor?” I asked.
“Yes. I believe I can. I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t think I could.”
“London, why don’t you come with me to the kitchen and I’ll make us some tea.” Grace smiled.
“Can I help, Mommy?”
“Of course you can, sweetie.”
Damien
“Another drink?” Dr. Finn asked.
“That would be great. Listen, Dr. Finn, do you in your honest opinion think London should go ahead with the surgery?”
“Let me you ask you the same thing.” He handed me my drink. “Do you think she should go through with it?”
“If there’s a chance I can be with her for the rest of my life, yes. I love her. I’ve never loved anyone before, and I never realized how empty my life was until I met her. I run my own company, I’m rich, successful, and I thought I had it all. Turned out, I had nothing.”
“I can totally relate to that.”
“Don’t laugh at me when I tell you this, but I’ve only known her a little less than a month.”
“Hey,” he put his hand up, “I barely knew Grace and we ended up married after one drunken night in Vegas.”
“Really?” I cocked my head at him.
“Really. You just know, Damien. You just know who your soulmate is regardless of the little time you’ve known them.”
“I’m begging you with my heart and soul to not let anything happen to her,” I spoke. “I need that woman in my life.”
“I’m going to do everything I can to make sure nothing happens to her. You have my word. But, the one thing I can’t guarantee is that she’ll come out of all this a hundred percent. So you need to prepare yourself for the aftermath of the surgery. Everyone is different, Damien, and the only thing I can do is remove the tumor and hope for the best.”
London and Grace walked back into the room and Grace was holding a little boy in her arms.
“You have two kids?” I asked.
“This is Aiden. He’s two years old.”
“Is he going to be a neurosurgeon as well?” I smirked at Dr. Finn.
“I’m not sure. I told Grace he can do trauma if she wants him to. But I have this vision of my children being a brilliant brother and sister team.”
I glanced over at Grace and she rolled her eyes. I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.
“I’m going to go ahead with the surgery, Dr. Finn,” London spoke.
“Okay, London. Come to the hospital tomorrow evening after six. We’ll get you admitted, and I’ll schedule your surgery for five a.m. the next morning.”
A sickness settled inside me as I took hold of her hand and we climbed in the car. She was silent on the way back to the hotel and I didn’t want to force her to talk, so I waited until we got back to say something.
“It’s a beautiful night. Let’s go down to the beach for a while.”
“I’m really tired, Damien.”
I walked over to where she stood and placed my hand on her cheek.
“We’ll bring a blanket, lie on the sand, listen to the ocean, and look up at the stars
.” I smiled.
The corners of her mouth slightly curved upwards as she nodded her head. I grabbed a blanket that was neatly folded and sitting on a chair and then swooped London up in my arms.
“What are you doing?” She laughed.
“I’m carrying you down to the beach so you don’t have to walk.” I kissed her lips.
“Damien, people will look at us like we’re weird.”
“No, baby. People will look at us and say, wow, look at how in love he is with her.”
Chapter 26
London
For one night, I wanted to forget about Teaghan and the surgery, and Damien made sure I’d done that. We lay on our blanket, my body snuggled against his as his arm wrapped around me. The relaxing sound of the waves crashing against the shore was music to my ears and very calming. When I looked up, the stars illuminated the sky, casting their light down on where we lay.
“Marry me, London,” Damien spoke.
“What?” I lightly laughed.
“I’m serious. I want to marry you. I love you, and I know we haven’t known each other that long, but it doesn’t matter. I know as I take in every breath that I was meant to meet you, love you, and take care of you. You are the love of my life, my star, and my existence. We can get married tomorrow and then after the surgery and when we get back to New York, we’ll have a big wedding and celebrate with our friends.”
I brought my hand up to his face.
“Yes, Damien Prescott. I will marry you.”
“Yes?” He smiled.
“Yes.” I laughed.
He brushed his lips against mine and pulled me into him, hugging me so tight, I could barely breathe.
“Where are we getting married?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I’ll figure that out. Don’t you worry about it one bit. I will take care of everything.”
When I awoke, I rolled over to find the empty space beside me. I climbed out of bed, put on my robe, and went into the living area and looked for Damien. But instead, I found a handwritten note with my name on it, leaning up against a silver-covered tray. Opening the envelope, I took out the cream-colored paper and unfolded it. A smile crossed my lips as I read the words he wrote.