Present Perfect(88)

Emily got up first and gave me a long hug. I couldn’t hold my tears back any longer. I clutched on to her tightly, knowing that when I let go, I was one second closer to the operating room. “Don’t cry, Manda. We’re going to get you through this. I love you.” I nodded my head that was glued to the crook of her neck. Emily left the room in tears.

When Mom and Dad stepped up, Mom’s arms immediately wrapped around me. “I love you, Amanda, and I’m so proud of you.” she said, repeatedly.

I looked up at my dad, who was standing on the other side. He was quietly crying. I had never seen daddy cry before. It broke my heart knowing that I was the cause of his tears. “I’m sorry, Daddy,” was the only thing I could think to say. He bent down and kissed the top of my head.

“You have nothing to be sorry about, princess. I just wish it was me instead of you getting ready to go through this.”

The door opened and Dr. Smiles poked his head in, signaling to my parents it was time for them to leave. “We’ll take good care of her,” he said to my parents as they passed by him, before directing his attention on me. “So you ready to feel happy?” I nodded as I wiped my face dry.

He had a syringe of something and shot it through the IV tube. Within seconds, I was feeling the medication and it was awesome. While I was on a fast train to Loopyville, I heard a commotion outside my door. Dr. Smiles opened it to see what was going on.

I heard a female voice that sounded like my nurse say, “Young man, you can’t go in there now. She’s about to go back to surgery.”

“I got caught in traffic. I’ll only stay a second. Please. I’m her brother.”

I thought it was so nice of my brother to come see me, and then I remembered I didn’t have a brother. Did I?

“He can come in for a few minutes,” Dr. Smiles said to the female voice.

I turned my head towards the door. A huge smile spread across my face, partly because of the happy juice, but mostly because my knight in plastic armor was here to save me. “I just gave her some medicine, so she’s pretty loopy right now.”

“Thanks,” Noah said, walking over and sitting by me on the stretcher. I felt his hand glide down the side of my face. “Hey Tweet. How are you feeling?”

“Gooood.” He chuckled.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner. There was an accident and I was stuck in traffic.”

“That’s alright, my brother. It’s all good. You’re here now. Grab my clothes and let’s go.” I sat up bringing us face-to-face.

“Tweet, you can’t leave right now.”

I narrowed my eyes at him and grinned. “You want to hook up? This gown has easy access and I got nothing on underneath it.”

We stared at each other for a few seconds before the door was opened, startling both of us, and Nurse Sarah walked in. I kept my eyes on Noah for another second. Even in my foggy state, I could see all the love he had for me in his eyes. I hoped he could see the love I had for him in mine.

He stood allowing Nurse Sarah to come around the back of the stretcher and start pushing me out the door. “Nurse Sarah, has anyone ever told you, you were a buzz kill?” I heard her laugh behind me.

“I’ve been called worse.”

“This is my Noah. Isn’t he hot?”

“He’s very handsome,” she said.

“He’s an awesome kisser too. His tongue tastes like thin mints. He’s even touched my boobs and…”

“Tweet, I don’t think the nurse cares about any of that,” Noah interrupted.

Stepping around to my side, Nurse Sarah asked, “I thought you were her brother?” She looked at me and then at Noah, giving us both a knowing smile.

“We’re a very close family.” I heard Noah say, as I was pushed out the door and down the hall.





The operating room was freezing and extremely bright. Once I was on the table, the nurses got to work. They reminded me of a NASCAR pit crew. Everyone had their specific job. One nurse made sure my IV had the right medicine going. One nurse covered me in warm blankets. One nurse attached electrodes to various parts of my body. Then I saw Dr. Smiles hovering over me.

“Amanda, I’m going to put this mask on you and give you a little oxygen. Just breathe deeply.” I did as I was told. It was unnerving not being able to look up at what people were doing to me. Turning my head slightly, I could see a tray covered with a blue cloth. I assumed those were the surgical instruments. Me being the masochist I am, I looked up information on the type of saw used to amputate legs. The thirteen inch stainless steel bone saw sold for $17.99 and had a five star rating on Amazon. Customers who bought this also bought a $39.90 chef’s knife. There was something very wrong about that, but I was too drugged up to figure it out.

I turned my gaze back up and saw Dr. Smiles hovering again. “Amanda, we’re almost ready. I’m going to give you some medicine that will put you to sleep.” I looked up at him. I could feel the tears, falling down the side of my face. This was it. There was no turning back now. The time had come and things were completely out of my control. The medicine took over and my eyelids closed as I left my old life behind.





Your strength and character grow stronger and deeper while you wait for hope to return.