"Everything's going to be alright." Freddie gave a small smile as Carly looked up at him.
She took a deep breath and smiled back at him. "You always know what to say."
"Nah, I just have a few good moments once in a while." Freddie winked at her as she rolled her eyes in humor.
"So, you wanna eat?" Carly motioned towards the snacks on the table.
"Yeah sure." Freddie replied as she handed him his bag of Cheese Itz and a bottle of water. "Thanks."
"You're welcome." Carly responded.
"Hey, Carls." Spencer looked over at her. He was still on his cell phone talking to Socko.
"Yeah?"
"Are you up to spending the night here if we're allowed to?" Spencer double checked.
"Of course!" She replied, wanting to stay with her best friend.
"Yeah, me too!" Freddie confirmed.
"Alright, well Socko and Taylor just offered to swing by the apartment to grab us a few items incase we sleep over here. Is there anything you kids want?"
"Uh." Carly thought for a moment. "Maybe they could bring us a few magazines from our book shelf? I know those are a lot more current than the ones here."
"Haha ok." Spencer smiled. "Anything you want Freddie?"
"Can they bring my lap top?" Freddie asked. "I left it in the iCarly studio on the tech cart."
"Sure, no problemo." Spencer then turned his attention back to his cell. "Socko?"
"Yep?"
"We'd like a few magazines off the book shelf, Freddie's lap top, and...." Spencer paused for a moment as he thought. "....and grab my deck of cards. They're on the kitchen counter."
"Gotcha!" Socko replied. "Oh, and one last thing..."
"Yeah?" Spencer asked.
"I've still got the picture of Sam's mom. Should I bring it back with me, or leave it at your apartment?" Socko didn't want the photo to get lost during all of this.
"Hmmm....well it might be nice for her to have it placed in her hospital room...but it could get ruined..." Spencer thought for a moment.
"I do have a copy." Socko replied.
"Huh?"
"Me and Taylor scanned the photo so we wouldn't hurt the original during our search. I could leave the actual photo in your apartment and bring the scanned one."
"That'd be great!" Spencer exclaimed.
"Alrighty! Taylor and I will get going now."
"Ok, see ya soon! And thanks again!"
"Anytime!" Socko replied before he hung up. Spencer shut his cell phone with a smile, happy he had such helpful friends.
Carly looked up and noticed her brother was off the phone now. "Do you want your gummy candies?"
"Yeah sure!" He replied as she handed him the small bag. He took it and read the label.
"Gummy Gums? Kinda weird to be chewing on teeth." He opened it up and pulled a couple of the denture shaped gummies out.
"That's what I said." Carly smiled as she watched her brother toss a few into his mouth.
"Nasty concept...but great flavor!" He gave her a thumbs up.
"Well that's good." Carly smiled as she reached over for her Fat Cakes. Spencer watched as she opened up the pink frosted treat.
"Never thought I'd see the day when you'd eat a Fat Cake." He remarked as he watched his sister take a bite. Just like Freddie had pointed out before, she always turned them down whenever given the chance, saying they were too unhealthy.
"Well.." Carly started off as she gulped it down. "There are a lot of things I never thought I would of been doing today.." She referred to their current position of sitting in a hospital waiting while their friend was being operated on. Spencer looked down sadly.
"Yeah...I know kiddo." He replied softly, giving her a small comforting smile as he patted her leg. She looked over at him, grateful for his support.
"I must say one thing though." Carly perked up as she gulped down another bite of her snack. "Sam is right. These things are good." She smiled. Spencer couldn't help but chuckle.
"Just don't get addicted to them." Freddie cut into the conversation. "Sam's probably the only one in the world who has a metabolism fast enough to eat those at a regular pace." Carly and Spencer laughed at his statement.
"Very, very true." Carly replied. She then looked up at the clock and sighed. "A half hour to go..." She mumbled. While in reality that wasn't too long of a wait, it was long enough for the kids to feel nervous to the point of being on the edge of their seats.
"Hey, I got an idea." Spencer spoke as he put down his bag of Gummy Gums and reached into his tuxedo pocket.
"What?" Freddie asked, munching on a few Cheese Itz.
"This." Spencer pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and set them on the table. "How about you guys play some tic-tac-toe?" He offered. Carly and Freddie looked at each other and shrugged.
"Sure." Carly replied.
"Why not?" Freddie added picking up the pen. The two kids sat forward as Freddie drew out the lines for a board.
"Can I go first?" Carly asked.
"Sure." Freddie replied, handing her the pen.
"I'm going to be X."
"Aw, I wanted to be X." He protested.
"Why?" She asked.
"O is a loser. Nobody wants to be O."
"That's because O goes second." Carly smiled. "I'm first. I'm X."
"Fine." Freddie chuckled. The two then started their battle of wits.
Spencer sat back in his seat and smiled as they began to play.
Time had passed since the gang started their first game of tic-tac-toe. The blank piece of paper was now covered in multiple crisscrossed boards. The game had started to get boring after both Carly and Freddie found out the proper moves to counteract each other's strategy, thus ending every game in a tie after that. By now the kids had put the paper to the side, and sat back in their seats, watching a TV that was set up in the top corner of the room for everyone to use. All three of them stared mindlessly at it like zombies. A news channel was currently playing something about tension being in the middle east. Carly glanced over at the small clock on the bottom right side of the report which showed the time and temperature. It not only showed the minutes, but it also counted down the seconds, ticking away. At first she hadn't realized it, but she was staring at the clock more than the actual report itself, counting down along with it. As the seconds got to the 59 mark, the minute switched over and the seconds started to go back up from zero again. Carly let out a small sigh.
"Watching the clock?" Freddie asked softly. Carly looked over at him and realized he was still staring at the TV.
"Yeah..." She answered quietly. Freddie looked over at her.
"Me too." He sighed. "It's been two hours and eleven minutes now...since Sam went in."
"I know.." Carly replied. Spencer looked over at the two kids.
"You know, the two hour mark was just an estimate. It might take a bit longer." He explained.
"I understand that.." Freddie started. "But I still just hate waiting and being in the dark about everything."
"Same here." Carly sighed, putting her elbow on her arm rest, and resting her head up on her hand sadly.
"I know guys, I know.." Spencer replied remorsefully. He also wished that they could get an update on their friend's health by now.
Even more time had passed. The surgery was now nearing the two and a half hour mark. Carly, Freddie, and Spencer remained silent, watching TV. They all knew how worried each other was, but felt it best to just stay quiet. None of them felt up to making small talk anyways. Spencer watched as the news channel switched over to a commercial, and decided to glance around the hospital waiting room. As his eyes scanned the area, he noticed Socko and Taylor walking around the corner, various items in hand.
"Hey.." Spencer sat up, catching the kids attention. "Socko and Taylor are here with our stuff."
"Really?" Carly asked as Spencer pointed them out. She was glad to see them.
"Hey guys!" Socko waved to them from a distance as he and Taylor walked up to them. "How goes it?" He asked as he unloaded the magazines and playing card deck onto the table. Taylor walked over to Freddie and handed him lap top.
"Eh, we've been better." Spencer replied. "The surgery seems to be taking a bit longer than we were told."
"Oh...really?" Taylor asked. "How much longer?"
"A half hour.." Carly answered sadly. Taylor looked over at her.
"Well hey, these things take time." He replied softly.
"Yeah." Socko agreed. "If they're taking extra time, then they must be working extra carefully. Now if the surgery ONLY lasted half an hour, I'd be worried." He offered with a small smile.
"That's a good way to look at things." Carly smiled up at the two brothers.
"Yeah, thanks!" Freddie replied.
"No problem." Socko answered.
"So..." Taylor started to say as he and Socko grabbed a seat and sat down at the table, across from the three. "Wanna play some cards?" He picked up the deck and pulled the cards out.
"Huh? You know, you don't have to wait with us." Spencer replied, giving his friends the ok the leave if they wanted to. "You've helped so much already." Spencer then leaned in towards the two brothers to whisper to them so the kids wouldn't hear. "Plus, we have no idea how long we may be here for. It could be a while."
"That's alright!" Socko replied. "We really have nothing else to do!"
"That's right." Taylor smiled as he split the card deck into two and started to shuffle. "Now what say you we get a game of gin rummy started up?" He looked over towards Carly and Freddie. "Guys wanna join in?" He asked.
"Sure." Carly replied, scooting her seat closer over to the table. Taylor started to deal out the cards.
"Freddie?" Socko asked as he pointed to the table.
"Uh nah, I think I'll just sit here and surf the web on my lap top. Thanks though!" He replied, grateful of the invitation.
"Alrighty then." Taylor replied, finishing setting up the game. The three guys and Carly picked up their hands and started to play.
Another hour had passed, making the total time for Sam's surgery three and a half hours now. Carly gazed at her cards lifelessly. All she needed was one more card to win the hand, which ironically, was the one Spencer just put down on top of the pile. Instead of picking it up, Carly reached over and picked up the next face down card off the other pile. As soon as she placed it in her hand, she realized the mistake she made. Spencer, Socko, and Taylor waited for her to make her next move, but instead she set her hand down face up and sighed.
"Sorry guys, I'm not really into the game anymore. I just can't focus. Is it alright if I'm out?" She asked.
"Yeah sure." Spencer replied, as the other men all put their cards down. "We can deal again." He stated as Carly looked down, feeling guilty for ruining the current game.
"Yup, he's right." Taylor replied. "With you out of the game now, one of us might get a chance to finally win." He laughed. "And you know that right after you, I'm the second best card player here." He added with a wink.
"Hey!" Spencer and Socko cried out in unison. Carly gave a small laugh.
"Thanks." She replied to Taylor.
"No problem." He smiled back as he grabbed up all the cards and put them back together into one pile. "Time for me to wipe the floor with you guys!" He stated proudly as he started to shuffle once more.
Carly smiled as she watched the men start another game without her. Socko and Taylor always made bad situations feel better. They were a lot like Spencer, and she was grateful that all three of them were there to help lighten the atmosphere. Once again she let out a small sigh and looked over to her right. Freddie was sitting in his seat, typing along his lap top.
"What are you doing?" Carly asked curiously, moving her seat closer next to him.
"Oh, just looking up some...stuff." He replied vaguely.
"What stuff?" Carly leaned forward to get a better look. She watched Freddie hesitantly turn his lap top away.
"Boring computer stuff." He replied slowly, knowing that by the look on Carly's face she wasn't buying it.
"What stuff?" She asked firmly once more. Freddie finally gave in and turned his lap top towards her.
"I'm looking up details about appendicitis." He pointed towards an article written by a doctor.
"Oh.." Carly responded, now understanding why her friend was reluctant to show her. It was obvious he didn't want her to become upset. "Anything informative on there?"
"Yeah, there's lots of things." Freddie replied as he scrolled down the page. "A lot of medical experts say how this surgery is very simple and that tons of people go in for appendicitis a year. It's a common medical procedure."
"That's good." Carly replied. "Read anything from people who actually went in for the surgery?" She asked.
"Yes, I have." Freddie replied. "Some said that after they went in for surgery during the morning, they were out by the afternoon."
"Really?" Carly asked as Freddie nodded. "Do you think Sam will be able to leave that quickly?" She watched her friend think for a moment.
"I dunno." He responded. "I mean, from what I've read, it seems as though the people who left during the same day, went to the hospital at the first sign of pain and well..."
"Sam didn't." Carly finished his sentence. She sighed, sitting back in her seat. She really wished her friend hadn't been stubborn earlier, and that she and Freddie had taken the proper action when Sam wouldn't. There were a lot of things she wished she had done different earlier.
"But hey, don't worry." Freddie replied. "Her situation may not be as quick as those other people, but she should get better in no time. Every story I've read about appendicitis reported a full recovery within a few weeks."
"Really?" Carly replied, feeling a bit better. She then looked back over at Freddie. "Is there anything on there that tells how long a surgery should last?" Freddie looked down at his computer for a moment and started typing. Carly waited patiently as he pulled a new page up.
"They say the average time is.." He squinted as he read. "Two hours."
"Just like the doctor told us." Carly sighed sadly. "It's been three and a half hours already. That's almost double the time it should take."
"Well, this page says that a surgery could range anywhere from between 2-3 hours.." Freddie started to say.
"Sam's is past that already." Carly cut in. "By a half hour too. What could that mean?" She looked over at Freddie, and watched as his fingers paused on his keyboard for a moment.
"I'll check.." He replied quietly before starting to type once more. He clicked on another page and started to read. "According to this article, a surgery could take a bit more time due to various...complications."
"Complications?" Carly asked, knowing that wasn't a good word.
"Yeah.." Freddie replied gently. "The biggest complication when dealing with appendicitis would be the rupturing of the appendix. Apparently when an inflamed appendix bursts, all the poison and toxins that were in it can flow into a person's body." Carly listened quietly. "This could lead to something known as Peritonitis..."
"Peritonitis?" Carly asked, not liking the sound of that at all.
"It's a dangerous infection that happens when the bacteria leaves the ruptured appendix." Freddie replied.
"Do you think.." Carly gulped. "Sam's appendix ruptured? I mean, back at the apartment your mom said it was possible..."
"I...don't know." Freddie replied, clicking away from the page. He had started to see the article talk about possibilities of organ failure and eventual death from Peritonitis and decided to shut his lap top. He had read enough at that point and Carly didn't need to see. "We'll just have to sit and wait." He looked over at her.
"You're right." She replied, looking down at the ground, feeling sick to her stomach. Both of them felt that Sam's surgery was taking too long.
Looks like the kids are getting antsy at this point! What could be taking so long? Find out in future chapters....as soon as I write them. xP