School was over and I was waiting for my BIG surprise. Because it would
ruin the surprise of it all he did not tell me anything. Every night at
dinner I asked him what the news was and he always had the same answer "I
am not going to tell you." or "That's for me to know and you to find
out!!!!" It really got me mad when he said stuff like that. Then finally he
told me that he would soon reveal the news to me. I could not get to sleep
that night just thinking about what Carter had in store for me. Little did
I know that I something unexpected in store for me just around the corner
the next morning.
The next morning I woke up around 8:00. No one else was awake and that is a
rare sight. I just love to sleep. If I had the chance I could sleep all
day. I have the ambition to clinch the world record for longest time
sleeping and since there is no record it will be pretty easy. But that was
not my thought now. I had a really bad stomachache and it really hurt. It
wasn't like a regular stomachache though. It was more of a sharp pain. I
tried to get rid of it every way that I could and every way that my brother
had taught me. I took Tums®. I tried putting a heating pad on my stomach. I
did the last thing I knew how to do without any one teaching me to; I went
into my brother's room and woke him up. I might have also gone into my
parents' room but ever since Bobby died they have not been home for long
periods of time. It was a good thing that he did not have a shift until
later that day. This was one of the times that having my brother do the job
that he does came in handy.
"Carter, Carter," I whispered. His eyes opened slowly. "Carter, I have a
bad stomachache and it won't go away. I tried everything but it still
hurts."
The next few hours were the worst. My stomachache didn't go away. When
nothing helped my brother, being the doctor that he is, made the decision
to go to the hospital. Right then we jumped into our car and drove to the
hospital, but not with out my favorite stuffed animal, a bear that I got on
vacation. The drive was only ten minutes if you counted the amount of time
spent at traffic lights. I did not even have to ask what hospital that we
were going to because whenever one of my family members get sick we know
that we will get good care at County General and this time was no
exception. It was actually weird though now I was on the other side, the
receiving side.
In the hospital I was taken to a room and got the best care because
everyone knew me. I first saw Abby, the nurse. Abby was the greatest. She
always said hi to me in the halls and she would sometimes help me on my
Friday afternoon missions and sometimes comes out with me and plays
basketball. But this time our relationship was different. She was now
taking care of me, but she was still her nice self. She came in and sat
down in the black padded wheeling chair. I always play with those when I
visit. It was weird to be at the hospital and not be able to fool around.
As I lay down in my comfortable hospital bed in a nice room all by myself,
I thought about the horror I had gotten into. Then I got a peek of my worst
fear, the weapon. I felt my brother's big hand grab mine. He told me that I
could squeeze as hard as I could and wanted to. I was glad that he was the
one that was there with me.
Before the terror started I tried to think of something that I liked to do. I started thinking about all the fun times I've had with my brother. Playing basketball and beating him, playing games in the hospital and so much more. And then it hit me how weird it was to see my brother in action. He was now my doctor and stopped being my brother for just one second. I mean, I had seen him working before but now that I was related to him it was so strange. While talking to myself and preparing for the worst, Abby was getting ready for the moment of disaster. "1.," I closed my eyes "...2..." I started to squeeze my brother's hand and my bear "..3..." pinch!! It was over. My eyes squished and I winced, but no crying or anything (although I did have tears in my eyes). I had actually made it and made such a big fuss over something so small. From the stories that other kids tell me it seemed like it would hurt forever. But they were wrong. It only hurt for one second. Afterwards Carter jokingly said that he needed a hand x-ray because I had squeezed it so hard and asked if he need to save my bear thinking that I had killed it. We all laughed. I heard Abby and Carter talking about the next step but I could not make out what they were saying. Even if I did hear them it would not make a difference because they were using some terms that I did not understand. While the two of them talked I could tell that something was going on between the two of them except I did not know what. Actually I knew a long time ago that something was going on between the two of them. For the past month or two, Abby had begun to join us after work. It did not really change our routine but it was really weird. Sometimes instead of Doc Magoo's we would go to a nicer restaurant for dinner. Just then I saw Dr. Susan Lewis, who said that she was going to check me out, since it would be weird for my brother to examine me and he was not the doctor, he was the patient's family. Susan felt around my stomach and I told her where it hurt. Then she did something that I did not suspect. She started to tickle me but it hurt so much that I could not laugh and that was something that I loved to do. That is when everybody knew I was really sick. Then she used her stethoscope which felt really cold on both my stomach and my back. When she was done she got up and told the person on the other line of the phone that we needed a surgical consult. A couple minutes later, I saw Dr. Elizabeth Corday, who I knew from my visits, walking towards my room. I hoped that she was coming to see me and I was right. She walked right into my room. She also felt my stomach and I told her where it hurt. While she examined me we talked about how we shared names, but how we spelled it differently and how we hated it when people spelled it wrong. It was really fun and it took my mind off of my pain. Then Carter and Lizzie talked in private. I could not really hear what they were saying but I did not really want to. When everybody left, I told Carter when everybody left about how I felt. I was so scared. I got really nervous and he told me that everything was going to be alright and explained to me what was going to happen. Nothing seemed to be going right but having Carter there made up for it.
In my hospital gown, I was rolled to the x-ray machine for a CAT scan. The x-ray took about ten minutes and I was back with Carter and again hugged my bear. After the x-ray, the doctors told me what was going to happen. I needed an operation. They told me everything that I needed to know. I was going to be put to sleep so that I wouldn't feel a thing. The operation would only take about an hour. By now I was really scared and nervous, but Lizzie and Carter assured me that everything was gong to be okay. They helped a little bit, but I still wasn't sure. It also helped to know who was going to be in the room with me and I knew that they were going to take care of me. Carter asked Lizzie if he could scrub in and help out with my surgery. I shook my head and jokingly said that I did not want him to touch the inside of me because I did not trust him. We all chuckled. But just then my brother got a page that he was needed down at the ER. I had no idea that he had a shift today. As I was wheeled in to the OR, Carter told me that he had to take care of something downstairs and would try to come and visit when I was done. I heard Carter tell Lizzie, as I was wheeled into the operating room, to page him when I was done. I felt reassured and hopeful that he would keep his promise. I knew that he had to come too, because he had taken my bear since I could not bring it in to the OR. He told me that when I was done he would make sure that he would bring it to me. In the operating room I was lifted up onto the operating table. On the table the nurses gave me the anesthesia so that I would not feel anything during the surgery. That was the last thing I remembered. I opened my eyes in a different room hoping to see my brother standing close beside me. But he was not there. He had broken his promise. It was a little hard for me to sleep that night for a few reasons. The one reason was I was not in my room with my own bed. I felt so afraid and alone. But once I remembered that Carter was just downstairs because he had just started his shift and was easily reachable whenever I needed him, I closed my eyes and went to sleep. Before my eyes closed I remembered about my bear, I looked around it was nowhere to be seen. He had not come yet. When I woke up the sky was getting darker and the sun was setting. I did not know what time it was though since I did not have the clock beside my bed at home. Even though I had slept for a long time I was still tired from the events that happened. I had a hard time falling back asleep though. I had absolutely nothing to do. It is weird but I actually wanted homework to do then. Then I knew I was really bored. But all in all, I was glad it was summer so that I would not have to go back to school when I got better. I just sat in bed and did nothing. Just then I heard a knock on the door. It was Dr. Susan Lewis. She brought me some things to keep me busy. I also told her how much I wanted Carter to be with me through this. She knew that he would never leave me for that long because I was his favorite person in the whole world and that he was probably swamped down in the ER with patients and work. She told me that I had nothing to worry about and that he would show up as soon as he could and that he was in the building so it was easy for him to visit and come on a minutes notice. She really helped me keep up my faith and hope. I really wanted Carter there. It seemed for ever since he had last seen me. But I remembered what Susan had said and tried not to be too unhappy. Another whole day in the hospital meant more of a chance to see Carter. It was almost dark and still no Carter but I kept my head held high.
I was just about to close my eyes for a little shut-eye, when I heard the door creak open. As the light shone in, I saw the shadows of two people walk through the door. I thought it was some more doctors so I pretended to fall asleep. I was right that it was a doctor but it was a doctor that I had actually wanted to see. When I heard the doctor's voice I knew exactly who it was, but I could not tell who the other person was because I did not hear a voice. I felt like I wanted to run up and hug him, but I still pretended to be asleep so that he would have to wake me up. When he came over to my bed and I could feel the bed dip as he sat down. It is really hard to wake me up and you have to try numerous things before I actually wake up. But my brother knows exactly what to do. I could feel his hands on my sides as he began to bring out the tickle machine.
"Hey stop that. That tickles. I'm up. I'm up!" as I jumped out from under the covers.
"I knew that would work. How's my little sis?"
"That tickled. Everything is fine. I was just worried that you wouldn't come. I was scared! I needed you here! I was really bored." When I looked up I saw that the other person was not a doctor but a nurse. It was Abby, who had been the first one to treat me. Why was she here?
"I'm sorry. You knew that I would never leave you alone though, right? It's just that we were really busy downstairs and I could not get away. I did visit though but you were asleep and then I keep getting called downstairs so I could not wait for you to wake up." "Excuses! Excuses!" "Hey, I was saving lives down there." "Alright, I guess that will work." "I have something to give you though" I wondered what it was. Then he told me to close my eyes and open my hands. When I tried to get a peek, he told me to keep them closed. Then I felt something soft and fuzzy in my hands and he told me I could open my eyes. Finally he had kept his promise and had brought back my bear. I gave him the biggest hug that you have ever seen. "So what have you been doing? Have you gotten out of bed yet" I shook my head. "Well, the quicker that you get out of bed the quicker you can go home. Why don't we try it?" Carter said sarcastically. I did not want to get out of my comfortable bed, but Dr. Carter gave the orders around here and now I had to follow them! So my brother and I went on a little walk around the hospital. "So, what happened while I was gone," he said. "Not that much." and I told him everything that happened from the time he was gone, which only took about three seconds because all I did was sleep We both laughed. I told him how much I wanted him there and how much I missed him. "I was really hoping that you would come and hang out with me." "As soon as I could I dropped everything and came as fast as I could. I would only do that for you." I gave him the puppy face. I knew that he would give into that and he gave me a huge hug. " Hey, you still don't know my little secret, don't you? Well, I guess we will just have to postpone the news until you get better! It won't be that long anyway, only about a month." "Carter, even I know it is not going to take that long. And what does this have to do with the news!!!" "O, Lizzy you are so smart. I love spending time with my favorite sister." "I'm your only sister!" As we laughed, we made our way back to my room.
While we talked I tried to get the news out of him, but everything I tried did not work. We were back in my room before you knew it. It was not about his job, nor was it about family business. When I could not think of anything else that it would be about I saw Carter give Abby a wink and nod her head. Finally he caved.
"Well, Lizzy, Abby and I are getting married."
"WHAT???? You are getting married." I knew something was going on between them. "That's great."
Before the terror started I tried to think of something that I liked to do. I started thinking about all the fun times I've had with my brother. Playing basketball and beating him, playing games in the hospital and so much more. And then it hit me how weird it was to see my brother in action. He was now my doctor and stopped being my brother for just one second. I mean, I had seen him working before but now that I was related to him it was so strange. While talking to myself and preparing for the worst, Abby was getting ready for the moment of disaster. "1.," I closed my eyes "...2..." I started to squeeze my brother's hand and my bear "..3..." pinch!! It was over. My eyes squished and I winced, but no crying or anything (although I did have tears in my eyes). I had actually made it and made such a big fuss over something so small. From the stories that other kids tell me it seemed like it would hurt forever. But they were wrong. It only hurt for one second. Afterwards Carter jokingly said that he needed a hand x-ray because I had squeezed it so hard and asked if he need to save my bear thinking that I had killed it. We all laughed. I heard Abby and Carter talking about the next step but I could not make out what they were saying. Even if I did hear them it would not make a difference because they were using some terms that I did not understand. While the two of them talked I could tell that something was going on between the two of them except I did not know what. Actually I knew a long time ago that something was going on between the two of them. For the past month or two, Abby had begun to join us after work. It did not really change our routine but it was really weird. Sometimes instead of Doc Magoo's we would go to a nicer restaurant for dinner. Just then I saw Dr. Susan Lewis, who said that she was going to check me out, since it would be weird for my brother to examine me and he was not the doctor, he was the patient's family. Susan felt around my stomach and I told her where it hurt. Then she did something that I did not suspect. She started to tickle me but it hurt so much that I could not laugh and that was something that I loved to do. That is when everybody knew I was really sick. Then she used her stethoscope which felt really cold on both my stomach and my back. When she was done she got up and told the person on the other line of the phone that we needed a surgical consult. A couple minutes later, I saw Dr. Elizabeth Corday, who I knew from my visits, walking towards my room. I hoped that she was coming to see me and I was right. She walked right into my room. She also felt my stomach and I told her where it hurt. While she examined me we talked about how we shared names, but how we spelled it differently and how we hated it when people spelled it wrong. It was really fun and it took my mind off of my pain. Then Carter and Lizzie talked in private. I could not really hear what they were saying but I did not really want to. When everybody left, I told Carter when everybody left about how I felt. I was so scared. I got really nervous and he told me that everything was going to be alright and explained to me what was going to happen. Nothing seemed to be going right but having Carter there made up for it.
In my hospital gown, I was rolled to the x-ray machine for a CAT scan. The x-ray took about ten minutes and I was back with Carter and again hugged my bear. After the x-ray, the doctors told me what was going to happen. I needed an operation. They told me everything that I needed to know. I was going to be put to sleep so that I wouldn't feel a thing. The operation would only take about an hour. By now I was really scared and nervous, but Lizzie and Carter assured me that everything was gong to be okay. They helped a little bit, but I still wasn't sure. It also helped to know who was going to be in the room with me and I knew that they were going to take care of me. Carter asked Lizzie if he could scrub in and help out with my surgery. I shook my head and jokingly said that I did not want him to touch the inside of me because I did not trust him. We all chuckled. But just then my brother got a page that he was needed down at the ER. I had no idea that he had a shift today. As I was wheeled in to the OR, Carter told me that he had to take care of something downstairs and would try to come and visit when I was done. I heard Carter tell Lizzie, as I was wheeled into the operating room, to page him when I was done. I felt reassured and hopeful that he would keep his promise. I knew that he had to come too, because he had taken my bear since I could not bring it in to the OR. He told me that when I was done he would make sure that he would bring it to me. In the operating room I was lifted up onto the operating table. On the table the nurses gave me the anesthesia so that I would not feel anything during the surgery. That was the last thing I remembered. I opened my eyes in a different room hoping to see my brother standing close beside me. But he was not there. He had broken his promise. It was a little hard for me to sleep that night for a few reasons. The one reason was I was not in my room with my own bed. I felt so afraid and alone. But once I remembered that Carter was just downstairs because he had just started his shift and was easily reachable whenever I needed him, I closed my eyes and went to sleep. Before my eyes closed I remembered about my bear, I looked around it was nowhere to be seen. He had not come yet. When I woke up the sky was getting darker and the sun was setting. I did not know what time it was though since I did not have the clock beside my bed at home. Even though I had slept for a long time I was still tired from the events that happened. I had a hard time falling back asleep though. I had absolutely nothing to do. It is weird but I actually wanted homework to do then. Then I knew I was really bored. But all in all, I was glad it was summer so that I would not have to go back to school when I got better. I just sat in bed and did nothing. Just then I heard a knock on the door. It was Dr. Susan Lewis. She brought me some things to keep me busy. I also told her how much I wanted Carter to be with me through this. She knew that he would never leave me for that long because I was his favorite person in the whole world and that he was probably swamped down in the ER with patients and work. She told me that I had nothing to worry about and that he would show up as soon as he could and that he was in the building so it was easy for him to visit and come on a minutes notice. She really helped me keep up my faith and hope. I really wanted Carter there. It seemed for ever since he had last seen me. But I remembered what Susan had said and tried not to be too unhappy. Another whole day in the hospital meant more of a chance to see Carter. It was almost dark and still no Carter but I kept my head held high.
I was just about to close my eyes for a little shut-eye, when I heard the door creak open. As the light shone in, I saw the shadows of two people walk through the door. I thought it was some more doctors so I pretended to fall asleep. I was right that it was a doctor but it was a doctor that I had actually wanted to see. When I heard the doctor's voice I knew exactly who it was, but I could not tell who the other person was because I did not hear a voice. I felt like I wanted to run up and hug him, but I still pretended to be asleep so that he would have to wake me up. When he came over to my bed and I could feel the bed dip as he sat down. It is really hard to wake me up and you have to try numerous things before I actually wake up. But my brother knows exactly what to do. I could feel his hands on my sides as he began to bring out the tickle machine.
"Hey stop that. That tickles. I'm up. I'm up!" as I jumped out from under the covers.
"I knew that would work. How's my little sis?"
"That tickled. Everything is fine. I was just worried that you wouldn't come. I was scared! I needed you here! I was really bored." When I looked up I saw that the other person was not a doctor but a nurse. It was Abby, who had been the first one to treat me. Why was she here?
"I'm sorry. You knew that I would never leave you alone though, right? It's just that we were really busy downstairs and I could not get away. I did visit though but you were asleep and then I keep getting called downstairs so I could not wait for you to wake up." "Excuses! Excuses!" "Hey, I was saving lives down there." "Alright, I guess that will work." "I have something to give you though" I wondered what it was. Then he told me to close my eyes and open my hands. When I tried to get a peek, he told me to keep them closed. Then I felt something soft and fuzzy in my hands and he told me I could open my eyes. Finally he had kept his promise and had brought back my bear. I gave him the biggest hug that you have ever seen. "So what have you been doing? Have you gotten out of bed yet" I shook my head. "Well, the quicker that you get out of bed the quicker you can go home. Why don't we try it?" Carter said sarcastically. I did not want to get out of my comfortable bed, but Dr. Carter gave the orders around here and now I had to follow them! So my brother and I went on a little walk around the hospital. "So, what happened while I was gone," he said. "Not that much." and I told him everything that happened from the time he was gone, which only took about three seconds because all I did was sleep We both laughed. I told him how much I wanted him there and how much I missed him. "I was really hoping that you would come and hang out with me." "As soon as I could I dropped everything and came as fast as I could. I would only do that for you." I gave him the puppy face. I knew that he would give into that and he gave me a huge hug. " Hey, you still don't know my little secret, don't you? Well, I guess we will just have to postpone the news until you get better! It won't be that long anyway, only about a month." "Carter, even I know it is not going to take that long. And what does this have to do with the news!!!" "O, Lizzy you are so smart. I love spending time with my favorite sister." "I'm your only sister!" As we laughed, we made our way back to my room.
While we talked I tried to get the news out of him, but everything I tried did not work. We were back in my room before you knew it. It was not about his job, nor was it about family business. When I could not think of anything else that it would be about I saw Carter give Abby a wink and nod her head. Finally he caved.
"Well, Lizzy, Abby and I are getting married."
"WHAT???? You are getting married." I knew something was going on between them. "That's great."