Thanks for the reviews! I opened my e-mail and found a whole bunch. I'd also like to thank the people who are giving me ideas for what the characters look like. I have Adam in my profile now and soon I hope to put more up, so you can put a name with a face.

Chapter 4

"Okay, here are her x-rays," the doctor said, showing Jack and Elaine. He pointed to an area. "That's her meniscus and as you can see it's torn."

"So, how are you going to fix it," Jack asked.

"I'm afraid this tear will require surgery. There are two ways, both of which she's a candidate for. The first way is a meniscus repair, in which will repair the meniscus and restore the normal anatomy of her knee. This is a significant surgery though and I'm not sure if it will work because of the limited blood supply to the meniscus. But if it does, the long-term prognosis is better."

"What about the other way," Elaine asked.

"Well, the second way is a meniscectomy where we'll remove the damaged part of the meniscus. It's a shorter recovery and a much more common procedure, but she could have trouble down the road because her meniscus is smaller. She could get early knee arthritis."

"Why is this way more common," Jack asked, his eyes focused on the x-rays.

"A lot of the time a tear will be in the avascular region," he pointed to the x-ray, "of the meniscus making it impossible for it to heal even if we fix it. Hers is not."

"Which would you recommend," Elaine asked.

The doctor looked at her x-rays and then back at Elaine. "If it were my daughter, I'd do the meniscectomy. Right now, by looking at her knee, I can't tell if I can repair it so it would be safer to do the meniscectomy."

Jack looked to the doctor. "She'll be under general anesthesia for the surgery right?"

The doctor, a fairly young guy who looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties, gave him a look that Jack clearly understood as 'how do you know about anesthesia?'

"My son's been on the table a few times," Jack said, chuckling at the expression on the doctor's face.

"Is this her first," the doctor asked. Elaine nodded. "I would do general, but if she wants to be awake, we could give her an epidural."

"Mack wont want to be awake," Elaine said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"What about sports," Jack asked. Elaine glared at him, but Mack would want to know. "Like basketball or just walking around."

"It depends on how comfortable she is. I would recommend no basketball for the chance of early knee arthritis would be greater, but if she feels the need she could probably play. She'll be on crutches, just to make it more comfortable until she feels like she can walk again. She should be walking in a week and she can jog about a month after surgery. I want her in rehab and physical therapy though, because of her past with the knee."

They shook his hand. "I'll set up a time for tomorrow and send the surgeon who will be doing it to talk to you when he comes out of another surgery. His name is Dr. O'Neil, a great guy and a great surgeon."

"I think I've heard of him," Jack said.

"He's been working here for a while, so you probably have."

"Thanks for your time," Elaine said as the doctor left. "You should probably go to the waiting room, I bet there's a fan club out there like the time Troy collapsed."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Jack said. He opened the door to hear Adam and Teagan yelling at people to leave. He looked back to Elaine, but she was already heading to Mack's room to inform her of the surgery. Jack stepped out into the waiting room and sat down next to Calum, who had his head in his hands. "You okay," he asked.

Calum looked up. "Is she going to be alright?"

"Yeah, she's going to be fine. She's going in for surgery tomorrow. She has a nasty tear in her knee that their going to fix." He explained the whole procedure to Calum.

"She's not going to like that," Calum said, when Jack told him that she probably shouldn't be playing basketball.

"I know. Why don't you go see her, make her feel better, while I explain to the rest of them." Calum stood and walked to the room Jack told him Mack was in. She happened to be in the furthest bed and he walked by an older lady who was reading a magazine on his way over to her. When Elaine saw Calum, she smiled slightly and walked quietly out of the room.

"Hi," Calum said, sitting in the chair next to Mack's bed.

"Hi," she said.

"How are you feeling," he asked, hoping she wasn't in as much pain as she was at the game. "Does it still hurt?"

She shook her head. "They have me on pain meds," she said.

'Wow, Boucher, you must be the stupidest guy ever to walk the planet! How could they not have her on pain medication, its a hospital!' "I hear you're going into surgery tomorrow."

"I'm scared Calum," she said. He grabbed her hand and gave it a quick squeeze.

"You'll be okay," he said. "You're brave." Then he leaned over and kissed her forehead.

"Are we interrupting something?"

Mack rolled her eyes. "No, Keish. Must you think that way?"

"Yeah," she said as she, Adam, Bailey and Teagan walked in. Adam elbowed Bailey lightly, and nodded toward the bed, where Calum's hand was holding onto Mack's.

He pulled her to the side. "Do you think their together again," Bailey asked.

"No," Adam said. "Not yet, but I think Calum knows that he needs her. Do you have a plan yet?"

"I do but for it to work, you have to win championships."

"Can do," Adam said.

"Hey Adam, Bailey. I know you guys love each other very much, but Mack's the one who were visiting," Calum said with a smirk.

Adam stuck his tongue out and sat next to Teagan. "Real mature," Teagan said as Adam and Calum started making faces at each other across the bed. The girls were giggling and even Teagan laughed when Adam made fun of Calum and Calum couldn't come up with a comeback.

"I am the king," Adam said, raising his arms in the air triumphantly.

"Calum," Teagan said suddenly noticing something.

"What?"

"You still have red paint on your face." Calum's face dropped and he grabbed a mirror. The other five laughed.

"Maybe that's why everyone was staring at me in the waiting room."

The gang started to laugh and the lady in the other bed pulled the curtain and stuck her head through. "I'm trying to have some peace," she said before shutting the curtain. Adam stuck his tongue out and the six started laughing again.

Poor Mack has to go in for surgery, but Calum will always be by her side.

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