December 2003
To his surprise, she did not leave him. She cared for him and was affectionate as always. He did feel that something had changed, ever so slightly, but hoped he would be able to make it up to her. However, he was alternating between days of joy of having her around and crushing hopelessness of his ever present health issues. She kept him grounded, but between the issues with Schemee and his cancer he was feeling as low as low could be.
It all came to a head one night when he awoke suddenly, a sharp pain ripping through his abdomen.
"Stacy!" He gasped painfully.
She woke up immediately. "What's wrong?"
"I.. I don't know…" The pain didn't go away, it persisted viciously.
"What's your doctor's emergency number?"
In short notice, he found himself in a sedative fuelled haze on a gurney, headed for the operating room. There was little time to lose, and his doctor had given the order for early, emergency surgery. The IV was hooked up to his arm. He felt a strange nothingness, the drugs were definitely making him calmer than he thought he would be in this moment.
He remembered up until the anesthesia mask was placed on his face. He suddenly pictured himself back at Shining Time Station, in the arcade, as his last thought before darkness took over.
"How do you feel?" A voice asked him, slowly rousing him from his haze.
He furrowed his brow deeply as he became more aware of his surroundings. He was resting on a soft surface and couldn't feel much. There was a dull ache in his abdomen but even that was muted. The light felt bright, even through his eyelids and he did not attempt to open them until it stopped piercing his vision. Slowly blinking he tried to move his hand up to his eyes but it felt extraordinarily heavy. A light touch stopped his attempts.
"You're hooked up to the IV and painkiller drip, careful not to pull them out." Schemee said simply.
"When did I get here?" Schemer groggily asked.
"Night before last for surgery, and then you stabilized and recovered until now." He explained slowly.
Schemer exhaled deeply. "What did the doctor say?" He asked cautiously.
"The surgery was fine, they're still keeping you on the treatments but nothing has gotten any worse." Schemee was keeping a calm demeanour compared to the last time Schemer had seen him. "They said that you're lucky that the surgery happened before it's scheduled time. It could have progressed."
"I don't feel lucky." Schemer grumbled, but his annoyance faded into guilt as he saw Schemee's cool mask slip into place. He was hitting nerves no doubt.
"They'll talk to you more about it." Schemee got up to leave.
"Wait, is Stacy here?" Schemer asked hopefully. He didn't want to push Schemee too much but he was hoping for company.
"She's been here, but they couldn't let her stay past regular hours since she's not family." Schemee said as he pulled his coat on, leaving without another word.
I Need a Doctor - Dr. Dre
