"I wanted you to be the first one here when I woke up" Carolyn smiled still a little groggy. The anxious young nurse standing by Carolyn's bed shook nervously fearing Derek and Lauren would fire her "I insisted this helpful young nurse make it a 911. I'm sorry if I scared you"

"You scared the crap out of me Mom" Lauren sighed and took the chart from the nurse who quickly ran from the room. Checking all of her Mom's vital signs, she started doing a post-op exam.

"Will you stop poking and prodding Mom for two seconds so you can rejoice in the fact that she is awake and you just pulled off a ground-breaking surgery?" Derek insisted and pulled Lauren's stethoscope from her hands "You did it Lauren"

"If you'll let me do my post-op exam then I'll be happy. Let me be a doctor for fifteen minutes then I'll be fine I promise"

"Fifteen minutes then its bright and shiny little sister"

"Bright and shiny?"

"Clocks ticking..." he chuckled handing the stethoscope back to his sister. Lauren quickly did her post-op exam checking absolutely everything she could possibly think of. It was too soon to do any scans so she could leave that for an hour or two til everyone had come and seen Carolyn. Writing her notes in her Mom's chart, she made sure she had checked everything twice before standing back with her hands up like she was surrendering.

"Ok I'm done. Bright and shiny little sister is here" she laughed and wrapped her arm around Derek's waist as Derek's arm rested around her shoulders. "I knew you could pull through this Mom"

"Then why have you been so on edge until now?" Carolyn chuckled. She loved to see Derek and Lauren together as close as they were when they were kids.

"Because my Mom who suddenly changed her mind about surgery was under my knife. Anyone operating on their own parent would have been freaking out. What did make you change your mind Mom?"

"Your brother"

Lauren looked up at Derek with a confused expression "I guess I just pleaded your case a little more. Mom deserved a chance to fight and you were giving that to her. We just needed to have a little faith" he smiled and hugged her gently

"That's the second time someone has said that to me today" she laughed thinking about Alex

"Maybe you should start listening"

"Maybe I should go find Amy, Nancy and Kathleen. I'm sure they're just itching to see you awake"

"Maybe Derek could go get them" Carolyn insisted wanting to have some alone time with Lauren. Derek took the hint and left the room as Lauren sat down on her Mom's bed. She couldn't help but keep an eye on her Mom's vital signs as she sat down. Just a spike in her fever could be a sign of something bad so Lauren was going to keep a close eye for the next few hours.

"Is it just Derek that made you change your mind? You were pretty set on not having this surgery"

"Seeing you with that little girl on the oncology ward made me really start to think. I don't want to miss you marrying that gorgeous Alex boy..."

"Mom..." Lauren laughed a little embarrassed.

"Whether you marry him or not, I couldn't miss seeing you holding your own little girl like you were with Ashley. Not to mention Amelia if she ever finds someone to settle down with. I've gotten to see all that with Nancy and Kathleen but I have three more beautiful children" Carolyn smiled and took her daughter's hand gently "I forgot for a moment what I would truly be missing if I didn't do something about this cancer"

"We would be missing sharing it all with you Mom" Lauren smiled and leant down kissing her cheek softly "You might be waiting a while for Amelia and I to settle" she joked as Derek appeared with their sisters at the door.

"Apparently you're only allowed two visitors at a time but we couldn't pick" Amelia laughed as she took up Lauren's now vacant spot on the edge of Carolyn's bed. Looking through her mother's chart once more, she updated her vital sign notes.

"I'm Mom's doctor so we've only got one extra. I think I can overlook the extra just this once" Lauren chuckled and closed her Mom's chart "I should go anyway. I have a few kids I need to check on"

"Don't work too hard"

"When does she ever?" Derek chuckled jokingly. Lauren nudged him dramatically on her way out of her Mom's room. Looking back once she was at the nurses' station, she smiled at the sight of her Mom awake and talking. It was only just hitting her that she'd pulled off a never before done surgery. Taking it in, she made sure the nurses kept a close eye on her Mom before she left to check on her other patients.

Thoughts? I bet you didn't think Carolyn would be ok. One more chapter to go of this story and I promise a happy ending with a little surprise