Thanks to CharlieSmarts12 and x snow- pony x for reviewing.
Oliver looks like Robert Pattinson. Dr. Monique (Mon- eek) looks like Vincent Cassel
Here's the last chapter.
"There was once…" I started while I and Mike walked through the revolving doors to Newcastle Memorial hospital. "I mean…. I've been sent back and forth to like twenty different care homes but… There's one I remember especially. And that was when I was twe…"
I frowned and stopped in the middle of a word when I suddenly realized that I hadn't counted it right. That that surgery had wasn't as long ago as I thought it was.
"Are you okay Maya?"
"Yeah…" I said, more weakly than what I had planned. "…I was in a foster home then. I was thirteen not twelve. They said they'd always be there for me. They were there for me all up until I had fallen asleep for the surgery. And they said they'd still be there when I woke up… but they weren't. Before I left the hospital the oldest of their kids came and left bags with all of my things in my hospital room and the social worker to tell me I was moving on to Stonewall care home. That I was moving two hours away from there right away. And with that would come a new school when it would start, a new hospital. New care home, new care kids and so on…" I gave a deep sigh. "I was there for a couple of months only… Then I came to Ashdene Ridge. And here we are."
Mike POV
"I hope you understand now Maya." I showed her to stop when we stood right outside the surgery department. "We would never do something like that to you. And if we, against all odds would feel that you should move for one reason or another. Then we'd never force you, and we'd never do it without hearing your opinion about it."
I knew there were so many care and foster homes that had done the exact opposite of what Ashdene Ridge stood for. And it broke my heart.
Maya didn't answer, but only looked towards the sign that said plastic surgery and showed me to come after her. She had been here before.
"About this time in the morning…" Maya glanced towards a clock on the wall that said seven in the morning. "…All the nurses gathers in their staff room to go through what patients they have for the day. The staff office is here." She pointed to a room that had big windows in the walls towards the hallway. But they were blurred and could only be seen through at the top. "So we can only sit here and wait." She sat down on a bench and showed me to sit down next to her. "And now we're waiting."
It hurt me how Maya seemed so used to all of this. Where she now sat with her head leaned back against the wall tiredly she was obviously waiting for the next. But a fourteen year old girl shouldn't know what was coming to come next. She shouldn't have gone through it before…
Maya knew.
"Well hello." Obviously one of the nurses in the staff room had seen us coming because we'd only sat on the bench for a few seconds when the door opened and a guy, possibly in his late twenties or young thirties came out to us and closed the door after him. "Hey Maya. We have met before and… you are…"
"Mike. Michael Milligan." I stood up when Maya did next to me. "Care worker."
"Geez Mye. For every time we meet you've changed and you're bringing some new care worker or foster parent… Good day. My name is Oliver and I'm a nurse."
If glares could kill there wouldn't have been much left of Oliver the nurse.
Maya POV
Oliver Patrick was just as annoying every time I came to the hospital to have surgery. Time and time again he was. Too bad he was also good- looking so I could never ask to get somebody else the next time I came around. It was the only thing I had that didn't make the hospital stay excruciating.
Not so much because Oliver was actually here but because every straight girl or homosexual boy ever would be jealous of it. And that was always something!
"Room fifteen for my lady today."
At least that was a single room. That was always something too. I hated having to share room at the hospital.
I had had that room as mine a number of times before, but a number of times I had also been sharing…
And suddenly it hit me how extremely how sad it was that I had learnt what rooms in this hallway were single, double or even triple rooms. I was fourteen years old with as many hospital stays as an eighty year old cancer- patient. And everything because of my dad.
"And can you tell me your birthday?"
"August thirteenth 2003."
"Good girl." Oliver put the paper- like wristband around my wrist with my name and birthday on to make sure I got all the right care. "I'm leaving you know but you already know that. And then I'll come back whenever you'll be taken to surgery."
"In about a thousand years."
"Pardon?"
"Nothing." I'd only mumbled with no intention of letting Oliver or Mike hearing how tired I was of this or how long the days for surgery always left. Oliver was the one that had asked, I could see it on the way he looked at me. But he didn't say anything and left the room. I ignored him, took my shoes and jacket off and put it in a slim wardrobe in the corner. Then put my laptop on the high, rolling bedside table and laid the charger next to it. And also a copy of the book "stranger than fanfiction" by Chris Colfer before I laid the backpack on the floor of the wardrobe and then crawled up into the bed.
"And now we wait."
I always tried to stay awake all night before a surgery day. That way I could sleep when I came to the hospital and time would pass by quickly. But tonight, after coming home from the competition and somehow relieved after talking to my dad. I had more or less fallen into bed before clock had passed eight and slept deeply until Mike woke me up at six.
I really hated surgery days. Including that one always got the instructions to come here at seven, and then still had to wait for hours before one would hear anything about when the surgery could be done and it was time for the preparation.
Neither Mike nor I said much that day. At about noon he went to the cafeteria to have something to eat. But that after having made sure with the nurses that I wasn't going anywhere before he was back. And then making sure with me that I, and my book and my laptop were fine waiting for him.
It felt like a million years alone even though it was only half an hour before Mike came back. And I could hear doctors and nurses and all kinds of staff and patients running through the hallway outside my rooms. And those sounds along with alarms, people moaning and shouting for help… As if the staff didn't already have enough to do without that kind of people.
I just sat on that darn hospital bed minute in and minute out. I got hungry after a while not having eaten since last night because I was being put to sleep with narcosis. I had bought a code at the hospital kiosk so I could use the Internet. For a bit back and forth I read and sometimes every once in a while I and Mike thought of something to talk about. But none of it made time pass by fast enough and when the clock passed three in the afternoon I was so tired of it all I could have screamed it right out.
And then…
"Here is Dr. Monique. The surgeon." Dr. Monique and Oliver came into the room, Oliver holding onto a pile of soft, hospital clothes of the kind that I just loved to hate. "Change into these. Dr. Monique will be drawing on you and then we're going."
"Drawing?"
Mike seemed confused, I had been here before so I just stood up, pulled my sweatpants off and pulled the grey, ugly hospital pants on, only barely pulling them up to leave the space open where Dr. Monique needed it, then turned my back against them- I definitely wasn't prude, and changed my shirt into the one from the hospital before I laid my own clothes on a chair by the window and laid back on the bed.
"We'll be taking pieces of skin from her hip. About here." With his thick, black pen Dr. Monique drew on a line around my hip and showed Mike. "And then make a transplant and put it on her hand, on her fingers. Later on she'll be able to stretch her fingers properly. Which she can't do now because the skin is too tight. And then on the side of her neck so that she can turn her head properly. And she'll have to have more surgery in the future…"
"Don't remind me."
"…But we'll be happy with her fingers and the side of her neck today." He drew on my fingers and my hand carefully. And then I turned to the side so he could draw on the side of my neck where I couldn't even turn my head fully because the skin was too tight. "…You see. When the skin is scarred like this it doesn't grow and stretch as it's supposed to. Then it needs plastic surgery like this. Luckily it's quite simple and common ones. So the risk of anything going wrong is about minus five."
"W- wrong?" Mike questioned. "Could something go wrong? What do you mean?"
"There is always some risk of something going wrong with anything. And especially during medical procedures. Often, like in this the risk is very little. All the medicines Maya's getting today she has gotten many times before so allergies are out of the picture. But putting someone down under narcosis can be risky. And there are times when someone has had surgery and been fine but then with the narcosis when they're supposed to wake up and they just simply don't. They never wake up. But believe me- that's not going to happen. The worse that could happen this time is scarring on your skin and well… you already have enough of that so one or three more isn't going to make any difference. And then it's only the risk of you feeling sick or fever- ish after you wake up but we don't have to worry about that now. That's only normal, uncomfortable of course. But not life threatening. And however you feel you can tell the staff in the recovery room about it. They're there to help so don't hesitate to ask. Do you want to ask me anything else?"
"Can Mike come with us?"
I barely even knew what made me answer. It wasn't as if I didn't know what would come next but it was just… I didn't know at all really.
"I- I mean I… ehrm…"
"He can stay with you all the while until you're asleep. And by the time you wake up he'll be right by your side again. Excuse me. But I have to go get the room ready now." Dr. Monique left with his black pen and annoying, French accent. I couldn't help but to grimace after him as if I had been five years old. I had almost expected Mike to become strict and tell me off but he smirked, nodded towards the doctor and rolled his eyes.
"He's annoying. And those…. French R- sounds are just soooo…" I rolled my eyes and then fell back towards the bed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ask that… you can just wait here. I'll be back in a couple of hours or you can go back to the dumping ground or whatever. You really don't have to come with me." Mike came closer and laid a hand on my shoulder.
"As long as we're here you're in charge Maya. And I know what you teenagers are like… of course I'll come with you: There's certainly nothing so important at the dumping ground or anywhere else I need to do it right now or right after. I'll be by your side in the recovery room and stay with you until you're back here. If there's something that needs to be done I will do it when you're back and feeling alright again."
"You're like the best dad ever. Did you ever have any children of your own?" I suddenly realized I wasn't one to just act like that and I put a hand to my head. "Sorry… I always get… Days in the hospital are so boring… maybe… I don't know how to express myself… I get sort of drunk really. Ask weird questions and forget ab… about things… Oh. Here comes Oscar again."
"Oliver." I smirked to let him know I was only joking. "Well very funny. Not. We're going to take you downstairs for the surgery any minute now. But first… Here's the needle. And what's it called?"
"Butterfly."
"Can you tell me your birthday?" Oliver pushed the butterfly needle into my hand and stuck it with a plaster. "Only to check." He checked the wristband I had gotten when I came here. "August the thirteenth in two thousand and three." The nurse nodded with a smile and laid four pills on my bedside table along with a small Styrofoam cup with water. "That one's a sedative, that one's anti-nausea, and those two are against the…"
"Against the pain. I know. I've been through this before."
"Loads of times. Be back in a minute."
I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him again and give a deep sigh.
"FIY as you teenagers say. I never married or had children of my own. But there are loads of children out there who I had cared for and I see all of them, including you as my own. Therefore, when you don't feel good I don't… and I'm sort of supposed to come with you to the hospital or stay with you when you're not well or even feel happy when you're happy and proud when you do well."
"Are you only here because you have to?"
"Oh come on. I didn't mean it like that. You know what I mean."
I did mean. And now I felt bad for saying that because Mike really was the best. I decided to just wait not to say anything more then. But weren't there things it maybe would do well if Mike knew before I went to surgery? And came back of course.
"There are things you should know. I know about the medicines I just got. They never help. I'm still going to be sick when I wake up from the narcosis. I always do. Then it doesn't matter if I haven't eaten for almost twenty four hours. I still do." I gave a deep sigh while I saw Mike frowning at me. "And believe me. I've tried anything and everything to stop it… I guess when I arrived at Ashdene Ridge a while ago I wouldn't have minded it much though…"
"What do you mean?"
"How fun do you think it is to shove your fingers down your throat to force yourself to throw up? With a surgery and narcosis that is made so much simpler. And you don't even have to eat anything before it." Mike couldn't hide the sigh. "Sorry… I know it's not okay to make comments like that. But I'm just in such a bad mood when I'm about to have surgery knowing what will happen next."
"I can understand that." Oliver was back in the room. "Especially at this time of day. But here we go. We're usually two nurses to push the bed. But maybe Mike here can help- we're a bit under staffed today. I just have to go and get something I forgot."
Oliver- confused as usual half ran out of the room and left Mike and me waiting again.
"Eating disorders are a terrible thing." Mike said while we waited for Oliver. "I don't think anyone actually understands it. Not even when you're in the middle of it, hurting yourself or coming out of it. But if you're ever there again Maya, please talk to me. I don't… I don't even want to think about what could have happened if Archie hadn't figured what was going on…"
Mike never finished that sentence. Oliver hurried back into the room and loosened the breaks on the wheels of the bed. And while he took the pulling at the front. Mike took the steering and pushing at the back. While I just laid down and watched people as we passed them by towards the surgery.
Some of them looked a bit strange looking back. But it would be fine. This part I always forgot all about later on…
"Can you tell me your birthday?"
My mind was spinning as a side effect from all the medicines I'd been getting. But the feeling that I had it in the back of my mind somewhere only made me feel worse.
"I can't remember…" I whimpered. "…I'm sorry."
"That's okay." Oliver told me but I could see in the look on his eyes that he couldn't wait to get out of here and leave me to somebody else. "August thirteen 2003. See there? I knew what it was anyway. Can you tell me your name?"
"Maya."
"More than Maya?"
I just couldn't remember. Even though I knew it was there I couldn't get it out.
"I know that too. Maya- Nicole Connally- Henderson." Oliver checked the wristband again. "I'm going now. Here comes a surgery nurse, and over there is the surgeon. And it's just about to start. Good luck. Maybe I'll see you another time."
I wasn't sure about that. But it didn't seem impossible.
As if the rest of the meds I had already gotten wasn't enough the nurse used a syringe to push something into the chord that was in my arm. And for every second I felt more and more dizzy and confused.
More and more like I needed someone there that wasn't meant to hurt me even more.
"Mike?"
"Right here."
"Can I change my name and take away the parts that are from my dad's name- Nicole and Connally. I don't want to have anything more to do with him… Maybe my middle name could be Amelia… after my mum."
"I think we can sort that out." Mike said, in a calm and comforting tone. "But don't worry about that now. We'll have plenty of time to worry about that later. Oh… here comes the nurse with the mask. Just relax now Maya. It's all okay."
That was very easy for Mike to say wasn't it? He didn't know how the mask one put over nose and mouth to breathe in the narcosis is huge and terribly uncomfortable. Still I had done all of this before and knew exactly what the surgery nurse would say next.
"I'm going to put this over your nose and mouth. And you just concentrate on taking deep breaths and then count down from ten. Okay?"
Not knowing what I was doing I suddenly looked around in.
"It's okay Maya." I heard Mike's voice and felt his big hand slip into my small. "I'm right here. Just relax."
The nurse put the mask on…
Deep breaths Maya, deep breaths…
Ten
Nine
Eight
Sev…
I hope what Maya said about eating disorders wasn't dishonoring in any way. I just needed to refer to the beginning of the story in some way and that was just so in character for her. I didn't mean to dishonor anyone or anything. I hope everyone's okay with how I wrote about them. Both in this chapter and before.
Maya's birthday I just picked a random date. Then I realized that August thirteenth is special to me. Because it was the date I was due to be born. Even though I was a month and a half premature and my birthday is June the twenty eighth.
The book "Stranger than fanfiction" by Chris Colfer is a bit strange I guess. But it's actually good and definitely worth the read. As are all of Chris Colfer's book. And if the name sounds familiar Chris is most known for playing the character Kurt Hummel in glee.
I actually didn't plan for the surgeon to be French. I just tried to figure a name that would suit him and Monique turned up and that was it.
Random fact
The chapter was originally not meant to be split up in Mike and Maya's pov's like that. But I wrote and wrote and then I realized I'd changed into Mike's pov when I hadn't realized I'd been writing other parts from Maya's (I don't write chapters right up and down. I write the scenes or lines I have ideas for first and then write to tie them together) So I put Mike's name before the start of the scenes I'd just been writing. And put Maya's name where I'd finished so it could go back to her pov. And after all it at least ended up at suiting points to switch.
And then that's the whole chapter. Another story finished.
