"You ready young man?" The doctor asked, waiting for Jesus to give him the go-ahead.
It was now three weeks since the surgery and Jesus had been waiting for seventeen days to take the bandages off. His mothers had spent hours talking to him about the decision they'd made; the doctors had explained the procedure and what to expect and given them all some information on support groups and therapists to help them cope and his siblings had encouraged him to look on the bright side of things and now he was just ready to get it over with.
"Hell yeah." Jesus said with more enthusiasm than anyone expected. He was apprehensive about what his face would look like but he firmly believed his mothers had made the right decision for he definitely did not want to spend the rest of his life looking worse than Scarface.
"Just remember, it's not what you're used to." The doctor warned.
"Just so long as I don't look like Frankenstein then I'm good." Jesus assured with a shrug.
"Also, there may still be some swelling, redness and tenderness, but that will all disappear as it heals." The doctor reminding him, even though he'd said all this just a few minutes ago.
"Ready for the grand unveiling sir." Jesus joked.
The doctor glanced at Stef and Lena once just to make sure that they were as ready as their son and then carefully began to unwrap Jesus' face. Both mom's held their breath as they watched the bandages come away for for the last three weeks they'd only seen his eyes, lips and the tip of his nose.
Silence filled the room as each one took their time to study Jesus' face. It was his face, but at the same time it was not and it wasn't just because of the slight redness and swelling. There was definitely a resemblance but he looked more like another family member like cousin. Both mothers hoped like hell that they weren't being rude for neither of them could stop staring.
But Jesus never even noticed for he was too busy studying his face in the mirror. He knew in theory that his face would be different but actually looking in the mirror had taken him by surprise and he constantly found himself touching his face just to check if he was in fact looking at himself.
The doctor finally began to explain a few things just so that Jesus could get an idea of what to expect. "This is where we made the cut and pulled the old skin away." The doctor began as he pointed to the top of Jesus' left ear and traced his hairline all the way to the other. Once the hair grows back the scar will be almost ninety percent hidden." He assured. "The other scare goes from the back of your earlobe, below your chin to the other side." He continued, tracing along that scar." It will also fade in time but will be more visible simply because there is no hair to cover it up. But it will be very thin and very light." He assured. "The swelling and redness will go away in a few weeks and you will gain full movement and feeling in your face."
Jesus nodded but didn't say a word for he was still too busy studying the image in the mirror. His mothers weren't quite sure what to say and so, for right now, they opted to say nothing.
"In a year or two people won't even know you had surgery unless they look really closely." The doctor said to make them all feel a little better.
"It's not bad." Jesus finally said, still stroking his cheek and realizing that it felt more like a distant touch. That's probably what the doctor meant by regain full feeling.
"It's not." Stef finally said, glad that her son wasn't too closed off about the surgery.
"I think you look very handsome." Lena said proudly.
"More than before?" Jesus questioned, looking seriously at her.
Lena was momentarily stumped for she didn't know what the right answer was. Did she say he did look better and make him believe he didn't look so good before or did she say his old face was the best and make him feel like he wasn't that good looking now.
"Relax mom, I'm kidding." Jesus finally laughed, giving his mother a break.
Lena laughed nervously, relieved that she didn't have to answer.
"Honestly though, which is better?" Jesus asked. Though he obviously wasn't upset about this whole procedure he was curious. "And be honest." He said frankly.
Lena glanced at her son and then at Stef, begging her to be the one to answer for right now she just wasn't ready.
"Honesty?" Stef confirmed and waited for Jesus to nod. "I miss your old face." She answered truthfully. "But I could definitely get used to looking at this handsome young man too." She added with a smile as she gently brushed her hand across Jesus' cheek, careful not to hurt the tender flesh.
Jesus smiled as wide as his healing face would allow as he turned back to the mirror. "So could I." He agreed positively. That is, until he heard a terrified scream from the doorway.
Mariana sat in her math class tapping her pencil annoyingly on the desk. Today was the day that her brother would see his face and she wanted to be there with him but her mom had said no. Jesus needs time to accept this and decided when he's ready for everyone else to see. Lena had said before sending the other four children to school
But Mariana couldn't stop thinking about her brother and she was now sitting in her fourth class of the day but she couldn't even tell you which subjects she's had before this, let alone what they were taught in them. She glanced up the clock and noticed that not even a minute had passed since the last time she'd looked. There was only a minute or two left of this period and she was just waiting for the bell to ring so that she could text her mother and ask what was going on.
Finally, mercifully the bell rang and Mariana quickly sent the text she'd already typed out. She waited impatiently for several minutes for a response but when she didn't receive one immediately she shook her head and with a determined look she grabbed her bag and snuck out of school, not caring about whatever consequences her moms would have for her.
On the twenty minute walk to the hospital she'd considered all the possibilities of what Jesus might look like and what she'd say to support him. She imagined a handsome looking fellow with perfect features and flawless skin. Then she imagined Channing Tatum, Ben Affleck and Liam Hemsworth and she smiled as she entered the hospital. However, much like Jesus, she pictured all these faces but still expected Jesus to look like the Jesus she'd known all her life so when she reached the doorway and saw a boy that look vaguely familiar but also vastly different she couldn't help but scream.