A Wish For Wings (Rainbow Jack Story) 7

Chapter 7: Surgery

I was sitting on the edge of the bed early this morning with my head in my hands. It has been four days since I went to the doctor and today I have to have surgery to fix the “boo-boo in my head”. I felt Jack sit next to me and put an arm around my shoulder. I looked at him with a nervous expression.

“Hey kiddo cheer up! Everything will be ok” said Jack in a warm voice. I leaned on Jack’s shoulder.

“But I’m scared Jackie” I said in a quiet voice. I felt his grip tighten on my shoulder.

“Don’t be scared. I will stay with you and I won’t let anything happen to you” said Jack in a gentle tone. “Now get ready to go, you have to leave soon. You have a big battle to fight today” said Jack as he released his grip on my shoulder. I nodded and stood up to get ready to leave.  

I was in the car sitting on Jack’s lap as I looked out the window. Jack had his arms around my waist and was resting his cheek on the top of my head.  I heard Jack start humming again and I could feel the vibrations of his voice as he hummed. The nervousness I had been feeling earlier was slowly starting to fade. I felt safe having Jack with me.

We arrived at the hospital and I got out of the car with Jack. Daddy had to work so he did not come with us. Mommy took my hand and I grabbed Jack’s hand as we walked into the hospital to sign in. Mommy signed the paper work and got me signed in. I was now wearing an identification band on my wrist. I was sitting on Jack’s lap again next to Mommy as we waited to be called back by a nurse.

After fifteen minutes I heard a female nurse call my name. Mommy and I stood up and followed the nurse. She took my height, weight, and vitals and asked me a few basic questions about how I was feeling. The nurse led us to the room I would be staying in and handed me a hospital gown. I accepted the gown and went into the bathroom and quickly changed.

I came out and sat on the hospital bed. Jack came and sat on the bed next to me and put his arm around me in a comforting manner. I had to be careful in how I acted with Jack since nobody else could see him. The nurse left the room for a few minutes and returned with an electric razor, soap, and a regular razor.

I tensed up knowing what was about to happen next. I moved so the nurse could have complete access to my head. The nurse approached me with the electric razor and turned it on.

In a sad and gentle voice the nurse asked, “Are you ready?” I shook my head. I felt tears start to form in my eyes. I looked up at the nurse with a sad face.

“Can I please have a mirror so I can watch?” I said in a shaky voice. The nurse smiled and nodded. She brought me a mirror and handed it to me. I looked at myself and started to cry. “I’m ready now” I said in a hoarse voice from crying.

The nurse brought the razor to my hair and started to shave my head. I watched in the mirror as the hair fell from my head and onto the bed around me. I cried in despair at having to lose my hair. I felt a pair of arms wrap around my chest from behind me.  I leaned back onto Jack and cried as he whispered comforting things to me.

Once the nurse had finished shaving my head she left the room. Five minutes later she came back with needles, syringes, tubes, and the basic supplies for my intravenous (IV). The nurse gently took my right arm and pressed around looking for a vein. Once she found a vein she marked it with a blue marker and took the tourniquet and tied it on my upper arm. I watched as she took out some iodine and cleaned off the area where my IV was going to go. Once the area was cleaned she took a syringe with some numbing medicine in it and stuck me in the arm around the IV site. Once the area was numb the Nurse stuck the vein and set up the IV and taped it down and attached the tubes with a saline solution bag.

I shifted to lie back on the bed and so did Jack so I was lying with him. The nurse attached the monitors to my chest and abdomen to check my vitals. I heard the machine start beeping once my vitals were detected. The nurse had finished preparing me for surgery so I was waiting for the doctor to come see me.

Once the doctor had seen me and the operating room was prepared and ready, the nurse came back. Jack got off the bed and stood to the side. I looked over to him with a scared expression. Jack looked back at me and gave a sad smile.

“Ok Sweetheart, the nice nurse is going to take you back now and the doctors are going to fix you this time” said Mommy in a hopeful voice. I looked at Mommy and nodded.

She kissed me goodbye and the nurse rolled me out of the room on the bed. I watched as the hospital passed by and soon I was being rolled into the operating room. I looked around and saw people dressed in operating scrubs. I saw the doctor looking over some charts before he turned to me and smiled.

“Relax darling, we’re gonna take good care of you” I head the doctor say in a gentle voice.

With the assistance of two of the nurses I was moved from the hospital bed to the operating table. I lay on my back and watched as a surgical assistant strapped my arms and legs down to keep me from moving. I felt the doctor mark the places on my head where I would have incisions. I started to get scared again. I could hear the heart monitor start to beep faster now that my heartbeat was quickened.

I felt something cool being pushed into my vein. The doctor said in soft voice, “That medicine will help you to calm down. The next one will put you to sleep.” I nodded at him.

I saw the doctor get ready to put the anesthesia in the IV. I was panicking and started to look around the room. I looked over to the doors that lead out of the operating table. When I looked at the doors I noticed a colorful smoke start pouring in through the doors. Nobody else seemed to notice it. I watched as the smoke floated over to me and enveloped me.

It was a warm sensation and it felt like someone was hugging me. This felt familiar, like this has happened before. I felt a cool sensation enter my vein again. I knew it wouldn’t be long before I passed out. As the darkness started to take over me I heard a voice whisper ‘I won’t leave you kiddo, I’m here’. I suddenly realized that the smoke was Jack. I smiled and started to calm down.

Everything faded and turned to black as I passed out from the anesthesia. I felt like I was floating in a black nothingness. I don’t know how long I was in this nothingness. I heard a faint voice say, ‘Oh no, there’s a piece of this tumor I can’t get to.’The darkness started to fade away and light started to shine through.