SEVEN
"SO, YOU'RE TELLING me that he said he loved you?" Colton questioned as he put an IV in a patient.
I nodded my head and took a deep breath. "I know my dad told me that drunk actions are sober thoughts, but after the thousand times he's hurt me I don't know what to believe."
Colton threw away his gloves and leaned against the wall. "Skylar, your dad was one of the smartest people I knew. I mean, he was a brain surgeon! He knew everything to do with the mind, and if he told you drunk actions are sober thoughts, then I think you should listen to your dad."
"Love is tough, isn't it?" The patient looked at me and asked.
I slightly smiled. "Tough love."
"But tough loves are always the best ones. I think you should let him know what he's missed, but at the same time don't hurt him too much in the process. If that happens, you'll lose him." The guy spoke and I gave him a toothy grin.
Colton and I exited his room and went to go find Kelly. "Andrews! Winston!" We heard Kelly's voice shout and we instantly snapped our heads in the direction of her voice.
She walked over to us and had a sad expression on her face. "We have this family in the waiting room. Their father got shot, but he hasn't seen his kids or his wife in a year. They're a broken family. The dad doesn't know they're here and I suggest you don't tell him until he gets better. Go in there and talk to them."
Colton and I gave each other the 'we're going to get smothered in tears and stories' look and trudged over to the family. "They're right there." I pointed towards a mother who was sitting in the chair with her arms crossed and two teenagers that are crying.
Colton furrowed his eyebrows. "How do you know that?"
"Trust me, I know a broken family when I see one." I spoke softly, thinking about the kids and Soda.
We walked over to them and I gave them a small smile. "You all must be here for your dad." The teenagers nodded and the mother just scoffed and shook her head.
I scrunched my face up in confusion and looked at the woman. "Ma'am is something wrong?"
She stood up and started yelling. "Yes, something is wrong! I told this idiot to not walk out at night because it's a dangerous neighborhood, but he doesn't listen to me! That's why I left him in the first place!"
I fought back the urge to cuss the woman out and flashed her a fake smile. "Ms..."
"Carson." She snapped.
"Ms. Carson, I can understand why you're mad, but I don't think you understand how serious your ex husband's injuries are."
The teenagers both ran over to me with worry splashed across their face. "Where's the bullet located?"
I sighed. "You may want to sit down for this."
They both sat in the chair and I took a deep breath. Colton put his hand on my shoulder and gave me a reassuring smile. "Your father got shot in the head. He's lucky it didn't kill him right away. It's stuck in his skull and the end of it is touching his brain. I'm the neurosurgeon, so I'll be the one taking the bullet out of his head. I'm going to have to work fast in order to save him."
They both broke down and for the first time, Ms. Carson actually looked upset. She stood up and her whole tone of voice changed from loud to soft. "Please, let him live."
I gave her a small smile. "I'm going to do everything I can."
//
COLTON TOOK A deep breath. "I think I'm going to puke."
I started giggling. "Colton, it's a brain. It's not disgusting, it's awesome."
He rolled his eyes. "Says the person who's looked at a brain ever since she was seven. This is the first time I've seen one!"
I grinned. "Well, I'm honored to be the first to show you a real human brain."
I twisted my bracelet three times and took a deep breath, "It's a good day to save some lives, people."
I always twisted my bracelet three times before every surgery for good luck. It was a thing I have always done and it became habit. My dad always wore his same ferry boat cap for good luck on every brain surgery.
Colton looked at me and nodded. "So, let's save some."
//
I TOOK A deep breath and walked out of the surgery room. I walked over to the family and they stood up when they saw me. They looked at me with hopeful eyes and I swallowed the huge lump in my throat. "I-I'm sorry. The bullet was lodged farther into his brain than the x-ray depicted it to be. He didn't make it." I choked out the words. It felt as if a knife stabbed me as I said each word.
The mother broke down and the daughter of the father glared at me and screamed. "You're not a good brain surgeon at all! If you were, my father wouldn't be dead!"
It felt as if someone shot me in the head. I gulped and took a deep, shaky breath. I slowly walked away and ran out of the hospital. Colton was hot on my trail. I sat at the park bench and buried my face in my hands.
"Hey, it wasn't your fault, Skye. You couldn't control that. It was the x-ray, not you." Colton assured me as he rubbed my back.
I looked up at him as tears streamed down my face. "She's right, I'm never going to be as good as my dad. I'm not even half as good as the surgeon he was."
Colton shot me a glare. "That's not true. The whole hospital would be lost without you, Skylar. You're like the heart and soul of this hospital, just like your mom and dad once were."
I sniffed because my nose was so stuffy from crying. Colton took me to my car and told me he would tell Kelly that I had a family emergency. I thanked him and drove to my house.
When I entered, I collapsed on the couch and started crying again. "Blue, what happened?" Soda's concerned voice came from the top of the staircase. He rushed down and sat beside me, pulling me into his chest while rubbing his fingers through my hair.
"I-I didn't save the patient. His daughter said I wasn't a good surgeon." I stuttered and sobbed into Soda's chest.
"Blue, that was nothing you could control. It's not your fault." He put his finger under my chin and tilted it so I was looking straight into his eyes. "Even your dad made mistakes. Remember 1985? The fall?"
1985
"What's your dad doing?" Soda questioned as we sat in the patient examination room, watching my dad work on a patient.
"He's working on an elderly woman. She fell while cooking supper and hit her head on the edge of the table. She has severe bleeding. Dad said he was absolutely positive he can save her." I answered as we shared a bowl of popcorn.
Soda looked at me and sadness washed across his face. "What if she doesn't make it though?"
Before I could answer, I heard the monitor flat-line and Soda and I spilled the popcorn everywhere while running to the window to see it better. My dad did everything possible to try and get her to breathe again, but after five minutes they had to pull him away from her. He slammed his fists against the wall and ran out of the operation room.
Soda and I sat back down and stared into space, a comfortable silence between us. I looked at Soda and whispered, "What if I can't save a patient when I become a brain surgeon?"
He put his hand on my shoulder and gave me his famous grin. "It will be okay. Not every surgeon is perfect. They all make mistakes."
I gave him a smile and laid my head on his shoulder.
//
"THEY ALL MAKE mistakes." Soda assured me and I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug.
"Soda?"
"Hmm?"
"I don't want to be a broken family."
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