/Samantha/
I gave him a grin and lowered myself down to his level as soon as I heard him groan and see his eyes open. I mumbled to him, "Hi, and thank you for keeping your word," while looking at him with gratitude in my eyes. He gave a feeble smile as he removed the small oxygen mask from his face and then smiled.
He attempted to talk, but all that came out was a croaking sound, most likely as a result of the tubes that had been placed down his throat in preparation for the operation. "Shh baby, they stated that everything went well," the mother added. You only need to take it easy and get some rest; they will do some tests to evaluate how well it went tomorrow. Just get some sleep for me, ok? While I was kissing his head and gripping his hand, I told him, "I won't go till the sun comes up."
Because he appeared to be so worn out, I don't believe he had much of a choice but to grin and then close his eyes. He croaked out in a voice that was scarcely audible above a whisper, "You sleep too, Samantha Bear."
I gave her a reassuring grin and a firm nod before saying, "I will baby, I'll see you in the morning." I planted a passionate kiss on his palm before resting my chin on the edge of his bed. I could feel sleep creeping up on me, and I was powerless to stop it. The next day was going to be another long one, and there was a good chance that either everything would happen as planned or nothing would. In any case, we had a lot of work to do to help Henry get over this, and neither one of us was anywhere near done with this situation.
When I woke up in the morning, I was so weak that I could hardly move. I moaned as I pulled my head from the edge of Henry's bed and rubbed the back of my sore neck. When I stood up, it felt as though there was a pop in my back; I don't believe it was a wise decision to sleep in such an awkward position with my arms propped up on the bed.
My gaze went straight to Henry, who appeared to be awake and was simply staring at me while simultaneously forming a wistful smile at the outside edges of his mouth. "Hey," he said in a hushed voice.
"Hi, why didn't you wake me if you were awake?" I inquired while attempting to hide a yawn and sliding my palm up and down his arm. I felt pain and suffering throughout my entire body, the redness and irritation in my eyes persisted, and I could have used at least a few more hours of sleep.
He said something as he gently touched the side of my face and continued, "You know I enjoy to watch you sleep."
I let out a chuckle before turning my body to plant a passionate kiss on his palm. "I realise you're trying to be a pervert, but I would have much rather it if you had woken me up so that we could have had this conversation. I reprimanded him in a joking manner while saying, "I've missed you, you were asleep for a long time you know." He flashed a smile but didn't say anything else; his eyes were more narrow than usual, and his expression was so defeated and sad. I gulped heavily before asking, "What's the matter, Henry?" I spoke in a whisper.
He responded by turning his back on me and said, "I can't feel my legs."
I could feel my stomach turning, had it been in vain? Had all of that agony been for nothing, despite everything that he went through? Had he put his life in danger, and yet there was no difference? "Henry, can we just just wait till the Doctor gets here? He advised that they should hold off on conducting the tests for a little longer. It's only been a few hours," I responded, making an effort to keep my tone of voice even and emotionless. "Perhaps the swelling hasn't gone down yet; perhaps you need more time to get over the surgery; it's only been a few hours."
He nodded but he didn't appear like he believed me. "Yeah I guess."
"Please, sweetheart, just don't start getting all up about it just yet. Let's just give the doctor space to do his job, and we'll get your lab work done whenever you're ready, all right? I begged. "Please, Henry, try to keep your cool and get some rest; the doctor advised you to do so," I pleaded with him. "You might be getting worked up about nothing."
He gave me an insincere smile, nodded, and gripped my hand before turning his attention back to me. "Yeah ok." He heaved a sigh and took his time looking over my face. "Samuel bear, you still appear to be exhausted; I recommend that you get some more rest."
I leaned in and gave his hand a passionate kiss before shaking my head and saying, "If you're awake, then I'm awake."
"Samantha, what if it doesn't work, and I can no longer walk? What am I supposed to do then?" He mumbled, and it appeared as though he was only a few seconds away from fully losing it, and I must admit that it gave me a little bit of chills. Henry was always so powerful, he was always the one in control, and he was always looking out for me; nevertheless, right at this moment, the roles were completely flipped for the very first time in human history.
"If that does occur, then we will deal with it. Let's just put it out of our minds for the time being, okay? What is the purpose in being concerned about something that isn't even going to take place? I inquired while making an effort to sound upbeat.
He laid his head down on the pillow and grabbed my hand, saying, "Come lay with me for a little while. You should try to get some more rest, Samantha bear, for you look like the devil.
I chuckled and attempted to give the impression that I was angry as I said to Henry, "That's not the way to talk to the person you're in love with." As I gingerly stepped onto the bed, I mocked him, saying, "If you're trying to get in my pants, then you're going about it all wrong." (If you're trying to get in my pants, then you're doing it all wrong.) I laid next to him, only lightly touching him, and tried to maintain as much stillness as I could.
He yelled at Samantha, "I might not be able to do that again, Samantha; have you considered that possibility?"
I just put my arm across his chest and kissed his shoulder because I didn't know what to say to make him feel better. I scowled at his anger, but I didn't say anything else since I wasn't sure what I could say to make him feel better. Because he never yelled at me or about anything else before, I can only assume that he is experiencing a great deal of frustration right now. If he needed someone to yell at and vent his frustrations on, then I could be that person for him; in fact, I would be anything he wanted me to be if he asked me to.
The doctor finally came in to check on us after another hour of just us lying in silence as he did his rounds. As he entered the room, he flashed a grin, and I struggled to get out of bed despite the fact that I could hardly take a breath. Was this it, was he going to do the tests now that he had finished this? During the time that doctor was looking at Henry's IV, I removed him from all of the tubes and wires that were attached to him. Before he grinned and went back to the side of the bed, he got up from the floor and checked his eyes and his catheter.
"Alright, so it sounds like the operation was successful, Henry. Due to the fact that I was able to fix everything that I could see, I have high hopes that there will be a significant improvement. "What I'm going to do is send you down for an MRI scan right now, and then when you get back I'll run a few of physical tests," he stated. "I want to make sure that everything is okay." The door was opened, and a nurse, accompanied by a pair of orderlies, proceeded straight to Henry's bedside.
"Are you going to accompany him?" I inquired because I didn't want Henry to be out of my sight for a moment longer than was quite required.
You are welcome to accompany him to the waiting area, but you will be asked to leave the examination room while the staff does the procedure. Following the doctor's grin and nod of approval, the two orderlies quickly began moving the patient's bed out of the room. I ran as fast as I could to keep up with it and grabbed Henry's hand as we made our way through the maze of halls. I gave him a quick peck on the cheek before following him into the next room where he was being treated.
I was sitting in the waiting area, and I tried to go through a magazine while I waited for him to come out, but I couldn't even tell you the name of the magazine that I was looking at. I quickly flipped through the pages without even giving them a proper look; the only reason I was doing so was so that I would have something to do with my hands so that they would stop shaking.
Once we were back in his room, we had to wait a short while before his surgeon came back in. Once he did come back in, we continued to wait. I did nothing except clench Henry's hand and try to converse to him, but all he did was respond with either yes or no to everything I said. My attempts to divert his attention were not successful in the least.
The fact that he was so distant and quiet caused the hair on the back of my neck to rise up. Henry had never hidden anything from me before, but it was clear that he was doing so now. The fact that he was bottling up his emotions caused my heart to hurt so badly. When I looked at him, it seemed as though he was falling deeper and deeper into a depression, and there was nothing that I could say to him or do to pull him out of it. I couldn't help but feel helpless.
Henry's feet and legs were examined by Dr. Shaw after he returned as part of the physical examination. He persisted in prodding him with what seemed like a sharp needle and applying a cloth that had been soaked in liquid to various regions of Henry's legs while asking him whether he could feel the cold. Henry's legs were covered in the fabric. Henry gave a negative response to every question, and I could see the utter disillusionment growing in his eyes with each passing second.
The physician gave a comforting smile as he threw the items away in the garbage can. "Ok, so obviously there is still some swelling there, that's clear from the MRI, and I had a look at that before I came in. That was before I came in here." It's possible that it's just too soon to tell at this point," he remarked.
"What exactly does that entail?" Henry inquired while displaying an air of bewilderment.