Rise (13 page)

chapter 16

Attie slammed her locker door, and the sound reverberated through the empty hall.

“They are not sticking a needle in me. Riley, go tell your mom that they aren’t sticking a needle in me.”

“Charlie—”

“Don’t ‘Charlie’ me. How would you like a four-inch-long needle stuck in your chest while you’re wide awake? Did you see that thing? It’s a freakin’ thick needle. It isn’t happening.”

“They need to find out what it is. They’ve got to do a biopsy on it.”

“Then they can do it another way.”

“If you do it the other way, you’re in the hospital longer. It’s actually surgery. We have to worry about them knocking you out, and it’ll leave a scar.”

“What’s one more? It’s not like I’ll be posing for Playboy one day or anything or that anybody else is going to see it.” I opened my mouth to say something. “Don’t you say a word.”

“I wasn’t gonna.”

“Yes, you were. You were going to make a snide remark about how you definitely wouldn’t be seeing it.”

A small laugh escaped from my throat. “How did you know that?”

“I know you, that’s how.”

I turned serious again. “So you wanna tell them you’re doing it the other way?”

“Yes.”

“Surgery?”

“Yes.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

“Are you gonna call your dad?”

“No way.”

“Why?”

“Because he doesn’t need to get in involved in something so minor. What makes you think he’d care anyway?”

“’Cause even if he’s a jerk, he’s still your dad.”

“If he wanted to know about stuff like this, he wouldn’t have given your parents legal rights to seek medical treatment for me if I needed it.”

“I think that was more for emergency type stuff. Not—”

“Riley, enough.”

“Am I annoying you?”

“Yes.”

“Charlie, I just think—”

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Think.”

I noticed Tiffany and another student walk up to a locker a few feet away, but I didn’t bother acknowledging them.

“Fine. I don’t agree with the surgery option, but I’ll obviously support whatever decision you make. It’s your body.”

“Thank you. Are you going to go with me?”

“Do you want me to?”

“Of course. It’s a fast procedure. I don’t stay the night or anything, but I’ll have to sit out the game on Friday night.”

“It’ll be worth it. We’ll be able to have some peace of mind … I hope.”

“Yes.” The school bell rang, and students immediately poured into the hall. “Riley, let’s not tell anyone, okay? I don’t want people freaking out over nothing.”

“Okay,” I said before giving her a kiss on the nose. “It’ll be just between us. Our little secret.”

“Well, ours and Tammy’s.”

“Tammy?”

“She is my best friend.”

“Yeah.”

“And she’s Tammy. She’d kick my butt if I didn’t tell her.”

“You’re scared of your best friend?”

“This is Tammy we’re talking about. Wouldn’t you be?”

“Uh, yeah.”

The rest of the day and all the way through Wednesday were three of the longest days of my life. My concentration was even completely off during practice. So much so that Coach finally sent me home early on Wednesday. Although they tried to hide it from Attie, my parents did a horrible job of hiding their concern from me. They acted completely opposite than they normally did. Dad talked a mile a minute about nothing in particular, and Mom was practically silent.

To try to keep Attie’s mind off things, Nicole invited her to go along for her doctor’s visit on Tuesday afternoon, and Attie excitedly agreed in hopes that she would hear the baby’s heartbeat. She was handling all the stress much better than the rest of us. Or, if she was as worried as much as we were, I sure couldn’t tell.

For dinner on Wednesday, Mom made Attie’s favorite meal: chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy. She threw in fried okra, buttered corn, and dinner rolls. Complete overkill if you ask me, but Attie seemed to appreciate it, especially seeing as how she wasn’t allowed to eat or drink anything after ten o’clock. She practically gorged herself, and then at 9:59, we all took one final bite of carrot cake before calling it a night.

Attie and I slept in our beanbag chairs in the hallway. Well, she slept, and I mostly watched over her. I was worried that the added stress might bring on a nightmare. Luckily, it didn’t.

At five thirty in the morning, my dad gave her a hug and loaded her into the car with my mom, Tammy, and me. By six thirty she went back to prep for surgery, and as much as I hate to admit it, Tammy and I both cried as soon as she and Mom were out of sight.

“Don’t assume the worst,” Tammy urged.

“I’m not.”

“We’ve gotta think positive.”

“I am.”

“Then why are you white as a ghost?”

“Am I that obvious?”

“Yes.”

I fell into one of the waiting room chairs. “Do you think Charlie noticed?”

A large smile formed on her face.

“What? Why are you smiling?”

She pulled her legs onto the chair and folded them underneath her. I’d never seen anyone sit in a chair that way before. “You just called her Charlie,” she said.

“I always call her Charlie.”

“Not when you talk about her third person.”

“Huh?”

“When you talk to her you call her Charlie, but when you talk about her, you call her Attie.”

“Really? I never noticed.”

“You just let me into your little world.” Tammy glowed at the idea. “You actually like me, Riley.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do.” Her red head bobbed up and down. “You love me. We’re friends and not just ‘cause of Attie.”

“Fine, I admit it.”

“I knew it.”

“I love you partly ‘cause you love Attie and partly cause you’re so darned obnoxious I can’t help myself.”

She smiled a big, sappy smile. “And I love you. One, because you love Attie, and two, because you’re one of the sweetest boys I’ve ever known.”

Something was off. Tammy wasn’t being herself. I leaned forward and gave her the look my dad gave me whenever he was about to start an interrogation. “Okay, what’s going on?”

She looked confused. “What?”

“You’re being really nice. Do you know something I don’t?”

She slapped herself on the forehead. “Aw, Attie told me not to be too nice. She said it would worry you.”

“It did.”

“Honestly, I don’t know anything. I was just being nice. It’s a rare occurrence. Maybe you should just soak it in. It may not happen again for centuries.”

“So you don’t know something bad and she just told you not to tell me?”

“No, I promise. If it scares you that bad, I’ll never be nice again. I’ll go back to being my hateful, opinionated self.”

“That might be best.”

“You’ve got it.”

“I appreciate it.”

“Here,” she said, tossing me a magazine. “We might as well make ourselves comfortable. We’re gonna be here awhile.” I picked it up and opened to the first page just as Joshua and Nicole walked into the room. For some reason, seeing them made me cry.

Without saying a word, Joshua sat next to me, placed his arm around my shoulder, and prayed quietly into my ear.

An hour and a half later, after Nicole and Tammy had fallen asleep in their chairs, Mom walked out into the waiting room. She looked exhausted and worried.

We woke up the girls before Mom gave the details.

“They took her back about fifteen minutes ago. After her IV was in, the doctor talked to her about what was gonna happen.”

“What is gonna happen?” Tammy asked.

“The incision should be very small, and he’s gonna try to go in … ” She looked at me and rolled her eyes. “Anyway, someplace not so obvious, if you know what I mean.”

“No,” Tammy said, shaking her head. “Not really, but go ahead.”

“Tammy, Bob and Joshua are sitting right here. I’m trying not to be graphic.”

“Oh, that’s okay. Attie’ll give me all the gory details later. I may even get to see the scar. Are you jealous, Riley?”

“No, and need I remind you my mother and my youth pastor are sitting right here?”

“So?”

“Was she upset?” I asked in an attempt to change the subject.

“A little nervous, but they gave her something to calm her down. She got a little loopy. It was funny.”

“What did she say?” I asked.

“She started talking about ‘Bob,’ and ‘Wasn’t Bob cute?’ and ‘Bob’s the sweetest boy ever.’”

“Oh good gravy. I hope that’s all she said. Was there anything incriminating?”

“I hope so,” Tammy said, rubbing her hands together.

“Nope. Nothing incriminating.”

A pout formed on Tammy’s face. “Bummer.”

“They said it shouldn’t take long to get the growth removed. They’re gonna take it straight to the pathology person; I think that’s what they said. We should know if it’s anything serious within just a few minutes.”

“How long will she be back there?” Nicole asked.

“They said that they will need to monitor her for about an hour after she wakes up. They have to make sure she doesn’t have a reaction of any kind. Then we can take her home.”

Joshua stood and walked toward the exit. “I’ll go call Tom and let him know what’s going on. He’s already texted me four times.”

“And Gramps,” I added. “Would you call him too? I know he’s really worried.”

“I’ll make sure to update him.”

“What about her dad?” Tammy asked. “Should we call him?”

I shook my head. “No. Attie didn’t want us to call him unless there was news of some kind.”

Tammy looked surprised. “Really?”

“I don’t think she wants him involved in the day-to-day stuff.”

“This isn’t really day-to-day stuff, is it? I mean, surgery’s kinda major.”

“It’s what she wanted. I’m not gonna push the issue with her anymore. No sense in opening a can of worms unless we need to, which I hope to God we don’t.” I rubbed my eyes and sat back in my seat. “She’s been through so much crap with him that she refuses to even talk about him. If you try to reason with her, it doesn’t get through. So—”

“Mrs. Bennett?” We all turned to the nurse. “You can go back in now. She’s about to be put in her room.”

“That was fast.” She hopped up and gave me a pat on the cheek. “Hang in there, Riley. We’ll have an answer soon.”

“I don’t get to be there when they tell her?”

Mom looked sympathetic to my situation. “Hold on for a second.” She disappeared behind some doors and within a few minutes came right back out. “They said you could go back. I’ll wait out here.”

I sprung to my feet. “Really?”

“Go on.”

I made it to Attie’s curtained-off “room” just as they were wheeling her back in. She was partially awake but groggy.

“I want Riley,” she mumbled.

“I’m right here.”

“Riley?” Her head turned in my direction, but she could barely hold her eyes open.

“I’m right here.”

“What did the doctor say?” she asked.

“Nothing yet.”

“Hmm.” She struggled to keep her eyes open but eventually lost the battle and fell back to sleep.

I was shocked to see that she wasn’t wearing a gown of any kind. Her chest was only wrapped in several layers of gauze, so I pulled the sheet up to cover her. I figured it was the gentlemanly thing to do, and I didn’t want her to be embarrassed once she finally came to.

I glanced around the room at all the equipment. Even for a small procedure, there were several machines monitoring her. I had to fight the encroaching memory of when she was lying in the hospital a little over a year before.

Not wanting to think about it, I laid my head on the bed and let myself fall asleep.

“Was Tammy nice to you out there?” she mumbled, waking me up. I wasn’t sure how much time had gone by.

“Yeah. She didn’t sass me once. It’s like she’s sick or something. Maybe she should be the one back here.”

Attie started laughing and then winced. “Riley, don’t make me laugh.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“I told Tammy to act normal or it would freak you out.”

“She was anything but normal. I think she’s worried.”

“Probably.”

I wanted to hold her hand, but the one closest to me had an IV in it, so I stroked her hair instead. “How do you feel?”

“A little sore and very groggy.”

“Attie?” The doctor opened the curtain. “Is she awake?”

“I’m awake,” she answered.

“We’ve got your test results back.”

It was as if time stood still. My heart stopped beating, my hand stopped stroking her hair, and I stopped breathing.

“It’s good news.”

My body instantly relaxed as relief swept over me.

“It was a calcium growth. Very common and harmless. We’ll have it sent off to be looked at further, but I don’t anticipate hearing anything different. All you’ve got to do now is heal and maybe lay off the sodas a bit. Too much caffeine can be a cause of those types of growths.”

“You hear that, Charlie? Not so many Route 44s.”

“Say it ain’t so,” she teased.

“The nurse will be in within the next few minutes to take out the IV, and then we’ll get you ready to go home. Is there anything else I can do for you? Do you have any questions?”

“No,” she mumbled.

“Do you think you could go give my mom the news? She’s waiting out in the lobby.”

“I’ll do that right now. I’ll also give her Attie’s prescriptions and follow-up information.”

“Thank you.”

“My pleasure. This is the kind of news I don’t mind giving. You two have a good day, and Attie, I’ll see you in about a week.”

“Okay, thank you.”

As soon as the doctor left the room, I covered Attie’s entire face in kisses.

“Riley,” she mumbled as she playfully tried to push me away. “Stop, we’re going to get in trouble.”

“By whom?”

“The nurse is going to be in here any minute.”

“I don’t care.” I gave her several more before sitting back down in my chair. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am. I was so scared.”

“What would you have done if the results would have come back different?”

“I woulda bawled my eyes out, I’m not gonna lie.”

“And then what?”