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The original plan was for Fe to pick Lydia up and drive her to the hospital. Obviously, that wasn’t happening, so instead of arriving in a comfortable car, Lydia, and Cathy arrived by bus.

Putting the stress of public transport behind her, Lydia readied herself. She would only be in the hospital for a few hours. Cathy already arranged for a taxi to pick them up, not knowing what state Lydia would be in. Harrison sent his apologies for not being with them. He had something crop up at university that he couldn’t miss. It still blew Lydia’s mind that he was a PhD student.

“Lydia, how are you?” Elise Maynard asked as soon as they saw her at the reception desk. Should she still call her Elise, now that things were rocky with Halle?

“Good. A little nervous.” That was an understatement.

“No need to be. It will be over before you know it. Just fill this out and then the nurse will take you to your room. When I’m ready for you, you’ll be brought to the theatre and prepped.”

“Okay.” That sounded simple enough.

“You haven’t eaten anything since last night?” Unfortunately, no.

“Nope, and I’m bloody starving.” The three women shared a laugh before saying their goodbyes. Cathy was allowed to wait in the recovery room while Lydia had the procedure done.

“Jesus, I look awful.” The hospital gown was hideous. Why the hell did they put mirrors in the room? That was just cruel.

“They’re not made to look good. Are you sure it’s on the right way? I thought you were supposed to have your arse exposed in them?” Lydia slapped Cathy’s hand away as she fiddled with the flap on the gown.

“Well, I presumed they’d rather have access to my front than my bum, Cathy.”

“You’re right, we would,” a kindly nurse said with a twinkle in her eye. Had she heard the entire conversation? “Are you ready to go?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Ain’t that the truth!

“Don’t worry, sweetie, you’ll be fine. And I’ll be right here when you come around.”

Crossing the space quickly, Lydia threw her arms around Cathy. “Thank you.”

“No thanks necessary. Now, off you go.” Cathy gave her a squeeze and a peck on the forehead.

Lydia drummed her fingers on the wheelchair arm the entire ride to the theatre. She also wrinkled her nose at the antiseptic smell all hospitals had. At least it’s clean.

This was it! The operating room was smaller than Lydia expected, although her experience was limited to re-runs of ER, so not the most realistic expectations. Following the nurse’s orders, Lydia transferred over to a waiting gurney, giving the surgical team a nervous smile as she tried to stop the gown from showing her nether regions prematurely. The canular insert was awful. Why the bloody hell did a needle in the hand hurt so much?

Lying flat, she stared at the large surgical light above her. I hope they wait until I’m out of it before turning that bugger on. It’ll burn my retinas.

“Lydia, are we ready?” Elise’s masked face peered over Lydia’s, causing her to jump.

“Yup, let’s do it.” Doing her best to calm down, Lydia focused on the beeps of the heart monitor. It was strangely relaxing.

“Great. Now, I only intend to have a look today, however if there is anything I feel needs dealing with immediately, I’d like to sort it out whilst I’m there. Is that okay?”

“Of course. Do whatever you need to do.”

“Wonderful. Now comes the fun bit. Take a few deep breaths and count back from 10.” Taking several deep breaths from the mask now on her face, Lydia counted from 10. Eight was as far as she got.

Had someone taken a wodge of sandpaper and cleaned Lydia’s throat with it? It sure bloody felt like it. Opening her eyes gingerly, she tried to focus on the room. A fuzzy outline sat near the end of the bed. “Ugh, the toaster needs cleaning.”

Cathy’s laugh was distinctive enough for Lydia to identify the fuzzy outline. “I think that’s the anaesthesia wearing off, love. Your toaster’s fine.”

“Water, please.”

“Here, only sip it.” The ice-cold liquid was only a temporary balm. As soon as Lydia swallowed, the pain was back with a vengeance.

“My throat hurts.”

“That would be from the tube we placed in your throat.” Turning her head, Lydia squinted to pull Dr. Maynard into focus.