“You’re definitely not out of the woods yet, but the mass is shrinking fairly quickly.”

Nick sighed in relief as Meggie hugged him with joy.

“It’s now small enough to do surgery on. I’d like to do it as soon as possible. Is tomorrow too soon?”

”No… no, not at all,”

“Ok… I’ll be back tomorrow morning to check on you. I’ll schedule the surgery for 11:00.”

”Thank you, Dr. Torday,” Nick said gratefully as he left.

~ The Next Morning ~

“See you later, Nicky,” AJ said as he left the room.

Everyone was saying their goodbyes before Nick was taken down for surgery.

“Ready to beat this d*mn thing, Nick?” Brian asked. Nick nodded with a grin as he hugged Brian. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

Jane and Aaron bid their farewell, only leaving Meggie in the room. She smiled as she neared the bed, holding back her emotions

“I can’t wait until this is all over so I can come home and watch my babies grow up,” Nick smiled, taking Meggie’s hand into his own. “Meg… if something should happen in there…”

“Nick… don’t say it. Nothing is going to happen. You’re going to be back in this room in a few hours, and going home hopefully in a week or two.”

“I know… but just in case… make sure the kids know I love them. And… I love you, Meg.”

She held back her tears as she kissed him softly on the lips. “I love you too, Nicky.” She whispered as he began to fall asleep from the sedative.

A lonely tear fell down her cheek as two orderlies wheeled Nick out of the room.

She took one last look around, making sure she had everything, before going up to the Surgery Waiting Room with the others.

“Two hours… and this is all over with,” Brian sighed as he sat down. “Thank god.”

Meggie entered quietly and sat down beside AJ and the wall.

”You ok?” He asked.

”I’ll be great once this is all over with.”

He nodded, understanding, yet not wanting to take the subject any further. “Where are the kids?”

“My parent’s house,” She replied. Sighing, she blew the bangs off her forehead and sat back in the seat.

“I’m going to go down to the cafeteria to get something with caffeine in it to keep me awake. Anyone want something?”

”Can I go with you?” Aaron asked.

”Sure. Meg, want anything? Coffee? Soda?”

”Nah… thanks but I’m fine, Bri.”

“Pepsi?” Kevin asked.

”Ok… we’ll be back,” Brian said, standing up. “Let’s go waste some time,”

Aaron stood up and followed Brian out of the room, and down to the elevator. They stepped in and pressed the Lobby button. “How long has it been?” Aaron asked.

Brian looked down at his watch and studied the face. “Twenty minutes,”

”An hour and forty minutes left? I don’t think I can wait that long.” He mumbled.

“The doctors are never exact. It might not take that long, or it might take longer.”

”How long did your surgery take?” Aaron questioned as the elevator stopped. They stepped out and began to walk towards the brightly lit cafeteria.

“Two hours, but it was only supposed to take forty-five minutes. They found another hole in my heart, and fixed in then, so they wouldn’t have to do more surgery.”

As they walked into the large room, they were hit with idle chatter from surrounding people.

”I think everyone else had the same idea as us,” Brian said.

“Yup,”

“Do you want something to eat or drink?”

”Just something to drink. I don’t think I could keep anything else down.”

Brian nodded and led him over to the freezers. They stared through the glass at the hundreds of brands of drinks, deciding what they wanted.

”There’s Pepsi for Kevin,” Aaron grabbed a clear and blue bottle from the freezer.

After a few more seconds, they both decided on Dr. Pepper’s. As they reached the checkout lane, Brian reached into his pocket and pulled out a wadded up five dollar bill.

“I’ve got it,” Brian said, handing the cashier the money.

“Thanks,” Aaron replied, grabbing Kevin and his own sodas.

They left the cafeteria and headed back down to the elevators, to only wait in line for the next one. They took their time on the elevator, then walking back to the waiting. They sighed in relief seeing nothing had changed since they left.

~ Almost Two Hours Later ~

The phone beside Jane suddenly rang, startling them all from their continuous waiting game. Nervously, Jane picked up the phone and set it against her ear.

“Hello?….yes… ok… thank you,” She said into the receiver before setting the phone back onto the cradle. “Dr. Torday will be here in a few minutes to talk to us,”

Nervously, the group glanced at the clock numerous times before the door opened. Dr. Torday appeared in the doorway, taking off his cap as he walked in. He threw it in the nearby wastebasket before looking up at them. A small smile cracked on his face as he nodded.

”The surgery was a complete success. All of the cancerous mass was removed, and as far as I can see, Nick is once again in remission. I want to continue with the radiation for about a week, then we can send him home if all goes well.”

A large sigh of relief filled the room, as did tears in their eyes.

”Thank you so much,” Meggie cried, shaking his hand.

”You’re very welcome. He’s in recovery at the moment, and should be waking pretty soon. Only one person is allowed in recovery with him, but you may all visit him once he’s back in his room, as long as he’s feeling up to visitors.”

“Jane, do you want to go see him?” Meggie asked.

”No no no! You go see him. He’ll be more happy to see your face than mine.” She smiled.

Meggie nodded and slid her purse over her shoulder.

“I’ll take you to him. I was just going down that way anyways,” Dr. Torday said, holding the door open for Meggie. They walked together down a long corridor then stopped in front of a wooden door with “Recovery” painted across the window. He opened it and allowed her to go in before himself. “He’s on the other side of that curtain,”

Meggie nodded and walked towards the plastic shower curtain. She peered through between the curtains to see Nick lying asleep on the bed. The trachea tube had been removed from his neck, and a breathing tube in his mouth had replaced it. A large white gauze bandaged covered a large portion of his chest, lightly spotted with blood. Heart monitor pads lay across his chest, connected to the beeping machine against the wall. An I.V. was placed in the back of his hand, and was taped all the way up his wrist. As Meggie neared the bed, she saw Nick’s eyes were beginning to open.

”Hey baby,” She whispered, wiping wisps of blonde hair away from his eyes.

His eyes met with hers and she smiled.

”It’s all gone, Nicky. They got it all out. Dr. Torday said one more week of radiation just be safe and then you can come home.”

Although the breathing tube was in his mouth, she could still see a small smile play on his lips.

”I’m going to go back with everyone, and let your mom come in and see you… but when they move you back to your room, you can see everyone else.” She kissed him on the forehead before leaving the room. She returned to the group, and told Jane to go ahead and go see Nick.

“He’s smiling,” She said as they gathered their belongings. “And they took his trach tube out.”

”Thank god… that thing had to be painful,” AJ said, pressing the button to the elevator.

They filled the elevator and were soon back on the Intensive Care floor. They collapsed in the waiting room, awaiting the arrival of Jane, or even better, Nick. The door opened, and everyone glanced at it, expecting Jane.

“Mom!” Meggie said, jumping up. She smiled as she noticed the twins in their carriers in her mother’s hand. “How’d you know he was out of surgery?”

“Kevin called me,” She laughed. “I was going to come alone, but then I thought Nick might like to see them.”

~ One Week Later ~

“Well Nick, your MRI shows no sign of tumors or masses in your chest, and your blood test came back clean. If you’re feeling up to it, you can go home today,” Dr. Torday said, sitting on a stool near Nick’s bed.

“I’d rather be at home, than another day in here,” Nick offered a smile.

”Alright. Let me grab your release papers, and some instructions. Why don’t you call Meggie or someone to come up and pick you up?”

Nick carefully reached over and picked up the phone. He dialed his familiar home number and waited out the ringing until Meggie picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hey baby,” Nick said perkily.

“Hey,” She chuckled. “Bri and I were just about to dress the kids and come see you.”

”Bri’s there?”

”Yeah… he came over this morning to baby-sit to I could come up… but we changed our minds,”

”Well… how about a change in plans? Dr. Torday is sending me home,”

”He is? That’s great!”

Nick could hear Brian talking to Meggie in the background, then one of the babies began to wail. There was a muffled sound then Brian came over the phone.

“Hey… how about I come get you? Meggie is better at this baby stuff than I am… they’d probably scream the whole time I’m here,”

Nick agreed and then hung up, as the doctor walked back into the room.

“How’d you get dressed this morning?” Dr. Torday asked, noticing for the first time that Nick was dressed in baggy jeans and a loose-fitting jersey.

“Jane helped me. I was tired of wearing those gowns.”

“Sounds good to me. Here’s the form… all I need is for you to sign at the bottom of this. And this.” He said, handing Nick some papers. Nick took the pen from him and laid the papers out across his table. He signed his normal signature (unlike his “autograph” signature) and handed the papers back.

“Is someone coming to get you?”

”Yeah, Brian is,”

”Ok. Here’s a list of instructions for both you and Meggie. You need to keep your wound clean, so she’ll have to help you. Don’t get it wet… so no showers for at least another week. I’ve called in a prescription of pain medication for you at the pharmacy downstairs, so just stop off and get it.” Dr. Torday looked down at his papers, then back up at Nick. “Don’t strain yourself. You just had major surgery last week. Just lay around for another week. I’d recommend you not to go back onto tour for a month, at the least. And take it easy. If you’d like, I can call your chorographer about what you should and shouldn’t be doing. I think that’s about it… don’t lift anything heavy. Be careful when you lift your own children, it might hurt some.”

“Thank you for everything.”

“You’re very welcome. I’d like to see you in my office next week for a check-up. I might even take the staples out.”

Nick took the information sheet from him and sat on the edge of his bed, waiting for Brian. About 10 minutes later, Brian walked in with a nurse close behind, pushing a wheelchair.

“Hey B,”

”Hey… ready to ditch this place?”

”Yup,”

Brian and the nurse helped him into the wheelchair.

”Bye Nick,” She said, leaving the room. Brian handed Nick his duffle bag full of clothes, CDs, and video games.

”This looks like a familiar scene,” Nick groaned as they got into the elevator.

”Yeah… but this time you’re not coming back,”

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