We've Got This

He smiled widely at my response; I knew he would. As he leaned in for a kiss, however, I put my hand on his chest to stop him. He gave me a confused look, and I returned it with a serious one. “I will be your girlfriend, but if I ever hear about you cheating on me or anything like that, I will not hesitate to shove my shoe so far up your ass your stomach will start digesting it. We clear?” I asked. He actually looked a little scared, but he nodded. “Good. Because like I told you, I’m not playing around here,” I added.

“I totally understand, and I promise, I will never, ever hurt you,” he replied. I smiled and grabbed the collar of his shirt, yanking him close to kiss him. We kissed for a few minutes before I started to drift. “Jean, hey,” he whispered, shaking me gently.

“Hmm? Did I fall asleep?” I asked groggily.

He nodded. “Yeah,” he chuckled. “One second we were kissing, and the next you’re unconscious. I think we should get you upstairs to bed,” he added, standing up. “Come here.”

I sat up a little bit first, reaching for my crutches. He picked them up instead and moved them out of the way. “What are you doing?” I asked. “You’re not carrying me; it’s gonna be way too painful right now,” I said, trying to stand up and pick up the crutches at the same time. He just gave me a look. “Seriously.”

“You better not fall asleep on me on the way upstairs,” he replied. “I don’t need you crashing and cracking your skull on a wall or something. I think a bum leg is enough to deal with at the moment,” he replied sarcastically, chuckling. I glared at him and he laughed harder for a few seconds before calming down. “Alright sassy pants, let’s go to bed,” he surrendered, leading me out of the pool room and toward an elevator.

“I’m on 17,” I said once we were inside the elevator.

“That’s nice,” he replied, hitting the button for the twenty-first floor. I shot him a look. “Don’t give me that look.”

“What the fuck are you doing?” I asked.

“You are not going back to your room and risking waking up the bear,” he said, referring to Jen. He wasn’t wrong; Jen was not a nice person if she was woken up. “You’re staying with me in my room; Ali left after I broke up with her,” he continued. I just looked at him; he seemed to know what I was thinking. “Don’t worry; there are two beds in my room. We’ll get you all situated in one bed and I’ll sleep in the other,” he said, leaning over and kissing my forehead. I nodded and yawned deeply.

A few minutes later we made it to Tyler’s floor, and I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore. “Carry me,” I murmured as the doors of the elevator opened. He just gave me a worried look. “I’ll be fine for the thirty-second walk to your room,” I reassured. “The pain is more tolerable now.”

He just nodded and took my crutches from me, resting them against the wall before coming up next to me and gently wrapping one arm around me knees and the other around my back. I groaned when he lifted me up. “I’m sorry,” he said, kissing my temple as he bent down so I could pick up the crutches. I just kept groaning until we made it to his door when he put me down so he could open it. “Okay, let’s get you into bed,” he said, leading me over to the closest bed.

He then started rushing around, trying to get stuff to elevate my leg with. “Babe, slow down,” I said, trying to get his attention. “I just need a few pillows under my knee, that’s it,” I continued, gently sitting down on the bed as he grabbed a few pillows.

“I just want you to be as comfortable as possible,” he replied.

“That’s sweet of you, but honestly, I’m so tired I’ll probably pass out as soon as my head hits the pillow,” I chuckled. “Well, hopefully at least. I just need to find the most comfortable position before I fall asleep, and pray that I don’t toss and turn during the night.”

He nodded as he put the pillows down on the bed. “Alright Gimpy, let’s get you all settled in,” he said, pulling back the blankets as I scooted to the head of the bed. “Ready?” he asked, putting his hand under my left foot.

I nodded, and he gently lifted my leg over the pillows, gently lowering it so my knee was in the middle of the pillows. I hissed at the contact and instinctively repositioned so it felt more comfortable. Tyler just watched me with a pained look as I did so. “I’ve done this before Ty, I know what I’m doing,” I said, trying to reassure him. “Okay, I’m all set,” I said as I slumped back against my pillow and the headboard before scooting down to get comfortable and pulling the blanket up to my chin. “Good night Tyler,” I said, closing my eyes.

Luckily I had my phone with me, because what seemed like only minutes, but it was really hours, later, it was ringing off the hook. The first time it scared the shit out of me, but I was barely conscious, so all I did was shove it under my pillow so it wouldn’t wake up Tyler. But when it kept ringing I looked at the clock and saw that it was already eleven in the morning. “Fuck!” I shouted, and attempted to jump out of bed, briefly forgetting about my leg. “Motherfucker!” I groaned in pain as I hit the floor with a thud.

“Huh? What?” Tyler grunted as he shot up in his bed from my outburst. “What’s going on?” he asked as he groggily looked over at me as I attempted to stand up. He immediately woke up completely and rushed over to me. “How did you end up on the floor?” he asked, putting his hands under my arms to hoist me to a vertical base.

“It’s eleven in the morning, and I have three voicemails from Jen,” I said, composing myself and grabbing my crutches. “Our flight back to Dallas leaves in a few hours; they’re probably freaking out,” I added, heading to the door. I turned back and saw Tyler just staring at me. “You coming or what?” I asked.

He chuckled and followed me out the door and to the elevator. Once the doors were shut he turned to me. “Good morning,” he said, wrapping his hands around my waist and pulling me close before kissing me sweetly.

I smiled like an idiot when we broke apart. “Good morning to you too,” I replied, and the doors opened on my floor.

The second I opened my room’s door Jen was right in my face. “Where the fuck have you been?” she asked as I got past her and entered the room. “I’ve been worried sick; our flight home leaves in a few hours!” she added as I sat down on my bed.

“I couldn’t really sleep last night, since I was in so much pain, so I went down to the pool for a little while. Then Tyler showed up, we had a talk, now we’re together, and I spent the night in his spare bed so I wouldn’t wake you up,” I replied nonchalantly, shrugging when I was finished.

“Whoa, wait a second. What did you just say?” she asked, looking at me in amazement.

“I spent the night in Tyler’s spare bed so I wouldn’t wake you up during the night,” I replied, just as calmly.

She shook her head profusely. “No you dumbass, before that.”

“Tyler and I had a talk down by the pool.”

She was ready to lose her temper at this point. “You know what I’m talking about bitch!” she shouted, hitting me in the head with a pillow.

I chuckled and looked at Tyler. “Tyler and I are together. We’re gonna give the distance thing a try,” I replied.

Her eyes went wide and she looked over at Tyler. “I swear to God, if you hurt her, you’ll wake up one morning breathing through a tube,” she shot, and Tyler just held his hands up defensively, a scared look plastered on his face.

Just then my phone started ringing again, only this time it was my dad. “Hey Dad,” I said. “How’s Mom?” I asked. My mom had gone into the hospital with stomach pains the day before I went to Dallas. She had a history of pancreas problems, so I hoped it was nothing serious. Though, for some reason, this time felt different than the other times she had been in the hospital.

“When are you coming home?” he asked, and my heart immediately started racing and I started breathing a little heavier. He noticed. “She’s okay. We’ve just got something to tell you when you get home,” he added.

“Um, well, our flight back to Dallas leaves in a few hours, and I just need to pack up my stuff at Jamie’s house before I catch a flight home,” I replied. “So I guess I could be home late tonight at the earliest, but I might as well wait until the morning so someone could pick me up,” I added.

“Okay, that sounds good to me. Yeah, just wait to come home until the morning; I’ll be able to come pick you up when your plane gets in. I love you, sweetheart. Fly safe,” he said.

“I love you, too,” I replied before hanging up and setting my phone down on the bed next to me. “So, when does our plane leave exactly?” I asked Jen as Tyler sat down next to me.

Jen looked at her watch before responding. “We have about three hours. Just enough time to get our shit packed, have something to eat, and head to the airport. Mom and Dad already left; they went home to Victoria. They say goodbye and give you a hug,” she replied before walking over to me and wrapping me in a strong hug. “So, say goodbye to the new boy toy, get dressed, and start getting your shit together,” she chuckled.

“What if I don’t want the boy toy to leave just yet?” I asked, smirking. Tyler then stood up and I frowned.

“Actually I should get going. I have to get my shit together before my flight as well. I’ll see you back in Dallas,” he said, leaning down to give me a kiss before leaving the room. I then got dressed and slowly got my stuff together.

Two hours later Jamie, Jen, and I were entering out gate at the Las Vegas airport. Jamie carried my bag again and Jen carried my purse, because this time I couldn’t walk at all. My knee was still killing me, so I knew something else was wrong with it.

Needless to say, even though we were in first class again, it was a long-ass plane ride, and all I wanted to do was stretch out and ice my knee. And that was exactly what I did when we got back to Jamie’s house. I iced it off and on for a good hour and a half before looking at the clock. It was only four o’clock in the afternoon; plenty of time to catch a flight back to Chicago and see my mom.

“Jamie?” I called from my guest room as I packed up my stuff.

“What’s up?” he asked, peeking his head through the open door.

“Would you be able to get me on the soonest flight to Chicago this evening?” I asked, shoving a shirt into my bag.

He looked at his watch. “Yeah, I should be able to,” he replied nodding. “Oh, and there’s someone here to see you,” he added as he left the doorway and was replaced by Tyler.

“Hey Ty,” I said, smiling at him before turning back to my bag.

“Hey babe,” he replied, sitting down on the floor next to me and giving me a kiss. “Why do you want to leave so soon? Does it have something to do with your mom?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. She’s in the hospital right now, probably because of her pancreas, because it’s put her in the hospital before, but this time just feels different. I just have this gut feeling like something is really wrong with her this time, and I’m scared to death,” I replied. “So I asked Jamie if he could get me onto a flight home tonight.”

Tyler nodded. “Well then I’m coming with you,” he said, and I just stared at him. “What? I want to meet my girlfriend’s parents, and one of them is in the hospital. I want to make sure my girlfriend is going to be okay if something really is wrong. Is that such a crime?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No, I guess not,” I chuckled as he stood up.

“I didn’t think so. So, I’m gonna go home and get a bag together, and I’ll be back by the time it’s time to get to the airport. I’ll see you in a bit,” he said, leaning down to kiss me again before heading out the door. I immediately heard him shout to Jamie to get him a plane ticket as well, and that he would pay him back, and it made me chuckle.

Four hours later Tyler and I were touching down at O’Hare Airport. My heart started racing when I saw my dad, and I rushed, as best I could with crutches, over to him. “How’s Mom?” I asked, not even saying hi or anything first. Dad just looked at Tyler. “Ugh. Dad, this is my boyfriend, Tyler Seguin. Tyler Seguin, this is my dad, Paul,” I said impatiently as they shoot hands. “Now, for the love of God, what’s wrong with Mom?” I asked, avoiding a panic attack as best I could.

“Let’s get outside, and I’ll tell you,” he said, and we headed out of the airport. “Alright. I wanted to wait until we were with Mom, but she wanted me to just tell you, because she knew you would be a nervous wreck. Honey, your mom has cancer.”

Notes

So, just so you guys know, earlier this week my mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer. Now, obviously this is really all I've been able to think about, so I don't know how frequently I will be updating for the foreseeable future.
Just bear with me and know that the story will continue; I will try to update as frequently as I can, but I appreciate your patience in advance.