Page 22 of He Saved My Boy
His grandmother, oblivious to Teagan’s reaction, says, “That’s wonderful! Isn’t it, Teagan?” Then she turns to me and asks, “Will they have any trouble flying home in a few days? Or should Teagan call the airlines and reschedule their flights now?”
“You’re in luck once again,” Hannah announces to the room. “We happen to have an open OR in just a few hours, and Dr. Fallon is available today. All we have to do is fill out the paperwork so that Ms. Frost can give her consent.”
Before we go any further, I need to see if Teagan is on board withmebeing the one to perform surgery on her son. With everything that happened between us last night, I wouldn’t blame her if she thought there is a conflict of interest.
Locking eyes with Teagan, worry fills her features. She’s gnawing the hell out of her lower lip. Wanting to put her at ease, I’m dying to reach out and hug her—but that would be completely inappropriate. “Ms. Frost, would you mind if I speak to you outside so we can go over the specifics of the procedure?” Looking to Connor, I quickly add, “Don’t worry, she’ll be back in just a few minutes.”
Teagan reaches out and brushes her son’s hair from his face. “Will you be okay with Grandma and Grandpa for a minute?”
Connor looks from his mom to me as his grandma walks over and reaches for his good hand. “I’ll be right here with you. Your momma needs to talk with the doctor. We’ll be okay, won’t we? I downloaded aPaw Patrolvideo on my phone just for you this morning.”
“Really?” Connor perks up as he reaches for the phone she hands to him. Teagan is quickly forgotten.
His grandmother mouths, “Go,” as Teagan looks from her to Connor.
Quietly, Teagan, Hannah, and I slip out of the room.
Once outside, I turn to Hannah. “Can you see where we are with the consent forms and make sure everything is set for surgery? I’ll speak with Ms. Frost in the alcove near the nurses’ station.” Since it’s protocol to never be alone, it’ll be a private enough place to not be overheard, but still in public view.
“Sure. I’ll also check on a patient of Dr. Jamison’s to see if we’re ready to discharge this evening.”
“Sounds great.”
The moment Hannah’s out of earshot, my focus is entirely on Teagan’s unreadable expression. Finally, when I can’t take the silence any longer, I ask, “Can we talk?”
Yes,we need to talk, but about what exactly? Our night of off the charts ecstasy, the fact that my son is injured and requires surgery, or the fact that he’s the actual fucking surgeon—to which I had no clue of until he walked in the freaking door. Talk about adding further fuel to the fire on my level of stress.
As he stares into my eyes, holding me in place, he waits for an answer. As much as I know they’re necessary, words won’t form in my mouth, so I resort to what I can in this moment—a nod.
Once we’re alone for the most part, he stops abruptly and steps into an empty waiting area. I swear he almost reaches for my hand, like he did so many times last night, but instead, he shoves them into his pockets. After a few moments of silence, he asks, “Are you okay?”
Knowing I’ll never be anything less than honest with him, I admit, “I’ve had better days. Ever since that call this morning, I’ve been nothing but a ball of nerves and feeling so completely helpless, knowing there’s nothing I can do for Connor to make him better.”
“That’s understandable,” he agrees. “I don’t want to add more stress to you, but I need to know—are you okay with me performing his surgery? If not, I’d recommend you keep with someone who specializes as a pediatric orthopedic surgeon. We’re used to working with children and are better able to meet their needs as we routinely complete surgeries like this on small children. But If you’d rather it not be me, I’m sure I could get Dr. Jamison to return from paternity leave to complete this for you in a few days. After last night, I completely understand that you’d see this as a conflict of interest.”
It takes me a moment to process his words.
“Waiting would mean Connor is in pain longer,” I whisper. I can’t do that to him.
“We can manage his pain with meds, so that won’t be an issue.” Davis counters before adding, “I just want to make sure you’re comfortable with me performing surgery on your son.”
“I’d be freaking out—no matter who’s in there with him. Before you came, one of the emergency room doctors gave us the rundown of your experience and why they felt calling you in was considered their best call at this point. Given that Connor is so young, someone who specializes in pediatrics is a must—or so they said.”
“That’s true. I’m probably an even better choice than Jamison—not to sound full of myself—but at OHSU, I specialized in pediatric sports injuries and have actually completed this exact surgery more times than I would want to count, on both adults and children. But I never want you to feel as if you don’t have a choice.”
“I understand,” I whisper. The thing is—Davis has done nothing to ever make menottrust him. “I just hate that my baby has to go through this. I seriously feel sick to my stomach and wish like hell I could take this pain from him.”
“That’s completely understandable. I can’t even imagine how I’d feel as a parent in your shoes. But please know, he’d be in good hands with either Jamison or me. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure he receives the best prognosis he can get.”
Gnawing on my lower lip again, I finally ask my biggest concern, “How exactly would it work?”
“Miraculously, we don’t have to wait long for an OR. In a few hours, we’d bring the two of you to a pre-op room. Here, a team of doctors will come and consult you individually, to walk you through their part of his surgery. The anesthesiologist will explain this more thoroughly, but essentially, they’ll start Connor on an IV, and a nurse will help you prep for the surgery. You’ll gown up and accompany Connor into the operating room.”
“I have to watch you perform surgery?” I ask in disbelief. I may be brave at a lot of things, but I’m not sure I can handle watching my baby get cut open.
“Oh, no,” Davis quickly rushes out. “When we’re ready for surgery, we typically have the parent bring their child into the OR and wait for a matter of minutes for the anesthesiologist to give the patient a drug that knocks them out. Then you’ll be escorted out, and we’ll notify you when the surgery is over. In theory, it should take about an hour to complete. Then Connor will go to a recovery room and when he starts to wake up, we’ll have you there ready to be with him.”
“This is so much to process,” I admit.
