No matter what, nobody could change my mind about the surgery.
I was released from the hospital for a week, and my doctor prescribed chemotherapy pills to take when I'm there and I wasn't allowed to get pregnant any longer, otherwise I could kill myself or the baby during childbirth.
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Often, I laid down on my bed at home, in pain. I took Morphine a lot, but it didn't really work. And I knew I would feel guilty if I didn't spend time with my family, so I put on a fake smile and played around with my family downstairs. And other times, I was short of breath, so I just took a few deep breaths at a time and carried on with whatever I was doing. Then there was one night that changed everything.
Then, it came back.
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I lied, naked, in the bed with Marley, with no clue what we were doing. Marley held my face up to his. Sweat gleamed down my face, and I was running out of breath. I flopped down and gasped for breath.
"Marley... I-I-I can't do this anymore..."
Marley, with a worried expression on his face, called the ambulance and I was on the bed, my head pounding like a drum and everything swirling around me. It was easily noticable I needed oxygen quick before I passed out, but why? The cancer couldn't have spread to my lungs... but what if it did?
"Marley..." I gasped, "Don't leave my side."
*Marley's POV*
I kept my promise to Kristine, I never left her side. But until the paramedics came, she needed a good source of oxygen. But, then it came back, I used to be a paramedic as well! I got the box that had the stuff I got from being a paramedic from under the bed and searched for the bag valve mask. It was easy to find because it was so large and took up space, and I used it on Kristine until the paramedics took over. And I was with her the whole time, from the ambulance, the E.R., and finally the hospital room. The doctors agreed to do an MRI on Kristine tomorrow. And that night, my eyes never strayed away from her face, and it was about 2 in the morning when her eyes fluttered open.
*Kristine's POV*
"What happened?" I asked. My eyes met Marley's and I smiled.
"You passed out yesterday, but I kept your promise."
"What promise?"
"You told me to not leave your side."
Marley stroked my face and smiled.
"Time to get some rest, you have an MRI tomorrow."
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The next day was my MRI. It went very smooth and the results would be given to me later. Meanwhile, Marley brought the kids and some food back to the room. Celesta and Kyle cuddled next to me and all was well until the doctor came in with devastating news.
"Kristine, the cancer has now spread to your lungs, decreasing the ability to breathe on your own. We aren't taking the chance, so you'll never beathe on your own again."
I slumped back and sighed.
"Oh, and there's something else... We took some blood samples from you and it turns out you're pregnant."
The words "you're pregnant" floated around in my mind. I felt guilty.
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The next day was as usual, Marley and the kids came to visit, and I started to throw up every meal now from the chemotherapy I was receiving. But later that night was when things were going haywire.
*Marley's POV*
The night was normal. We sat in Kristine's hospital room as the kids watched Adventure Time, their favorite show. I went to the vending machines down the hall to buy some chocolate for me and the kids when there was a loud scream, sounding like it came from Kristine's room. The nurses ran on panicked feet and forgetting about the treats, I rushed to Kris's room to see if everything was all right and it was just for a neighboring room.
But it wasn't.
"I'm sorry, sir, but no visitors are allowed in this room at this time." Dr. Royale shooed me out of the room.
But if the kids weren't in there anymore, where could they be? I walked up to a nurse that was just about to enter Kris's room.
"Excuse me, miss, but I'm looking for my kids. Three twelve year old girls and a four year old boy?"
"I just took them to a playroom down the hall. They said that they were looking for you."
"Oh, and can you tell me what happened to my wife and what condition she's in?"
"I can't tell you right now, but in a few hours I can send the doctor to you in the playroom."
I walked into the playroom the nurse pointed to and almost immediantly, Celesta, July, Elizabeth, and Kyle got up from what they were doing and almost tackled me to the ground.
"DADDY! Where were you?" Elizabeth shouted fiercely.
"Shh, baby girl." I picked up Kyle and held him in my arms. "I'll watch over you for a few ours while you guys play, all right?" I took a seat next to a young woman watching her girl play with my girls.
"Hi." The woman turned to me. "My name's Wenda, yours?"
"Marley."
Wenda smiled at her daughter, "My Kianna and your girls have become quite fast friends in such a short amount of time."
I pointed to each of them. "July, Celesta, and Elizabeth."
"Their pretty girls. They deserve a nice friend like Kianna."
"Triplets." I said.
"Triple the luck, then. Maybe they'll make Kianna's leukemia heal faster?" she joked. I laughed as well.
"Why are your daughters here?"
"They were just visiting their mother and things went wrong. I'm not sure what happened, though. I was never told, but their mom has cancer as well."
"Awh, they told Kianna and I about a month ago that she only had two weeks left to live, but she's still alive and better today. Maybe the same will happen to your wife..."
"Maybe..." I sigh. I looked over at Kianna, who was pale, skinny, and had deep bags under her eyes, but still she was strong and kept a big grin, as if she was saying, "HEY WORLD! I'M ALIVE AND WELL!"
"Mr. Vilas?" A nurse came in and called my name. I stood up and walked over to her.
"I want to speak to you alone for a moment." I walked into the hall with the nurse.
"It turns out that your wife had a tonic-clonic seizure, if you know what that is."
"I was an EMT before, I know what it is."
"It was pretty severe, so we had her put in strict isolation and she's in unstable conditon, but once she's stable she'll be moved to the ICU and have an MRI done.
"Can't I just check on her through the window?"
"You're more than welcome." She smiled.
I walked over and caught a glimpse of Kristine through the window. She looked in terrible condition, and she looked much skinnier and paler than usual. Her doctor and a couple nurses were inside, watching every breath she took. For a moment there, I thought I felt her pain.
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The next few days weren't any better. The first few days her condition went terribly down, but afterwards she shown much improvement and was moved to the ICU and was put off of isolation. The MRI shown that the cancer cells were moving to other parts of her body, and it reached the brain stem and spine, causing the seizure. But by now, she had a seizure at least three times a day, but the doctors said it wasn't going to be worried about anymore. She was often in deep unconsciousness from the chemo and pain drugs, and if she did wake up, it was at least a minute or two before she was pulled back under. And it was like I was feeling her own pain.