*The morning of the operation*

“Mr. Littrell. You have some visitors that want to wish you luck.”, the nurse said sticking her head in the door. Brian was lying on the bed. He was about to be prepped for the surgery. “Oh okay. Send them in.”, Brian said leaning up in the bed. Tyler ran in the room with Haley close behind. Tyler was trying to get up on the bed. “No Tyler. Don’t do that. We don’t want to tire Daddy out before the surgery.”, Haley said pulling him back. “No it’s okay. He makes my heart feel better.”, Brian said smiling. Haley sat Tyler up on the bed with Brian. “Hurt?”, Tyler asked pointing to Brian’s chest where his heart was. “Yes. My heart hurts. The doctors are going to make it feel better though.” Tyler leaned down and kissed Brian’s heart. “Make feel betta.”, Tyler said then smiling. Brian almost had tears in his eyes. He had been very emotional in the past week. Haley came over and kissed Brian. “You nervous?” “Yeah. Just a little. I feel better now that you two are here.” “Don’t worry. Just trust the doctors.” “Are the guys here?”, Brian asked smiling. “Yeah. They are waiting out in the waiting room. The nurses would only let me and Tyler in because we are immediate family.”

Just as Brian was about to speak a nurse walked in the door. “Excuse me, but I think you should leave. We need to sudate Mr. Littrell.”, said the nurse nicely. “No. Please. Can they please stay until I’m asleep?”, Brian pleaded. “I guess so. Since you asked so nicely.”, the nurse smiled. “Thank you very much!”, Brian laughed. She injected Brian with a sedative and soon he was asleep. The last thing he saw before closing his eyes was Haley blowing him a kiss and Tyler smiling at him.

*In the waiting room*

Brian had been in surgery for 20 minutes. Everyone was gathered in the waiting room. Tyler was curled up in Nick’s lap asleep. Nick was a nervous wreck. You could just tell. They all were. Haley was sitting in the chair staring off into space. She was thinking of everything that could happen. What her life would be like without him. “Haley. He’ll be fine.”, Kameron said reassuring her. Tears began to flow down Haley’s cheek. “Come with me.”, Kameron said and grabbed Haley’s hand. She led her into the lady’s room. “Kameron I don’t know what I would do without him.”, Haley sobbed. Kameron enveloped her into a hug. “I know. It’s okay to be scared. Not everyone can be strong all the time. He is a fighter. There is no way he would leave his family.” “I know. It’s just my mind working overtime.” “No, it’s your heart working overtime. You love him with every fiber of your being. That’s a great thing.” Haley wiped her eyes. “Thanks Kam. I love you.” “Oh I love you too!” They hugged and walked back out into the waiting room.

About 20 minutes after they returned a doctor walked into the waiting room. “Mrs. Littrell?”, the doctor asked. Haley stood up. “Yes. How is my husband?” Everyone was looking at the doctor with curious eyes. “He came through the operation with flying colors. We closed the hole with no problem. He should be back to his old self in no time.” Haley exhaled and fell back into the chair with relief. “Thank you.”, she said smiling. “You can see him in a little while. He’ll be a little woozy because of the morphine, so he probably won’t make much sense.” “He never does!”, Nick said sarcastically. Everyone laughed. Including the doctor.