Sweet Silver Lining

Annabelle sat in the hospital, tears stinging her eyes, as she waited on tests to be finished on Landon. For the last couple of days, Landon had been feeling extremely tired and not himself. Annabelle finally took him to the hospital after he had not been getting better, and she was now sitting in the waiting room awaiting test results. The doctors hadn’t told her what exactly was going on, but that they thought it might be trouble with his heart again. The only way they were to know for sure, though, was to do some tests first.

Annabelle heard someone sit down next to her, but she kept her eyes focused on the floor. She couldn’t help but recall the last time they had been in the hospital awaiting test results. They had still been in California back then, and that was when they were told that they should go to Chicago to try to get Landon a heart transplant. Annabelle didn’t know if she would be able to take it if he needed another transplant.

“He’ll be alright,” she heard Lily say, and Annabelle slowly turned to look at her, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. “He will be, Annie. Landon is a fighter, and he’s going to fight this. Have you heard from any of the doctors what’s going on?”

“Not yet,” Annabelle said quietly. “They just said they have to do a bunch of tests and everything to figure out what exactly is going on. The last time they had to do these tests, it was determined he needed a heart transplant. Lily, what am I going to do if he needs another one?” she questioned.

“We’ll get through it,” Lily said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Landon will get through it. He’ll have another transplant and be fine,” she assured her.

“Lily, you don’t get it,” Annabelle told her. “It was a miracle for Landon to get a heart the first time. There’s next to no chance that they’ll be able to get him another heart. It’s kind of like a one shot deal. If he needs another transplant, there’s a good chance that he’ll…” she trailed off, not being able to finish the sentence.

“That’s not going to happen,” Lily assured her, but Annabelle gave her a look that said she didn’t believe her. “It won’t,” she repeated.

“Lily, I just…” Annabelle began, but tears disrupted her sentence as they started streaming down her face. Lily pulled her into a hug, not knowing what to say to make her feel better. Lily’s phone began to ring, and she pulled it out of her pocket, checking the caller id.

“It’s Dave,” Lily told Annabelle, and Annabelle motioned for her to take the call. “Hey, Dave,” Lily said into the phone, standing up and walking a little ways away.

“Any news?” Dave asked. Lily had called him immediately after Annabelle had called her to say she was taking Landon to the hospital. Dave had had practice, and he promised to go to the hospital after he was finished for the day.

“No,” Lily said sadly. “They’re still waiting on test results to get back.”

“How’s Annie taking it?” he asked.

“She’s freaking out,” Lily admitted. “She keeps thinking back to what happened in California, and she’s worried that he’s going to need another transplant,” she said quietly, turning her head back to see if Annabelle had overheard her. It was obvious that she hadn’t when she saw that Annabelle’s head was down once again, and she was staring at the floor.

“What happens if he needs a transplant, though?” Dave asked.

“I don’t know,” Lily stated. “Annie says that it’s really unlikely that he would get another heart. I’m just hoping it doesn’t come to that. But, I’m going to stay here with her in the meantime and make sure that she’s okay. Did you just get finished with practice?” she asked him.

“Yeah, we literally just got done, but we’ve got weights later,” Dave replied. “I’m planning on coming by afterwards.”

“Thanks, Dave,” Lily told him. “I’ll let you go. I love you.”

“I love you, too. And, I’ll see you later. Bye,” he said, hanging up the phone.

Dave threw his phone on the bench next to him, and he saw Andrew staring at him. “What’s going on?” Andrew asked, and Dave immediately realized it was a bad idea calling Lily while he was still in the locker room. When Dave didn’t answer him immediately, Andrew repeated, “What’s going on, Dave?”

Dave sighed, sitting down in front of his locker. “Landon’s sick,” he stated.

“He’s sick?” Andrew asked worriedly. “What exactly’s wrong with him? We just saw him a few days ago,” he said, remembering when Lily had brought him to the game a few nights back. Annabelle had refused to go to that one, but she had agreed to allow Landon to go with Lily. “He was fine then.”

“Annie noticed that he wasn’t himself. He was tired all the time and stuff like that, so she took him to the hospital today,” Dave revealed.

“And?” Andrew questioned. “What’s wrong with him?”

“They don’t know. Lily said they’re doing tests right now to try to figure out what’s wrong, but as of right now, they haven’t gotten anything back,” Dave answered.

“How’s Annie?” Andrew asked quietly, and Dave knew he still had feelings for her.

Dave debated with himself for a few minutes, trying to figure out if he wanted to tell Andrew the truth or not. Finally, he spoke. “She’s not doing too well right now,” he said truthfully.

“I bet,” Andrew said. “I mean, Landon’s her entire world. If anything happens to him, I don’t know how she’s going to handle it.”

“Lily said she’s worried about what happens if he needs another transplant.”

“He could need another one?” Andrew asked, and Dave nodded his head. “So, they don’t think the one he just had is working or what?”

“Ladder, I don’t know,” Dave said, trying to calm him down. He knew that Andrew’s mind was racing with worry now, but he really didn’t know anymore than what he was telling him. “I’m going to go over to the hospital after we get done with lifting weights. You can come along if you want,” Dave offered. “I think Annie would want you there.”

“I think Annie wants me far away,” Andrew muttered.

“That’s not true,” Dave said, shaking his head. “Really, I think you should come.”

“I’ll think about it,” Andrew said.

***

Annabelle sat out in the waiting room once again, tapping her feet anxiously on the floor. She had just been visiting Landon when they said they needed to do even more tests. Annabelle had reluctantly left him, going out into the waiting room. She couldn’t figure out what was taking so long, and why they wouldn’t tell her anything. She had asked for any news, and all anyone kept telling her was that they needed to do more tests before anything could be determined.

Lily had had to leave to finish up her shift, but she promised to be back as soon as she was finished with work. Annabelle glanced at her watch, wondering just what tests they were doing and how long they were going to take this time. She didn’t think she could take too much more waiting. It was starting to eat her alive.

“Any news?” Lily asked hopefully as she bounded down the hallway with two cups of coffee. She sat down next to Annabelle, handing her a cup, which Annabelle gratefully accepted.

“No,” Annabelle said sadly. “They’re doing more tests,” she told her. “Are you finished with work?”

“Yeah, I just finished up. And, more tests?” she asked. “How many tests are there that they can do on a six year old boy?”

“Apparently a lot,” Annabelle said, taking another sip of coffee. She glanced down the hallway and saw Dave walking towards them. “Your boy’s here,” she smiled at Lily.

Lily whipped her head around to see Dave walking towards them, and a smile spread across her face. “So is yours,” Lily replied to Annabelle before standing up and giving Dave a kiss.

Annabelle wondered what Lily was talking about. She looked down the hallway and saw Andrew walking towards her, and her breath caught in her throat. She didn’t know if she was going to be able to see him right now with everything that was going on with Landon. But, it appeared she had no choice in the matter.