Sweet Silver Lining

Lily, Dave, and Andrew sat in the waiting area, waiting on Annabelle to come back from talking to Dr. Reynolds. They finally saw her get out of the elevator, and Lily immediately ran to her, nearly tackling her. “So? What’s going on?” she asked worriedly as Dave and Andrew walked up behind her, waiting for Annabelle’s reply.

“He needs surgery,” Annabelle said, trying to keep the crying in check.

“We know,” Lily said softly. “But, what exactly’s going to happen?”

“They want to have the surgery tomorrow. Dr. Reynolds said that they’ll bring in one of their best heart surgeons, Dr. Pampay to do it. They went ahead and scheduled it for eleven tomorrow morning.”

“And, the risks?” Lily asked.

“Same risks as before. Ultimately, he could die. But, Dr. Reynolds said that if they don’t do the surgery, he’ll die for sure. It’s his only chance. I’m sorry,” she suddenly said. “I need some time by myself,” she said, running off down the hallway.

“I wish I knew what to do,” Lily said, watching her leave.

“Me, too,” Andrew said sadly.

***

Andrew watched as Annabelle walked out of Landon’s room after visiting him for a little while. She had broken the news to him, letting him know that he would be having surgery the following morning. He saw the tears in her eyes, and he knew she had been keeping them at bay in front of Landon, not wanting to scare him. “You okay?” Andrew asked, walking up to her.

“Do I look okay?” she asked. “Sorry,” she instantly apologized, realizing she had just snapped at him. “No, I’m not okay. My little brother is about to have surgery once again, and he shouldn’t have to go through it. Why couldn’t it have been me?” she asked. “Why couldn’t I have been the one with the defective heart? Why couldn’t I have been the one that had to go through all the surgeries? It’s not fair,” she cried.

“I know,” Andrew said softly, wrapping his arms around her, not knowing what else to do. “I know,” he repeated. He held her for a few moments before she pulled away.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized, wiping at her tears. “I keep doing this to you.”

“It’s fine,” Andrew assured her.

“You should go in there and see him,” Annabelle said, pointing towards Landon’s room. “He’ll want to see you.”

“Yeah,” Andrew said, walking towards the room. He knocked on the doorframe before walking inside, plastering a fake smile on his face. He knew he needed to remain upbeat around Landon, even if it was extremely difficult for him. “Hey!” Andrew exclaimed, walking over to his bedside.

“Ladder!” Landon exclaimed with just as much enthusiasm. “What are you doing here? Did you hear? I’m having another surgery tomorrow?” he asked, and Andrew could tell that he wasn’t thrilled about it. But, then again, what kind of person would be thrilled to be having heart surgery once again?

“Yeah, I did,” Andrew admitted. “I’m sorry about that. But, once you’re through with that, you’re going to come out and be even better. You’ll be playing hockey again in no time,” he said smiling.

“I don’t think Annie’s going to let me,” Landon said.

“What do you mean?”

“I think she thinks that it’s what’s made my heart bad. It’s like she doesn’t want me to do anything anymore. She’s always saying that I can’t do this or that. It’s really annoying,” Landon complained.

“She’s just trying to protect you,” Andrew assured him. “But, I’ll work on her with the whole hockey thing. There’s no reason to pull you from that. If the doctor says that you’re good enough to play, I’ll make sure that you’re actually out on the ice,” he promised.

“Thanks!” Landon exclaimed.

“No problem,” Andrew said, ruffling his hair a bit.

“Hey, Andrew, can I ask you a question?” Landon asked after a few moments of silence.

“Sure, fire away,” Andrew said, sitting down in the plastic chair that was sitting next to his bed.

“Do you love Annie?” he questioned.

“Wh-what?” Andrew stuttered, not knowing how to respond. He was surprised by Landon’s straightforwardness. No one had ever asked him point blank before if he loved Annabelle, not that he needed to think twice about it before he answered.

“Do you love Annie?” Landon repeated.

“Yeah, I do,” Andrew admitted, nodding his head. He had never admitted it out loud before, but he knew that he was completely in love with her. He had been ever since she had admitted to him that she had been jealous of him and she was worried that he was going to take her place in Landon’s life. To have someone be that honest with him was new to him. He knew at that precise moment that he had fallen in love with the girl.

“Then why aren’t you with her?” Landon asked.

“What do you mean?” Andrew asked, not understanding what he was asking.

“Lily said that if you love someone that you date them. That’s why she and Dave are dating. But, you and Annie aren’t dating. You said that you love her. Doesn’t she love you?” Landon asked innocently.

Andrew thought about it for a moment. Did she love him? He really didn’t know for sure. “It’s complicated,” Andrew finally said.

“Why? Lily said that if you love each other, then you date. Was she lying?” Landon inquired.

“No,” Andrew said with a small laugh. “Lily wasn’t lying.”

“Then, why aren’t you and Annie dating?” Landon persisted.

“Annie and I tried that, but it just didn’t work out,” Andrew stated, not knowing why he was trying to explain it to Landon. He knew there was no way he was going to understand anyways. “It’s just complicated,” he repeated.

“It seems pretty simple to me,” Landon said with a shrug of his shoulders. “It just seems to me like you’re scared.”

Andrew laughed at him. How was this six year old boy so smart? “I am scared,” he admitted, not giving any further details away. He still couldn’t figure out why he was discussing his personal life with a six year old, and Annabelle’s brother at that.

“Annie always says that you need to get over your fears,” Landon told him.

“She’s right,” Andrew replied without thinking.

“Well, then you need to get over yours and ask Annie out on a date,” Landon declared.

“How did you become so smart?” Andrew asked him.

“Eh, I think it’s because of Annie. She’s pretty smart,” Landon answered.

“I think you might be right,” Andrew admitted with a small smile. “Well, I’ll let you go so you can rest up for your surgery tomorrow,” he said.

“Are you going to be here tomorrow?” Landon asked.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Andrew replied seriously. “Bye,” he said with a smile as he opened the door.

“Ask her out,” he heard Landon yell after him.