Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Damien
I ended the call and let out a sigh of relief. Maybe, just maybe, there would be something Dr. Finn could do to help her. Now all I had to do was tell her, and I wasn’t sure how that would go.
“Did I hear you talking to someone?” London asked as she walked into the living area.
“Good morning.” I smiled as I held out my arms, and she sat in my lap. “Do you remember what happened last night?”
“What do you mean?
“You had a seizure in your sleep, London.”
“Shit.” She laid her head on my shoulder.
“Listen to me. I’m taking you to Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles to see Dr. Jamieson Finn. He’s a world-renowned neurosurgeon and won many awards and accolades for his work. He said he’ll see us tomorrow, so I’ll book us a flight out to Los Angeles this afternoon.”
She lifted her head from my shoulder and stared into my eyes.
“No, Damien.”
“What do you mean, no? He might be able to help you, London.”
She got up from my lap and walked into the bedroom.
“Don’t walk away from me.” I followed her.
“He can’t help me. You need to let go of the notion that I can be fixed.
I’ve been there, done that, and I’m not going through it again.
Every time I walked into those damn doctor’s offices, I had a tiny piece of hope inside me that the next one would say they could help me.
But it was always the same answer. I’ve accepted my fate, Damien, and now you need to as well. ”
“The fuck I will!” I shouted. “There is a possibility he can help you. You need to explore all options. Dr. Finn is an option.”
“And the possibility is greater that he can’t!” she shouted back. “I’m not going through that disappointment again! I’m not walking in there for him to say what they’ve all said, ‘I’m sorry, London, but the tumor is inoperable. There’s no way we can get to it without killing you.’”
“You don’t know that,” I calmly spoke.
She walked over to me and placed her hand on my cheek. “I do know that, Damien. I love you for trying, but there’s no hope left. I’m sorry.” She turned away and headed towards the bathroom.
“You love me?!” I shouted in anger, and she stopped. “If you truly loved me, you would do this for you and for me.”
“This isn’t about you. This is about me.”
“You’re wrong!” I yelled. “This is about me now. About trying to help the woman I fell madly in love with! I love you, London Everly, and I’m not ready to let you go! I fucking love you too much.”
“Damien, stop,” she spoke as she turned around and looked at me.
“No, I’m not going to stop.” I walked over to where she stood.
“I love you, London. I love you, and I’m not going to stop loving you.
Teaghan can’t take that away. She can’t take away my love for you.
You are the only woman I have ever loved in my entire life.
You are the woman who came into my life and made me see the beauty of it.
You made me realize there is more to life than work and money.
You did that!” Tears started streaming down my face as I gripped her hips and dropped to my knees, placing my forehead on her legs.
“You breathed life into me. I feel like I'm living for the first time in my life. Please don’t take that away from me. Give Dr. Finn a chance. Please.”
She knelt down and wrapped her arms around me.
“It’s okay. I’ll go see Dr. Finn. We’ll go see him.” She tightened her grip around me.
London
The moment we stepped onto the plane and took our seats, Damien grabbed my hand and brought it up to his lips.
“I love you.” He smiled.
“I love you too.” I laid my head on his shoulder.
He had called Scott and Joslyn and told them we were on our way to Los Angeles and didn’t know when he’d be back in the office.
California was on my bucket list. I planned to go there after the Grand Canyon if time allowed it.
I wasn’t scared to see Dr. Finn because I already knew the outcome.
I was scared for Damien because the little bit of hope he had would be destroyed.
His breakdown killed me. I never in a million years would have thought he would have done something like that.
He loved me, and as happy as I was that he did, I also felt his love for me would destroy him in the end, and I needed to make sure that didn’t happen.
I needed him to see that his life would still go on and that he would find happiness again if he allowed it.
I opened my laptop and uploaded the remaining pictures of Paris and a couple of Damien and me.
I wanted the world to see that no matter what I was facing, this man loved me and wanted to face it with me.
I recorded a video on the plane instead of writing a post. I wanted everyone to know that I was going to Los Angeles to see Dr. Finn for hopefully a miracle.
I turned the camera on Damien and had him say hi.
He gave a smile, waved, and then kissed my cheek.
I was tired, so I ended the video, uploaded it, closed my laptop, and fell asleep on Damien’s shoulder.
We arrived in Los Angeles the next day around noon. Instead of having a car pick us up, Damien rented a car.
“Do you know where we’re staying?” I asked.
“No. We can figure that out after we see Dr. Finn.”
“Oh.” My brow arched, “So we’re winging it?”
“We’re winging it.” He smirked.
We drove to Cedars-Sinai, and as we were looking for Dr. Finn’s office, a woman in scrubs with a stethoscope around her neck stopped us.
“Oh my gosh, you’re London.” She smiled.
“Yes. Yes, I am.”
“I’m Dr. Grace Finn. Dr. Finn’s wife. We spoke on the phone, Mr. Prescott.”
“Yes. Of course. Thank you so much.” He lightly shook her hand.
Dr. Finn turned to me and gave me a hug. “It’s nice to meet you. I saw your blog. Your journey is amazing.”
“Thank you.” I smiled.
“Have you seen Jamieson yet?”
“No. We just flew in. We were looking for his office,” Damien replied.
“Oh. You’re in luck. I’m just on my way up there now. Follow me.”
We followed her into the elevator and up to his office. She lightly knocked on the door before opening it.
“Jamieson. Mr. Prescott and London are here.”
“Excellent. Come on in,” he spoke as he got up from his desk and shook my hand and then Damien’s. “Have a seat.” Dr. Finn gestured to the chairs across from his desk.
He took his seat behind his desk, and Grace stood next to him.
“So, London, I was able to get your medical records from when you were ten years old and had the tumor first removed. I see they only took out ninety-five percent of it, and then you underwent radiation.”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“And now, it grew back. I have your medical records and scans from all the doctors you visited, but I haven’t looked at any of them yet. I want to get a CT scan and an MRI and look at those first. I know you’re a pro at those.” He smiled.
“I am.”
“Do you by chance, have your medication on you?”
“I do.” I reached into my purse and put the pill bag on his desk.
“Great. I’ll look these over while Grace takes you to the imaging room. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Damien, you can have a seat in the waiting room, and we’ll come get you when she’s done.”
“Thank you, Dr. Finn,” he spoke.
Damien turned to me and grabbed hold of both my hands. “I love you, London. Good luck, baby.”
“I love you too.” I smiled as I kissed his lips.
Jamieson Finn
I took a seat in the control room, and Grace sat down next to me.
“How are you doing in there, London?” I asked through the intercom.
“I’m doing good, Dr. Finn.” She gave me a thumbs-up. Her scans started to load on the computer screen slowly.
“Well, hello there, Teaghan, you big, beautiful tumor,” I said.
“Oh my god, Jamieson,” Grace spoke as her pager went off. “Damn it. I gotta go, babe. There’s a trauma coming in.” She kissed my head.
I stared at the screen and intently studied the tumor.
I saw why nobody would touch it. I sighed as I leaned back in my chair and continued studying the tumor's surrounding area. I looked at the machine and stared at London. This woman was so full of life even though this thing growing inside that was slowly killing her. Was this really impossible? It looked that way, and I had a decision to make, but then again, I didn’t believe in the impossible.
“London, you’re all done. Andrea will take you to get changed and bring you back to my office.”
“Okay, Dr. Finn.”
I stepped into the waiting room and told Damien to come back to my office with me. I saw the nervousness written all over him, and I felt bad for the guy. As soon as we stepped inside, London walked in.
“You two can have a seat right here.” I pointed to some chairs facing the monitors that were mounted on the wall.
Walking over to my computer, I pulled up London’s new scans and placed the ones she had done over a year ago next to them.
“The tumor is starting to get bigger and out of control. But I’m going to say that this happened over the course of the past couple of months.”
“Is the tumor operable, Dr. Finn?” Damien asked.
“I’m going to be very honest with you. I’ve only seen this type of tumor twice in my life: yours and my father’s.
Except my father’s tumor was malignant, and yours isn’t, which actually makes it one I’ve never seen before.
But a tumor is a tumor, as far as I’m concerned.
I removed my father’s, but yours is a little more complicated.
There are significant, and I mean significant risks. ”
“Like what?” Damien asked.
“One wrong move or mistake and London will die on the table. She could suffer from respiratory disturbances, circulatory dysfunctions, and many other deficits. She could lose her ability to talk, walk, and even see. The risks are high. I’m not going to lie to you.
I need a couple of days to think about this, and then I’ll be in touch.
You are staying in Los Angeles, correct? ”
“Yes. We’re staying.” London smiled.
“Dr. Finn, I don’t understand,” Damien spoke. “You can’t tell us now whether you’ll try to remove it or not?”
“No. There are things I need to work out first and study.”
“If I don’t have the surgery, how much longer do I have?” London asked.
“I’d say about a month before your body starts shutting down. Give me two days. It’s all I’ll need.”
“Thank you, Dr. Finn,” London spoke as she stood from her chair and shook my hand.
“Thank you.” Damien shook my hand.
I left the hospital early, went home, had dinner with my family, and went right into my study. I brought London’s scans home with me, along with the model of her brain and tumor. I sat at my desk and studied both.
“I made you a cup of coffee,” Grace said as she set the cup on my desk.
“Thanks, sweetheart.”
“How’s it looking?” she asked.
“Not good. The tumor is wrapped around this one vessel right here. There’s no way I can get to it without damaging the vessel.
What quality of life would she have if I did this surgery and something went wrong?
She’d then wish she was dead. I don’t know, Grace.
I don’t think I can do this. The risk is way too high. Higher than what it was for my father.”
“Well, you need to make a decision either way.” She kissed the top of my head and walked out.
As I was sipping my coffee and staring at the brain model, Ava, our seven-year-old daughter, walked in.
“Hi, Daddy. What are you doing?”
“I’m working, baby. Trying to see if I can save this woman’s life.”
She climbed on my lap and looked at the scans on my computer.
“That’s a bad, bad tumor, Daddy.”
“I know it is, baby, and I’m not sure I can do anything. See how part of the tumor is wrapped around this vessel. Daddy can’t get to it without damaging the vessel.”
She intently stared at it for a while.
“Sure, you can, Daddy.” She smiled as she looked at me.
“Is that so, little miss?” I arched my brow at her.
“Yes.” She picked up the model brain and held it in her hands.
“First, you’ll go through underneath, right here.” She pointed. “Remove part of the tumor from there, close her up, and then go through the top of the brain and remove the rest. Easy peasy.” She grinned.
I looked at her, then took the model from her hands and held it up.
“It’s not easy to go through there, sweetie.”
“Sure it is, Daddy. You’ll have to do it while she’s sitting up.”
I narrowed my eye at her, looked at the model, and then back at the scans.
“Oh my God, Ava.” I kissed her head hard. “You’re a genius.”
“I know, Daddy.” She giggled.
“Grace!” I shouted. “Grace!”
“What? What is it? What happened?” She ran into my study in a panic.
“I can do it. Thanks to our genius daughter, I can get to London’s tumor that’s wrapped around this vessel!”
“Huh?” She cocked her head.
“Tell her, baby. Tell Mommy what you told me.” I handed her the brain model.
“Daddy can get to this part of the tumor by going through here first. Then when that part is removed, he can go into the top of the brain and remove the rest. Easy peasy.” She smiled.
“Pumpkin, that first area is impossible to get to because of the spinal cord,” Grace spoke.
“Wait for it, Grace.” I smiled.
“Not if Daddy does it while the patient is sitting up.”
“Oh my God,” Grace spoke. “Jamieson, she might be right. Do you think it’ll work?”
“It’ll work, Mommy.”