Maggie frowned. “I’m not sure why he won’t be with you. But I do know one thing. He lost the best thing he’s ever had.”
My eyes welled up. “Thanks, Maggie.”
CHAPTER 28
* * *
Max
Ten years ago
“You boys have got to be kidding me.” My mother walked into the doctor’s office, took one look at me holding bloody tissues to my nose, and shook her head.
I pointed to Austin. “He started it.”
Austin looked at Mom with sick-kid puppy-dog eyes. “I don’t have the energy to start a fight.”
“Oh, honey.” Mom rubbed Austin’s back. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m the one with the bloody nose!”
Austin grinned at me from behind my mother’s back. Such a dick.
Dr. Wallace walked into the office, carrying a chart. “Sorry to keep you all waiting.”
Mom took the seat between Austin and me. We’d flown out to California a few days ago for a second opinion on Austin’s aneurysm. I’d tagged along to keep Austin company, even though Mom had taken over managing things after I’d finally got him to tell her what was going on.
“Thank you for seeing us on such short notice, Dr. Wallace,” Mom said.
“Of course.” He sat down behind his desk. “Why don’t we get right into it, since you’ve come all this way, and I’ve already kept you waiting. I reviewed the files your doctor in Boston sent over, along with the scan taken last month and the one you took just this morning.” Dr. Wallace looked directly at my brother. “I’m afraid I agree with Dr. Jasper’s findings, son. That aneurysm should come out.”
My brother frowned. “What happens if I don’t want to have surgery?”
Dr. Wallace opened his drawer and took out what looked like a straw with something dangling from it. He smiled. “Excuse the low-tech demonstration. I find the minute I take out an iPad and start showing actual anatomy, patients get overwhelmed. Sometimes old-school simplicity works best. I get these straws from McDonald’s. They’re nice and thick, so it’s easy to thread my balloon through.” He held the straw horizontally, with a small piece of red latex dangling from a tear in the middle. He pointed to it. “This is the artery leading up to your heart.” He pointed to the latex peeking out. “This is an aneurysm.” He held one end of the straw closed and brought the other end to his mouth. “My breath is our blood flowing.” When he blew into the straw, the small piece of balloon sticking out of the slit began to grow. He pinched off the air when it was the size of a raisin. “This is normal blood flowing through. But here’s what happens when you start moving around and raise your blood pressure.” He blew into the straw with more pressure, and the balloon grew to the size of a golf ball. “Eventually, this balloon gets stretched too thin, and it can pop. Then you’re left with nothing plugging the hole, and blood leaks into the surrounding space of your heart chambers. I’m not trying to scare you, but if it bursts on its own, it’s messy, and your chances are not nearly as good as if we remove it cleanly.”
“Will it definitely burst?”
“That we can’t say for sure. Some people walk around their entire life not ever knowing they even have an aneurysm. Much of it depends on the size and how fast it’s growing. If yours was small, I might advise you to wait. But yours is not. It’s very large. And in the month since you had that initial scan, it’s gotten bigger, son.”
Austin looked at Mom. “How big was Dad’s?”
She frowned. “I don’t know.”
He looked at the doctor again. “How long is the recovery?”
“You’d be in the hospital a few days. Most people can resume regular activities within four to six weeks, but it takes two to three months to fully recover.”
Austin took a deep breath. “What are the risks?”
“The biggest ones are bleeding and infection. There’s always a small risk when you go under anesthesia, but for someone in good health and your age, the risk is pretty minimal these days. We do a lot of these surgeries.”
My brother looked over at me. “What would you do?”
“I already told you. I’d do it. You don’t want it to get even bigger and have it burst during the surgery like Dad’s did. And you’re already struggling to get around. Do you want to live like that?”
“No, but I do want to live.”
I shook my head. “You know my stance. If you can’t live like you want, you’re already dying.”
Austin looked at me a long time before nodding and turning back to the doctor. “How soon can you do it?”
Dr. Wallace smiled. “Let me get with the scheduling nurse and see when the next available date is.”
“Thank you very much, Dr. Wallace,” Mom said.
He nodded. “Oh, one other thing. I’m not sure if Dr. Jasper spoke to you about this, but Max and any other children should also be scanned.”
“Scanned for abdominal aortic aneurysms?”
Dr. Wallace nodded. “Aneurysms in general. Your husband had one, and now Austin. When two or more first-degree relatives have them, we recommend the immediate family members—parents and children—be tested. There’s an increased risk of other members having what we call familial aneurysms.”
CHAPTER 29
* * *
Max
“I bought tickets to that charity hockey exhibition game you’re playing in next week,” Mom said. “I thought I’d fly down the day before and stay a few days so I can see your new place.”
“I told you they gave me tickets for free. It just slipped my mind to forward you the email.”
“It’s for charity. I wanted to pay for them.”
I nodded and poked at the pot roast she made every time I visited. It was usually my favorite.
“Are you okay, Max?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
My mother leveled me with what my brothers and I had called the mom eyes growing up. Those things were better than truth serum. None of us had any idea how she did it, but with one look, she pulled whatever was lurking inside us out. It was like she knew the truth, and she just waited patiently for us to spill it.
I sighed and dragged a hand through my hair. “I miss Georgia.”
Mom patted my hand. “What happened? I thought you two were doing so well and had something special.”
I shrugged. “We did.”
“So why are you missing her? Get on a plane and go visit. Practice doesn’t start for a while yet, right?”
“Yeah. But she doesn’t want to see me.”
“Did you two have a falling out or something?”
I shook my head. “It’s nothing like that.”
“Then what is it?”
I frowned and looked up at my mother. “I don’t want her to get hurt. If…you know.”
Understanding dawned on her face. “Oh, no, Max. Have you discussed things with her?”
I didn’t even have to answer. I just looked at my mom, and she shut her eyes.