me answer a few right off the bat. I know this is a quick turnaround, and ideally I’d like to have more time for you to prepare, but these are the best of the best and you couldn’t be in better hands so we can’t let this opportunity pass us by. The hospital is booked, set up, and ready to go. This truly is the best path forward. I know it gives you little time to talk and sort things out, but I think you should say yes.”
“Where will you be in all of this, Dr. Whitman?” Katherine asked.
“I’d love to be in the room with you, unless you say otherwise. I might be the best trauma surgeon out there, but I’m not a brain surgeon so I can only be in there with your permission. In this case I’m the JV squad, and I’m benched while the varsity team takes over.”
“Spence, this is rushed. I don’t like it,” Joseph said. He couldn’t hold back any longer.
Katherine reached out and took Joseph’s hand. “It’ll be okay, Joseph,” she whispered, taking a second to look him in the eyes. Spence was quiet as he waited for their answer. “This will be our best option and I don’t want to wait any longer. I want it done and over with.”
Joseph had to fight new tears at the thought of losing his Katherine. But if this was what she wanted, this would be what she’d have. He nodded at her. She leaned up, kissed him gently, and then turned back to the phone.
“We’ll do the surgery, Dr. Whitman, and I’d be honored to have you in the room.”
“I’ll be honored to be there. I want to witness your miracle because you are that, Katherine. You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever known.” He stopped and chuckled. “Just don’t tell my wife that and get me into trouble. She’s competitive and likes to think she’s tough.”
“I do always like to have blackmail,” Katherine said. Joseph couldn’t believe the two of them could joke at a moment like this, but he wasn’t going to complain as long as there was a smile on his wife’s lips.
“Come to the hospital this afternoon, we’ll go over all of the details, and I’ll show you both where the surgery will occur. That’s more for Joseph than you, but I want this to be as smooth, easy, and stress-free as possible for two people I greatly admire,” Spence said.
“We’ll do that,” Katherine said. Then they ended the call. They had a lot more phone calls to make that afternoon, a lot of family to tell. After that it would be nonstop planning. If something were to happen they couldn’t go in blind.
Surgeries didn’t always go well. Neither of them said that, but they both had it on their minds. Joseph vowed to keep that locked up deep down inside and to have the best time together over the next few days. He wanted her to go into that surgery with the will and desire to come back out of it. He wanted her to know she was so utterly loved she had to stay right there with him and not be tempted by that bright light calling her name.
He’d prove to her that she was better off on earth at his side, than in the peace of the heavens. He needed her to keep shaping him into the man he wanted to be to meet his maker. He wasn’t there yet. He needed more years with her to get there.
Joseph pulled Katherine into his arms and held on tight, a single tear falling. He wiped it away, not willing to show her. He had to be strong; he had to be the man she’d married. He had to keep them together. And that was exactly what he was going to do.
Chapter Eight
Brackish had been waiting for what seemed like forever to go on his first official date with Erin. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so nervous, even finding himself checking his phone every three-point-two seconds to see if she’d messaged him.
Ugh. He couldn’t stand those couples who were so attached at the hip, they couldn’t manage to function without one another. He hadn’t even slept with this woman yet and his mind was filled with her. What in the hell was wrong with him?
Brackish had been a professor for years at a college where he’d been surrounded by women of all ages, races, body types, and personalities.