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pointing to the floor right outside of the door. “I will be right here.” We both nod at each other again.
It takes around fifteen minutes for the scan to be completed, and after I am transferred back to my stretcher and the door opens, I notice Ian has not moved, just like he promised. 
It seems like only minutes that I have been back in my room when Dr. Lopez comes back in and wakes me.  I glance at the clock, and realize it has actually been over two hours.  “Ally?” Dr. Lopez pulls up a chair next to the bed. “It looks like you need to have your appendix removed.”  He pauses.  “Your white blood counts are very elevated, and the scan has confirmed appendicitis.”  I look over at Ian, and he comes to stand by me.  “When does she need this?”  He asks.  “Well, I’ve notified the surgeon on call, and it should be within the next hour.”  He states very nonchalant as he gets up.  “The nurse will be back in with some forms for you to sign.”  And with that, he is gone.
     

Chapter 16
~Ian
From the moment I stood out front of the Emergency Room doors, I realized this was going to take all of my strength, everything I have left—which really isn’t much.  I have not been back to a hospital since the last time Laney was there, right before we brought her home to her parent’s house to die. 
I detested everything about hospitals.  The smell, the lights the ridiculous “calming” colors on the walls and floors—the pity in the eyes of the staff when they know there is no hope.   The only thing that got me through those doors was that petite woman who had come to me for help, and the raw fear in her eyes. 
“No one,” she had told me when I asked if there was someone I should call for her.  I have been wallowing in my own grief and self preservation for so long, that I had almost forgotten how to look beyond myself.  It was a huge jolt to see Ally standing on my porch tonight, scared and in pain. 
I don’t know why or how she is so alone, or why she was so afraid to come here.  We know very little about each other, but when I look into her eyes, I see her fear and need, and right now, all I can do is stay by her side—no matter how excruciating this is to me.  Sometimes the hardest thing to do is the right thing to do.  Sometimes it’s the only thing to do, no matter whom or how much it hurts.
***
The doctor has just left.  Ally needs surgery.  My stomach feels sick, and I wonder how it would look if I asked for some of that anti-nausea medication for myself.  “It will be okay Ally.”  She closes her eyes and shakes her head.  “None of this is okay Ian.” She takes a deep breath, “How are we going to get through this?”  I stood and walked next to her bed, running my hands through my hair, “One step at a time, okay?”  She nodded, “Okay.”
The nurse comes in with the consent forms, and in just minutes the small room is filled with people asking Ally the same questions over and over.  “ What’s your name?”  “When is your Birthday?”   A small round man with friendly eyes and a surgical mask around his neck introduces himself to both Ally and me.  “I am Dr. Jefferies.”  He smiles gently at Ally.  “I am going to provide anesthesia for you during the procedure.”  He has her look over another form, listing every possible outcome of having anesthesia, from a broken tooth to death, and I can tell Ally is barely hanging on right now as she signs the last form.  Dr. Jeffries pulls a small syringe out of his scrub pocket and begins to push the fluid into Ally’s IV.  “Ally, this is just some medicine to help you relax.”  I’m thinking, Can I get some too? , and then I see the actual moment the medicine hits her.  Her eyes gloss over and she looks at me and whispers, “okay?”  I nod, “okay.”  They start to wheel her away as the nurse says over her shoulder, “We will take good care of her.”
I am sitting in the surgical