As soon as the nurses take Tay to prep him for the surgery, my anxiety shoots up. There isn't an easy way to know how the surgery is going unless a nurse comes out to tell me, and that makes everything worse. How are we supposed to know if he seizes or something? I'll be stuck hoping everything is fine without knowing for sure.

Somehow, I end up in the waiting room, slouching in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs for hours. I can't force myself to do anything other than make the person in front of me uncomfortable with my staring. He shifts back and forth in his seat and turns to whisper something to the woman on his left. She glances up at me and laughs softly.

"Hey, Travis and Jackson are here," Laurie says as she takes a seat beside me. She hands me a coffee and blows on hers to cool it down.

"Hey." Travis places a hand on my shoulder. His voice is about as soothing as the research I'm compiling on vitrectomies. Having him here does nothing and I ignore his attempt to comfort me. Having him here does nothing and I ignore his attempt to calm me down and open another vitrectomy article on my phone.

I sigh. It's not his fault. He's just trying to be here to help. "Hey."

"You know, if you worry any more about Tay, he won't be the only one in surgery. You'll blow a valve or something." His joke doesn't work, but I smile at him anyway.

Travis is at a loss for words and looks at Jackson for help. He just shrugs and plops down on the seat beside me.

He puckers his lips and stares at me through his peripherals, wiggling his eyebrows up and down. When his antics don't elicit a reaction from me, he turns to face me and puffs his cheeks out while poking his index fingers into them.

I can't help it. It's hard not to laugh at a sight like that. Jackson is usually so calm and collected. He's seldom the type to make silly faces and jokes.

"There's that smile." He pokes my nose and relaxes in his seat, giving a smug look to a scowling Travis.

The door to the waiting room opens, and out steps a young doctor clad in a surgical mask and light blue scrubs. "Statin?"

Laurie stands up quickly, tapping me quickly on the arm. I stand and take her hand in mine. The doctor smiles through her mask as she makes her way over.

"Everything is going well. We expect it will be about half an hour longer before Tay is out. It'll take a bit for him to wake up, but as soon as he's out, you can wait until he's up, okay?"

I nod. "Thank you so much."

After about half an hour, the doctor from earlier comes to tell us Tay is back in his room and ready for visitors.

"He won't be able to open his eyes for a bit, but the swelling should go down soon." She smiles and leads us to Tay's room.

"Tay?" I walk in, careful not to make any loud sounds in case he's not fully aware yet.

His head lolls back and forth, and his mouth hangs open. He snaps it open and shut as he tries to form words. "Hey," he slurs. He smiles and reaches out, and I grab his hand.

"How're you feeling?" Tay's mom steps forward and takes Tay's other hand in hers.

"You look like crap," Jackson comments as he takes a seat in the chair beside the bed.

Tay laughs groggily. "I'm great, thanks." He rubs his forehead with a tube-covered hand. "Travis? You here?"

I turn to look at Travis. He stands by the door, flirting with a young nurse. When he looks our way, I jerk my head to gesture to Tay in a talk to him gesture.

He sighs and steps away from the nurse and toward the bed. "Yeah?"

"Just making sure you're here."

I fight the urge to pull Travis out of the room and scold him for even thinking about worrying about some random girl. Tay is his friend. His friend who is scared and needs people to be there for him. That girl is a stranger he'll never see again.

"Did they say how the surgery went?" Jackson blows a stray hair out of his face and glances at the papers on the bedside stand. He picks them up and rifles through them for a second before sitting them back down.

"Not yet," someone says from the doorway. When he steps forward, I can see dark blue scrubs over caramel skin. The doctor smiles at us and pulls off his stethoscope. Once he takes Tay's vitals, he speaks again, "Like I told Mateo and-"

"Tay," he interrupts.

The man smiles. "My apologies. Like I told Tay and his parents, it should take about a week for him to recover before he can resume normal activities like going to school." He glances at me and the guys before reaching out to shake my hand. "You must be his friends. I'm Dr. Adhikari, the surgeon who performed the vitrectomy."

"I'm not late, am I?" Senior pops through the door and waves at us.

"Dad, you made it." Tay sits up.

"I couldn't stay at work. It didn't feel right."

Dr. Adhikari types a few things into his tablet and turns back toward us. "You're just in time. I was just getting ready to let everyone know there were no complications during the surgery. Tay should begin noticing improvements in his vision later this week. It will be blurry and slow," he pauses for emphasis, "but it shouldn't take more than a month for you to regain your full vision."

I squeeze Tay's hand, sending him a smile before I realize he can't see it. Kind of makes me glad because the moment I begin to examine his face, my smile falls.

Jackson wasn't wrong. Tay looks horrible. The area around both eyes is swollen and is a pinkish purple color that looks unnatural. At least, unnatural for Tay. Tape holds his eyelids down, and tubes poke out of various parts of his arms.

I hope this ends well. If it turns out that all his pain isn't worth it in the end, I'm not sure how devastated he'll be. How devastated we all will be.

"The anesthesia seems to be wearing off pretty well. We'll monitor you tonight, and you can go home hopefully tomorrow afternoon. You need to rest when you get home. If there is any prolonged pain or anything that doesn't feel normal, please call me. Doesn't matter how trivial it seems. I'll be sending a paper home with you that lists all of the possible complications to look out for, as well. Any questions?" He looks around the room one last time, then smiles at us before stepping out.

Travis pulls the curtain shut. "Hey, Tay." He sits on the edge of the bed.

"What?"

"How high does the pain medicine make you feel?" A cheeky grin lights up his face as he waits for Tay's response.

Tay and Jackson laugh, and Laurie smacks Travis on the arm.

"Oh-ho, how high does the pain medicine make you feel? Dork," I mock, dropping my voice in an attempt to match Travis's tone.

The guys laugh again. Tay, once he stops laughing, reclines back on the bed and folds his arms behind his head. "About as high as anything else can, I suppose," he jokes.

Laurie pretends not to hear him, and I smile at the happy look on his face. Bringing the guys here was a good idea. Tay probably feels horrible, but the guys being here makes him seem more relaxed and comfortable.

A short nurse knocks on the door before poking her head through the door. "Visiting hours are almost over. We recommend that only one person stays overnight with a patient at a time."

We all nod and stand up to leave.

Laurie puts a hand up to stop me. "You go ahead and stay if you want. I'll be back in the morning with my husband."

As soon as the guys leave, I turn to Tay. He fidgets with the T.V. remote, changing channels until he finds something suitable to listen to.

"You should get some sleep." I play with his hair, twisting the strands around my fingers. "It's been a long day."

"I've been asleep for most of the day."

"Surgery isn't the same." When he yawns, I cross my arms over my chest. "Exactly."

He grins and reaches up an arm to caress my face. Then, quicker than I can move, he grabs me by the arm and pins me to his chest.

"What are you doing?"

"You're cute when you're bossy." His grip is unrelenting, so I don't try to move. I know he isn't going to let go. Instead, I let him hold me until we both fall asleep.