37. Surgery

SATI'S POV

A couple of weeks had passed since we told the family we're getting married and that we're expecting a child, and today is the day we had all been waiting for, Jessica's surgery.

In the last few days, we had been with the doctors making sure the surgery went well and it wouldn't affect our child. A couple of times we realized the press were following us, Jackson and the others made sure they didn't see her, but there were already rumours something is happening to Jessica.

At this moment I'm in the room waiting for them to come get her for surgery, and I couldn't help but be nervous. I paced back and forth while Jess was talking to Madison and Miky.

"Honey, stop pacing. We'll be fine." I turned to look at her, and neither of them were there anymore, which makes me wonder when they disappeared from the room and where they must have gone. "Come here go."

I started to walk in the direction of the stretcher and sat on the chair, but she tapped the stretcher a few times, so I sat on the stretcher, putting an arm over her shoulders and giving her a kiss on the forehead while she took my hand and started running her thumb over the back of my hand.

"Honey, I know you're worried about the surgery, but believe me, everything is going to be okay. After this everything will be fine, and maybe I'll get all my memories back." She said with a hopeful tone. "What if you forget everything again?" I asked, fearing this would happen. "It's a possibility, but in case I forget everything, I'll always end up remembering, especially you. I love you too much to lose you again. I'm not going to let you lose me again."

"It's not something you can promise like that lightly." I pointed out, "I know, but something tells me everything will be fine, so do me a favour and not worry as much as you are." She asked and I denied, because that wasn't possible. "It's impossible." I assured, "Just try it, for me." My fiancé insisted with a small smile on her face, and I nodded. "I'll try."

"In any case, the others will be looking out for you." She said with a big smile on her face, obviously proud of having achieved it. "Are you going to tell me you made the others babysitters for me?" I asked. "It's the only way to make sure you don't let that imagination of yours run wild."

"Since when do you planned to do that?" I asked curiously, "Well, for a long time. I get an idea of how your mind works, love, and I assure you I don't want you to worry too much about something is going to turn out well."

"And how are you so sure?" I asked, "Because we have the best doctors in the country and they have been preparing the operation for a long time, that's why I know nothing is going to go wrong." Jessica assured, "Ok, I'll trust, but that doesn't mean I'll stay calm." I answered honestly, "I know, but I want you to try."

"I will do it, don't worry, you take care of getting out of there and be fine." I asked "I will do it. I want you to know I love you more than anything in the world and I will always find a way to come back to you." She assured, "I know." I responded, feeling a little calmer. "Sorry to interrupt you guys, but it's time for us to take Jessica."

"Can you give us a minute?" My fiancé asks, "Just one." The doctor responded, "That's enough." She assured and with that, the doctor left the room, and I hugged Jessica like there's no tomorrow. As much as I tried to believe her words, I had a hard time believing them. I don't even want to think what will happen if I lose her one more time.

"I'll be fine. See you in a few hours. I love you." Jessica said with a big smile "I love you too, I love you more than anything in the world." I responded with a smile on my face "I know." she answered.

The moment the doctor came in again I accompany her until I couldn't. Carla's already waiting for me there, she had a small smile on her face. I know she's worried about Jessica, but I also know she'll do whatever Jessica told her to do, which is why I couldn't help but love that woman more than anything in the world.

"Come on, we don't do anything here. Let's better go to the waiting room where the others are. Besides, we must talk about something." She said, "Of what?" I asked, confused, "What are we going to do with all the journalists at the hospital entrance?" my best friend reported "Journalists?" I asked, still not understanding anything. "Did you really expect them not to find out Jessica comes here a lot? You yourself noticed there were a couple of news that something was wrong with Jessica."

"But they shouldn't be here." I said annoyed "Believe me, I know they shouldn't be here, but you know what they are like. Sometimes I hate it. Plus, there's what crazy Alison is saying out there." She responded, shrugging her shoulders. "What is she saying this time?" I asked, exasperated "That you're using Jess, what she said is a lie and that she's saying it because what she herself says is true... the same old shit. Santi, it's not out of harm's way, but we must take care of this before Jessica gets out of surgery, because we know if she finds out after she gets out of surgery, we won't be able to stop her from doing something, and she shouldn't be stressed."

"And what do we do?" I questioned, "What if we both go to talk to the press right now?" She tried, "I don't want to leave the hospital, I don't want to miss a single bit of news about Jessica." I said seriously "And you won't miss it, I promise it will be quick and I'll send them out before more than ten minutes have passed."

"That's a lot of time." I protested, "But that's the minimum amount of time you can answer the questions they have." She insisted, "Okay, but still, won't you get in trouble with the record company if you do what you did last time again?" I asked and she smiled. "You know me perfectly and you know I want to get out of that record company, and since the only way is to have them kick me out, if they don't kick me out because of it, then I don't know what else I can do."

"Maybe we should talk to lawyers and talk about what they wanted to do to us. Maybe with that we will get somewhere." She responded, shrugging her shoulders. "We'll see about that after Jessica comes out of the operation and is somewhat more recovered, in the meantime, let's go clear this pack of journalists."

We started walking through the hallways of the hospital until we reached the entrance where as soon as they saw us walk out the door, the flashes and questions began to be fired. "Santiago, is it true you're playing with Jessica?" "Is it true that Jessica is sick?" "What's wrong with Jessica that she has been coming to the hospital so many times in the last couple of weeks?" "Are you and Jessica expecting a child? "Is that why you leave Alison with your child?" They threw out questions and I'm a little overwhelmed and trying to understand everything.

"First of all, Santi isn't expecting a child from anyone, and if he does, it would be with Jessica and not with a person like Alison." Carla responded with a final snort. "Are you jealous, Carla?" asked a journalist "I don't have to be jealous of anyone, because for the millionth time, Santi and I are nothing more than good friends. The one who is jealous is Alison because not even when we were in high school, she managed to break up Santi and Jessica, and that will continue, because they're destined to be together, and the only way for her to get Santi to go with her is for Santi signed a contract, and since that didn't happen, that's why the girl is angry. So better ask her since she's the one who signed a contract to be able to have a relationship with Santi."

"Did they make you sign a contract to have a relationship with her?" asked another journalist "We're not going to talk about that, we just wanted to say Santi isn't playing with anyone, Jessica is fine and, if it's not a bother, get out of the hospital because there are more people who want to come in and visit their relatives and you are bothering." Carla pointed out "It's called freedom of expression, Miss Bastianini."

"I know what freedom of expression is, and believe me, I'm more than clear it doesn't mean disturbing the peace of the sick or the family members who come to visit them. So, you would be doing me a huge favour if you took your shit together and get the hell out of here instead of asking questions no one cares about." With that, she took my hand, and we entered the hospital heading to the waiting room where Jessica's family is. We sat in the free seats without saying a single word for several hours.

I no longer had any idea how long Jessica had been in the operating room, but I'm beginning to get a little desperate and every so often both Carla and Sofía came to try to calm me down, but it wasn't enough, all I wanted at this moment is to see Jessica.

After what seemed like a couple more hours, the doctor appears with a serious face, making me worry about what may have happened to Jessica. "Well, Jessica's surgery is a complete success. For a couple of hours, she'll be under the effects of the anaesthesia and as soon as she wakes up, we will make sure everything is fine."

"Could we stop by and see her for a while before we leave?" Rose asked. "Yes, but it has to be one at a time, we don't want her to get stressed." The doctor reported, "It's okay. You go, I will go last." I said with a smile on my face "Are you sure you want to go to the end Santi?"

"Sure, at least I know it's okay, and you know if I go in it's difficult for me to come out again, so it's better not." I responded, shrugging my shoulders. "It's fine whatever you want, but then if you plan on staying, you better go get something to eat, you haven't eaten since this morning I think."

"I couldn't." I responded, "But now you can, and don't worry, Jessica is fine." Carla said kindly. "I hope so." I murmured, "You'll see so." With that, they entered one by one until after what seemed like hours it's my turn to enter. It's already late, so the others went home. I would stay with her. I wouldn't move

After saying goodbye to Carla and the boys, I went to the room where Jessica is, I opened the door slowly and I could see that she was still sleeping, so I entered the room and sat in the chair that was next to the stretcher, I took her hand, leaned back on the chair and closed my eyes.

"I'm starting to think I shouldn't have told you I was going to have surgery, so maybe you would have slept better and wouldn't have that worried look on your face right now." As soon as I hear her voice, I open my eyes and turn to see her with a smile and open eyes. "I thought you wouldn't wake up until tomorrow." I whispered, "Well, it seems like you were wrong, or you're dreaming." She responded, shrugging her shoulders and her smile widening. "That's possible."

"I love it when you act stupid, I'm serious." My fiancé said "And I love being able to see those beautiful eyes of yours. "I'm going to call the doctor to tell him you're awake." At that point she stretched out her arm and pressed one of the buttons near the bed, and in no time a nurse entered the room. "Ah, I see you're awake Miss Leone, I'm going to call your doctor"

The nurse left the room, leaving us alone again. I leaned on the stretcher a little, gave her a kiss and started caressing her arm. I could tell she's nervous, and the truth is I have no idea if I had told her everything had gone well, but I don't have time to ask why she's nervous because the doctor enters the room.

"How are you, Miss Leone?" The doctor asked with a big smile on his face. "My head hurts a little, and my vision is sort of blurry." confessed my fiancée "The headache is normal, and the slightly blurred vision may be because you haven't fully come out of the anaesthesia yet. If it's still the same in a couple of hours, call me and we'll see what happens, okay?"

"And when exactly can I leave here?" She asks, "We had already talked about that, but if everything goes well before the weekend arrives you can go home." the doctor assured, "And by any chance you can't reduce that time?" My fiancé questioned and he denied, "No, miss, it can't be done."

"Honey, he's right. You must be here as long as necessary." I said with a smile on my face "I don't like it." She protested, "I know, believe me, you made it clear to me last time, Miss Leone, but in no time, Eric will come to check you out himself and he will tell you the same thing I told you." The doctor assured, "It's okay."

The doctor checked her for a couple more minutes and then left, but not before telling Jessica that Eric wouldn't be too long in coming to see her. As soon as the door closed, I turned to see her, because it's weird she insisted so much on going home. It's true she did it when we went to check-ups and all that, but now she insisted too much, and it seemed weird.

"Honey, why do you want to leave the hospital so soon?" I asked curiously "Because I don't like them." She muttered, "I don't think anyone likes them." I responded with a small smile on my face. "Let's just say I've been in one for too long to have to be in another for a single minute."

"In the United States?" I asked, knowing what the answer would be "Yeah. I don't have great memories of being in there, so to speak." Jessica said, "Did you forget about them?" I questioned, "I would like that." She whispered, "What happened in that hospital that made you hate them so much?" I asked, "Can we talk about something other than that?" She asked "Jess, you're starting to scare me. What has happened?"

"I certainly don't want to talk about it or let you know about it." Jessica responded "Why?" I asked, confused. "Because I know how you are, and I don't want you to be blaming yourself for something you didn't have." My fiancé assured, "But…" I began to protest, "But I'm not going to tell you anything, Santi, understand, I don't want to talk about that and that's it."

"Okay, let's not talk about it, but don't be angry, come on." I asked, trying to make her not so tense. "I'm not angry, I just… I just don't want to talk about it, that's all." She responded, "Then we won't talk about that," I said calmly. "I've heard you want to go home." Eric said with a big smile on his face. "I hate hospitals, so obviously I want to go home."

"I see the hospital's bad mood is here." He responded, laughing, "You can't expect anything else." She assured "The bad mood of the hospital? What's that?" I asked curiously "Ever since I met Jessica, she was always in a bad mood, she's clearly in a bad mood and in the hospital without knowing anything about her life, and then, whenever she came back for anything, she was in a bad mood, that's why the bad mood of the hospital."

Apparently, I had an explanation for Jessica being in a bad mood, at least a different one than the one I had in my head, but I'm not entirely convinced it's not my fault right now she's angry. "I'm not one for joking, Eric." Jess protested. "Okay, okay… How are you feeling?"

"I already told the doctor." She pointed out, "Haven't you kept something?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't hold anything back." the girl assured, "Santi, could you come out for a moment so I can talk to your fiancée?" He asked, focusing his gaze on me. "He doesn't have to come out, that's really just what happens to me."

"Likewise, I would like to be able to talk to you about something." He said, "Of what?" Jess asked, tensing again. "I wish he wasn't here" The man reported, "I don't care, you better tell me what's happening and that's it." snapped my fiancée "As you wish. I recently found out that Lucas came to Italy to look for you."

"But hadn't we lost track of that guy?" Jess asked. "We had, but apparently you appeared on everyone's television and he's here looking for you." Eric informed "I don't want him around my family." Jess said seriously. "And you won't have him, I'll take care of that." Eric assured, "I need you to tell Jackson, he must be aware of this. I want each member of the family to have at least one bodyguard and for both Santi and the kids have several."

"Who is Lucas? And why do we need so many bodyguards?" I asked confused "Okay, I'll tell him and leave you to talk to your fiancé about this." The man said, "Thank you, let it be as soon as possible." She asked, "I'll tell him right now."

With that, Eric left the room leaving me confused and not understanding anything they were talking about. As soon as the door closed, I turned in the direction of Jessica who at that moment is looking out the window.

"What's going on Jessica? Who is this, Lucas?" I asked, trying to understand what's happening. "According to him, my boyfriend." And with those words my whole world turns upside down and I end up sitting in the chair. This couldn't be happening to me, not now that everything is fine, and I had Jessica with me again.