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Chapter 116: White

The darkness seemed to be eternal and overpowering, but in the end, reality was stronger.

Roger woke up slowly, unable to open his right eye, and only halfway for his left eye. He could not move, and everything seemed fuzzy. He could not remember what had happened before waking, but he could at least remember most of the things up to the café.

He saw a dark shape in the corner of the room. Everything was white in that room, the sheets, the curtains, the walls, the lights. It felt oddly refreshing.

The shape grew, and once it got closer, it came into focus.

"He's awake," Greg said. He turned his head to look to the other side of the room, the side that the fox was blind to.

Hunter emerged from that side. He had been pacing around, it seemed. The closer he got, the clearer it became that he had been extremely worried. Roger felt ashamed that his condition had put his friend through such turmoil.

"They needed to give you some sedatives to transport you. The anti-inflammatory that you had taken was wearing off, and the tumor was beginning to shut down your body. They tried to slow down your heart rate so that you would not pump so much blood into it, but the anesthetic was making you vomit," the lion explained. "Your digestive tract was beginning to fail, so it evacuated itself. The nurse cleaned you up, though, not to worry there."

Roger felt his face flush with embarrassment a little, but it hurt. He winced, and then tried to speak, but no words came out. Instead, he mouthed the words at the lion. "How... long?" was all he could manage.

"Only a few hours. The doctor is still being flown in. It shouldn't be long now. You shouldn't move around, though. They did a bit of trepanning so the tumor could have a bit of room to exist, but it needs to come out immediately." The lion walked back to the seat and out of focus. The dark shape sat down. "Your parents should be here shortly. They have been messaging you, but you were out of it. The contents of your pocket were soiled, unfortunately, but I washed everything for you. Just your wallet and phone, right?"

Roger was about to answer, but the lion cut him off, "Don't answer that. It's best if you just remained as still as you possibly could be."

Hunter whimpered softly, and then sat in another chair directly next to the bed.

He felt so weak in that bed. He wiggled his fingertips and toes just to make sure he was not paralyzed.

A shape came into the room, lighter than the lion's shape. When it drew closer, he could see it was one of the nurses. She had the face of a rabbit, a bit older, wearing all white. There were blue, latex gloves. They were cold.

"He's awake," the lion told her.

Surprise came across her face, but it went away as quickly as it came. "He'll need to be put under again pretty soon. Dr. Cyril is almost here. I'm just going to grab the patient's records really quick, and I'll be back soon. Dr. Oscar should be in shortly, though."

She lightly put a cuff around his arm, a thermometer in his mouth, and a shined a light in his eyes. She had to manually open the right eye for him.

"His vitals are low, but if he just woke up, it would make sense. Temperature is normal. Eyes are normal except for the hemorrhaging, but that will go away. You two are free to stay here if you like, since his parents have yet to arrive." She took the equipment away from the fox gently, and then departed, a blurred shape.

He looked at the lion, confused. He mouthed out the word, "Hemorrhaging?"

The lion said, "Oh, yeah. A few blood vessels in your eyes burst and your sclera is filled with blood right now. It's not really much of an issue, it looks much worse than it actually is."

He felt something in his left paw. He saw that the wolf had put his own there. He tried his hardest to squeeze it, but he was so weak.

He saw a figure walk into view, also dressed in white. He saw the dark figure that was the lion stand up and greet him with a handshake.

He heard the new figure say, "I'm Dr. Oscar. I'm the anesthesiologist that will be working with Dr. Cyril. Normally patients see me before dealing with any anesthetics, but it seems our patient had a special urgency, from what I've read in his file. At least now I know not to use that one."

"Thank you for coming, doctor. I'm just a friend of his, my name is Greg. The wolf over there is Hunter, also a friend. His parents should be arriving shortly," the lion explained.

He turned and got closer to the fox and finally came into view. It was an elderly badger by his appearance. He said softly, "I'm going to ask you a few questions so I can properly identify what kind of anesthetic I should use. Is that okay?"

Roger attempted to speak, but all he could do was mouth out a word.

"Oh, he can't really speak right now. I can read his lips, though, so I'll let you know what he's saying," the lion said.

The badger had turned momentarily, but then turned back in agreement.

"Yes," he mouthed.

"Okay, Mr. Colton. Are you taking any herbal supplements? Are you allergic to anything?" the badger asked him, a clipboard in hand with a pen in his paw.

Roger mouthed out, "No, to both." It was painful to even move what he could.

"Are you taking any prescription medications?" the badger continued.

Once again, he mouthed out, "No."

"Do you smoke or drink?" was the next question.

"No," he mouthed to the lion.

"Have you ever taken, or are currently taking, any street drugs? I can ask the others to step out of the room if you need," he was asked.

"None," he mouthed. He wanted to cough, and it was beginning to hurt much more.

"Thank you for answering those questions. Just one more and I will be on my way, and a nurse will bring the proper documents for your parents to sign when they get here. Do you want to be awake or asleep during the surgery?" he asked gently. His voice was making Roger sleepy.

The option to stay awake frightened him. "Asleep," he mouthed to the lion, who relayed it.

The badger stepped back and marked a box on the clipboard. His figure faded into obscurity. He tried his hardest to squeeze the wolf's paw before he realized that it was no longer there.

The air was still and the room quiet. Most of the commotion had died down while they waited for his parents. He looked at Hunter and negative thoughts began to fill his mind. There was always a chance that he would not make it. He would have to leave Hunter behind.

His strength was fading rapidly, and he was drifting back to sleep. He gave the wolf one last look and mouthed, "I love you," before he fell asleep. He hoped that his message made it.