Waiting for a loved one in recovery is as nerve wrecking as watching wrestling

JESSIE’s POV

Waiting for mom’s surgery to be over felt like an eternity. The minutes were longer, the hours were unbearable.

Uncle Sam and I sat in the stiff plastic chairs just outside the operating room, the fluorescent lights buzzing as loud as my thoughts.

I tried to distract myself by counting the tiles on the floor, but my mind kept drifting back to mom.

I didn’t even want to think for one second that she wouldn’t make it.

Minutes turned into hours. Every time the doors swung open, my heart would leap, only to come crashing down.

Uncle Sam tried to keep me calm, but he wasn’t doing a good job either. He was visibly shaking and seeing him like that tightened the knot in my chest even tighter.

Finally one of the doctors emerged, his face grim.

I jolted to my feet, my pulse racing. As the head surgeon approached us, I could see the cloud of concern around him before he even spoke.

“Jessie…” he started, “We’ve done everything we can, but there’s a chance your mother might not mak