“Go on, ring it!” I say as Dillon stares at the bell on the wall like it contains the secrets to life.
His hand reaches out, shaking, and he grabs onto the string and slams the metal ball against the side. Everyone cheers, the nurses, the doctors, but especially my family. Everyone is hollering, whistling and this time, I’m not crying.
My cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Dillon is ringing the hell out that bell, and he doesn’t seem to want to stop anytime soon. Doctor Gladstone is smiling too. Happy faces all around. Even Maggie. She made a special trip to see his ceremony.
Without her, none of this would have happened.
The bell finally stops ringing, and Dillon runs to me, arms spread, and I wrap my arms around him, swinging him back and forth. “I’m so fucking proud of you, Dillon.”
“You said a bad word,” he scolds.
“I think for right now, it’s okay to say.”
“Can I say that I finally fucking beat cancer?” he asks with big eyes.
Finley chuckles, and Heaven sticks out his bottom lip and gives me a supportive nod.
“Okay, but just this once because you did beat cancer.”
He tilts his head back and screams, “I fucking beat cancer!” and throws his fist in the air. There’s roar of laughter and another round of applause. There are a few judgmental patients looking our way since I allowed my kid to curse, but fuck them.
They have no idea how monumental today is. He did fucking beat cancer, and after everything—the sickness, the hopelessness, the fear, if the kid wants to say the word fuck, I’m going to let him.
But just this one time.
“That was awesome,” he says, red in the face from all the cheering and yelling.
I point a finger at him. “No more cursing. That was your wild card, okay?”
“Yes, sir.” He giggles. His eye fall to Maggie. “Maggie!” He wiggles to be let down, and I drop him to his feet, and he runs over to her with his arms wide.
I stand next to Doctor Gladstone and cross my arms. “Thank you for saving his life, for dealing with things you typically wouldn’t have to deal with.” I hold out my hand in a grateful gesture. “He wouldn’t be here without you.”
He meets my palm with his and squeezes. “Just doing my job. I’m happy. I don’t see this near enough,” he says on a long, tired sigh. “It gets draining.”
“I bet. I don’t know how you do this every day,” I say.
“Well, this. This is the reason.” He juts his chin toward Dillon. “All these happy faces. This little boy is going to grow up happy and healthy. All the sadness is terrible, but then there’s that rare percentage that survives, and the feeling is so damn good. It makes me never want to stop being a doctor.”
“Well, you’re more than welcome to work for us whenever you want,” Jaxon says. “You can move in and work part-time and keep your job at the hospital. I’d hate to see your patients lose an incredible doctor.”
“I’ll think about it,” he says. “Thank you.” He turns his wrist over and pushes his foot off the wall. “I have a patient to go see. I’ll see you guys around later,” he says, his white coat floating behind him like a cape. A true superhero.
“So I’m not trying to rain on anyone’s parade, but Richard is asking questions, and he’s searching for Heaven. He isn’t going to stop until he gets him either,” Zeke says through a tight smile, watching Dillon hug the nurses.
Dillon stayed with us as long as he could, but was admitted into the hospital again for the transplant. It was better that way. He had round-the-clock care. And in that time, he became very close with the nurses. They love him to pieces too.
“Well, they are going to have to go through us,” Owen says.
“I swear I didn’t fuck his daughter,” Heaven states, scratching the area above where his cast stops.
“Bet you a hundred bucks you did. Maybe you need to learn to keep it in your pants.”
“You keep it in your pants, Sebastian!” Heaven throws back at him.
“He better not,” Gabriella wraps her arms around Sebastian’s waist and cuddles her cheek against his back.
“Hey, Sebastian?” Finley asks from the nook of my arm.