Careless Mistake
by Kelli
Part 41
Early January 2005.......
"I don't need a doctor," Britney said through clenched teeth as Justin paced the floor.
"You're lucky I just don't take you straight to the emergency room," he said, stopping in front of her.
He dropped to his knees and knelt down in front of her.
"What can I do to lesson the pain? Does it help if you lay back?" he asked, taking one of her hands.
She shook her head and curled up into a ball. "Nothing helps," she cried.
He rubbed her back and jumped up when there was a knock on the door.
"Hi," he said when he answered it.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Ruiz," the doctor said, holding out his hand.
Justin shook it. "I'm Justin Timberlake....my wife, Britney, is over here," he said, taking a step back into the room and holding out his arm toward the couch.
The doctor walked over to the couch and knelt down. "Hello Britney, I'm Dr. Ruiz.....tell me what's wrong?"
Justin stood behind the doctor with his hands on his hips and worry on his face.
"Really bad stomach ache," she said, looking at the doctor.
"Where?" he asked.
She pointed to her side.
"Okay, you'll need to stretch out for me," he said as he removed a thermometer from his bag.
He reset it and put it in her mouth.
"Nod when I push the spot where it hurts the most, okay?"
She nodded.
He started to push different spots on her stomach and the closer he got to her right side the more she squeezed her eyes shut and nodded. When pressed down too hard on one spot she said, "Ow, dammit," with the thermometer still in her mouth.
"Sorry," he said.
The thermometer beeped and he took it out of her mouth and looked at it.
He stood up and mostly looked at Justin as he spoke. "I don't have the proper equipment to diagnose her but she probably has appendicitis and my suggestion is to get to the hospital right away."
"My appendix?" Britney asked.
"Will she have to have it removed?" Justin asked.
"We'll see. Here's my card. The driver here should know where the hospital is. I'll meet you both there."
He started walking toward the door and Justin followed him and showed him out.
"Thank you," he said shaking his hand before closing the door behind him.
Britney was still laying on the couch and she had her face covered with the back of her hand.
"Brit....."
"On our honeymoon," she said through quiet tears.
He sat down next to her and rubbed her arms.
"It's okay....I just want you to get better," he said before leaning down and kissing her cheek.
"Yeah, I'm just waiting for the tests to be done," Justin told Lynne as he waited in the waiting room at the hospital. "No, they gave her something to help with the pain."
"Good. Oh I can't believe this happened while you guys were away, like this.....and on your honeymoon," Lynne said.
"It's okay as long as she's going to be fine," Justin said.
"And she will be."
"Oh, here comes the doctor. I'll call you when I find out more."
"Okay. Tell her I love her."
"I will. Bye."
He hung up the phone and stood up when the doctor approached.
"Justin, considering your circumstances of being here on vacation, I feel the best choice right now is to remove Britney's appendix. If she were at home there are a couple of things we could do to try to bring down the inflammation but I don't want to take the chance of letting her go home like this...."
Justin rubbed his forehead. "Have you told Britney this?"
"Not yet."
"How long will we have to stay here before we can go back home after the surgery?"
"We'll have to play it by ear. Usually I don't want any heavy activity for a little over a week but if I feel she can travel without any other exertion then you might be able to leave before that. I understand you have a daughter you want to get back home to."
"Yeah, we do. If you don't mind calling our doctor back home and talking to him about this. I think it would make me feel a lot better if I talk to him about this after you do," Justin said handing him a piece of paper with a name and number on it. Dr. Ruiz looked at it and nodded.
"Sure, I understand. I'll let the two of you decide. I can schedule the surgery later this afternoon if you decide to go through with it," he said, patting Justin on the shoulder. "I'll be back in a little bit to find out your decision."
"Thank you."
Justin walked back into Britney's room. She was laying there with her eyes closed but opened them when she heard footsteps.
"Hey," she said.
"Hi," he said sitting down next to her on the bed. He took her hand and rested it on his leg.
"What did the doctor say?"
"He recommends surgery. I gave him Dr. Phillips' number so we can talk to him about all of this after Dr. Ruiz talks to him."
"Why surgery? Isn't there anything else they can do?" Britney said. She was starting to get upset.
He squeezed her hand. "There is but since we're only here for vacation and would really like to get back home he feels the safest thing to do is to remove your appendix."
"How long do I have to stay here for recovery?" she asked, wiping her eyes.
"He said we'd play it by ear. If you take it really easy we might go home on schedule," he whispered with a forced smile.
"I don't see why I can't just leave today and have Dr. Phillips take a look at me. I feel okay right now, Justin," she said.
"Brit.....it's a long flight. What if something happened to you while we were in the air?"
He touched her cheek and wiped away the tears.
"I know."
She sniffed.
The doctor returned and they told him to go ahead.
"I did talk to your doctor, if you'd like to give him a call now," Dr. Ruiz said. "The nurse will be in shortly to start preparation for surgery."
He left the room and Justin talked to Dr. Phillips. When he hung up he looked at Britney.
"He agrees with Dr. Ruiz. He also looked him up and said he's got good credentials so you're going to be in good hands," he said leaning down closer to her.
He kissed her cheek.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"What for?" He furrowed his eyebrows.
"For ruining this perfect trip.....our honeymoon."
"Heyyyy, you didn't ruin anything. The only thing I want in life is for you and Mackenzie to be safe and healthy and that's what we're going to do, okay?"
She nodded and started to cry again.
He stretched out next to her and pulled her into his arms.
"I'll be in the waiting room the whole time, praying for you."
She nodded.
"I want to talk to mama," she said.
He reached over and dialed the Spears' home.
"Hello?"
"Hi mama," Britney said.
"Hey baby. How are you doing?"
"They're going to remove my appendix."
"Oh, baby....you're going to be just fine, though."
"I know."
"I'm sure you've got a good doctor and Justin's there by your side."
Britney nodded and rested her head against Justin's chest.
"Yeah, but I miss my baby," she said, starting to cry harder again.
Justin rubbed Britney's back a little and kissed the top of her head.
"Of course you do but remember, the quicker you recover, the quicker you can see her. So you need to take care of yourself and take it easy after the operation, okay? Let Justin take care of you."
"I will, mama. He usually does anyway," she said, looking into his eyes with her watery ones.
He kissed the top of her nose.
When the nurse walked in, Britney told her mom goodbye and Justin got up out of the bed.
Once Britney was prepped for surgery and just about to be pushed down to the operating room Justin leaned down so he was face to face with her and said, "I love you."
"I love you too," she said, touching his cheek.
"Think positive thoughts. Think about our beautiful angel back home and about us."
She nodded. "I will."
He kissed her one more time before they wheeled her out of the room.
He sat down on the chair and rubbed his face in both of his hands and started praying.
"Mr. Timberlake?" the doctor said, waking him up after dozing off in the waiting room.
"Yes," he said, standing up slowly.
"Your wife is in recovery right now and will be wheeled to her room in about an hour," Dr. Ruiz said. "Everything went fine," he answered before Justin could ask.
"Good," he said with a sigh of relief.
"You might want to wait here and the nurse will get you as soon as Britney's in her room."
"Okay, thanks."
Justin sat in the chair next to the bed and took his sleeping wife's hand. He lifted it to his lips and kissed the back of it and held it there while he stared at her.
She looked beautiful, even laying there after just having surgery.
He picked up the phone and dialed his mother-in-law's but got the answering machine.
"Hi mom, I just wanted to let you know that Brit's out of surgery and everything went well. She's sleeping right now. I'll call you later."
He hung up and dialed his mom.
"Hello?"
"Hey mom," he said, rubbing his forehead.
"Hey sweetie. How's Britney?"
"She's fine. She was just wheeled back to her room and the doctor said everything went well."
"Good."
He smiled when he could hear his daughter in the background.
"Put Mackenzie's ear to the phone for me," he said.
"Come here sweetie. You want to talk to daddy?" Lynn asked.
"Da da?"
Justin smiled more.
"Yes, da da.....okay, go ahead Justin."
"Hey there angel. Are you being good for grandma? Your mommy and daddy love you so much and we'll be there really soon."
He heard her breathing into the phone and then his mother spoke. "She just kept staring at the phone," she giggled.
"Yeah, she does that," he smiled, thinking about the many times that he put the phone up to Mackenzie's ear to hear Britney's voice.
Britney started to stir.
"Mom, Britney's waking up so I'm going to let you go."
"Okay....I love you and tell her we love her and we're praying for a quick recovery so you can come home."
"Thanks mom. I love you too. Give Mackenzie a huge kiss from her mommy and daddy."
"Will do, bye."
"Bye."
He hung up the phone and looked back over at Britney.
She blinked a little before she completely opened her eyes. It took her a second to focus.
"Hey," Justin smiled.
"Hi," she said, as she tried to lick her dry lips.
"You want water?" Justin asked, reaching over for the pitcher.
"Yes, please," she said.
She looked around the room and smiled when she saw the bouquet of roses.
"They're beautiful," she said.
He smiled as he leaned over and held the straw to her lips.
"Thank you," she said after taking a sip.
"You're welcome."
He set the cup down and stayed close to her. He started to stroke her cheek with his thumb.
"Everything go okay, I guess?" she asked softly.
He nodded.
"Very well....now all you have to do is rest and get stronger quickly."
She reached up and touched the bags under his eyes.
"You're so tired. Why don't you go get some sleep...."
"I will, just as soon as I know you're resting well."
"It won't be long," she smiled. "I can't keep my eyes open."
"Then don't."
He leaned up and kissed her on both cheeks and then gently on the lips.
"Where are you going to sleep tonight?" she asked as she yawned.
"I'm going to try to stay here," he said, brushing the hair away from her face. "If the nurses let me."
"You can't sleep on the chair....you won't get any sleep that way," she started to protest.
"See that bed over there?" he nodded.
"Yes."
"I'll sleep there. I'm paying for a private room the least they can do is let me sleep in the other bed."
She smiled and closed her eyes as she wrapped one of her arms through his. "Good.....I love you," she mumbled.
"I love you too," he whispered against her ear.