If only it had been a knee-jerk reaction at some other time, because Herc already feels like he's going to cry, and her sympathy isn't helping matters at all.
Except in the way that it does, apparently, because her hand slides down his arm to find his and he pulls it out of his jacket pocket so she can slip her fingers between his and he can clutch at her, desperately clinging to his friend in an attempt to draw strength from her. Max is the closest thing Herc will ever have to a grandson, even though he's just a dog, and seeing him lying on the steel surgery table with an IV line slipped under his skin and a surgical drape covering most of his head makes him want to slide down to the floor.
He manages to stand upright for the whole of the surgery, back stiff, head held high, face completely blank. He stood tall as he listened to his son die, he can stand tall through this.
But then the surgery is over and a tumor the size of a lima bean is sitting innocuously in a dish by the wayside, and he's told all they can do now is wait and see. And now he doesn't know what to do.
no subject
Except in the way that it does, apparently, because her hand slides down his arm to find his and he pulls it out of his jacket pocket so she can slip her fingers between his and he can clutch at her, desperately clinging to his friend in an attempt to draw strength from her. Max is the closest thing Herc will ever have to a grandson, even though he's just a dog, and seeing him lying on the steel surgery table with an IV line slipped under his skin and a surgical drape covering most of his head makes him want to slide down to the floor.
He manages to stand upright for the whole of the surgery, back stiff, head held high, face completely blank. He stood tall as he listened to his son die, he can stand tall through this.
But then the surgery is over and a tumor the size of a lima bean is sitting innocuously in a dish by the wayside, and he's told all they can do now is wait and see. And now he doesn't know what to do.