My heart beat fast as I heard cough after cough. I could see my dad's room down the hall, and as I grew closer it got louder.

A week earlier my dad was having major knee pain, so like any rational person he went to the doctor. When he was at the the doctor's office he got x-rays. I remember waiting to get the text “what could it be” I thought to myself. As I waited anxiously, I began to get worried. I was thinking of how great a dad he is, and how much he’s done for me. I was truly scared. Although to most people a knee surgery isn’t a big deal, my five-year-old mind thought of it as life or death. But would it really come down to that?

After the torture of waiting for an answer, my Dad was finally home. He told us all about what was going on and what would happen. He had six bone spurs on his knees, and needed dual knee replacements!
It was about 8:30 and I had just finished my dinner. I heard “Greyson come upstairs I have something to show you” as my dad yelled down to me. I ran up the stairs. As I entered my parents’ room I saw my mom disgustedly staring at my dad’s Ipad. I slowly walked toward to him wondering what he was going to show me. As I layed down next to him, he laughed at my mom’s expressions and restarted the video. It was a video of his surgery. They ripped open the knee. There was blood everywhere and I could see tissue and muscle. I wanted to puke. As my stomach rumbled, I could feel my just eaten food slowly moving up my throat, but I kept watching because I knew my dad wouldn’t let me leave until it was over.


A few days later it was time for the surgery. I was scared yet couldn’t do anything. He went into the hospital. As we waved goodbye, I wanted to stay with him throughout the surgery, but since it was a school day, my mom would never let me skip school. The surgery only took one day while I was at school, my dad had to stay in the hospital for much longer. That day, I missed him at home and everywhere I went. I wasn’t sure how it went and if he was ok, but luckily we got to visit every day. I longed for the time he would finally come home, so we would visit him everyday, bring him some snacks and check in on how he was doing. Knowing that wasn’t enough. I wanted my dad back!


It was Monday night and I was eager to see Dad but I didn’t know what was ahead. As I walked into the hospital, I heard the loudest cough I ever heard. At first I thought nothing of it. As we kept walking to the back of the hospital where my dad was, weirdly the cough got louder and louder. The noise rung in my ear over and over and it began to get to me. “Is it Dad” I thought. My eyes started tearing up and I didn’t know what to do. I saw my dad’s room, so I peeked in. I bursted into tears and thought what was happening?! I though is my dad dying? Would I ever speak to him again? People were staring at me. I thought I was making a scene but I didn’t care. I heard a sudden silence, not only from me but from everyone, including my dad. I looked in and he was breathing. As I walked in I didn’t know what to say or do. Later that night before I left the hospital, my dad told us about what happened. The doctors had been taking extra precautions and gave my dad extra oxygen that he didn’t need. A sudden anger grew over me “WHAT WERE THE DOCTORS THINKING!!!”