I really enjoyed this story, which feels like a very realistic take on how Erik would behave in this kind of situation. His struggle to stay calm and control his thoughts in the first section are so intense and well-written, especially the moment when he makes the needles shake.

But I am a bit split there on Charles letting Erik go into the operation alone; I think that even if Erik didn't want him to, Charles would've understood how hard it would be for him and insisted on coming with him.

Very glad that Charles was at least there when he woke up. The conversation between them feels very in-character, but I do think the use of those two little exclamation points adds an awful lot of cheese and angst to the scene. Erik's voice is more likely to get low/growly when he's mad than venture into exclamation-point territory. Otherwise, wonderful work.