Shouldn't Have Dealt - Book II

Chapter 9 - Stopwatch

Chapter 9 – Stopwatch

 Pacing back and fro the corridor of the ICU complex, I wait for anyone from the medical team to come out of the sliding door. Mom is sitting on the benches, trying to control her tears, and being consoled by Ray who immediately came after I told him what happened.

“Angel, you should sit down,” Ray says. “Do you guys want anything?”

“No, Ray.” I reply while flexing my legs. However, before I could even sit down, the glass door slides to the left, and Eric Martin appears in his blue lab gown and face mask. Watching Eric emerge from the hospital door seems like a slow motion of debris falling—either the debris will hit me on the head to cause a total knockout or penetrate my heart to cause it to bleed and stop beating. Just the thought of him talking about Dad’s immediate condition is an absolute horror.

“How is Dad?” I ask, my voice trembling. Mom stands up and trails behind me.

Eric removes the mask from his face. He isn’t smiling.

“Sarah,” he turns to Mom, gently reaching for her hand. “George is awake and is looking for you. He will be fine now.”

 A sigh of relief escapes Mom’s windpipe, and then she hurries to the ICU as soon as she gets the gist.

“I think I should follow Mrs. Mohr.” I hear him utter before he walks to the ICU entrance. I guess Ray feels that Eric needs the time alone with me to discuss important things.

“Ms. Mohr.” He leads me to the corner where we would not be blocking the way. “George will need a lot of rest. Any form of stress and strain is not advisable. Whatever happened prior to the attack, I hope it doesn’t happen again. We do not know how George will be able to tolerate another heart attack.”

“How serious is it?”

“Well, it is serious. His heart now is affected and we can’t get away with it. All we can do is to prevent another attack.”

I cross my arms against each other.

“A new kidney will not make him better, won’t it?”

“The kidney may alleviate his situation. We just need to see how he will do with a new one.”

“Do you mean you’re not even sure if…” My tears surge down my cheeks.

“Angel,” Eric interrupts. “This was all possible if we had the kidney before the heart attack happened. Even if we have a new kidney, there’s no assurance that George will not have another one.”

I fall into silence.

“Listen carefully, we’ll proceed with the transplant once we secure a kidney, and we’ll take from there how George will make improvements.”

Still no assurance, eh?

“Where are we on the list, Eric?”

“I’ll have my secretary check on the list, Angel. I guess we’ll not take long to get to the top,” Eric replies while he reaches for the stethoscope that is hanging on a pole near the wall. His gaze at me lasts for a couple of seconds before he states, “I better get going now,” uncomfortably, shrugging his arms.

“Okay.” I croak.

He nods stiffly, then turns away from me and heads to the nurse’s station which is just around the corner.

I hear Dad’s giggle as I enter the room. Mom is holding Dad’s hand while whispering something in his ears. Ray is on the bench reading a magazine. It’s almost two in the morning, and all four of us are awake. I suppose Ray and I should go home, and leave Mom her to stay with Dad. And in the morning, I’ll come back with Dad’s things.