Make it Right

Chapter 28

The clock on the wall of the waiting room reads 8:32 PM. Josh has been waiting in the waiting room for the past four hours with no news. He has been up to the nurse's station several times to enquire about your status and the only answer he gets is, "Your wife is still in surgery. We will let you know if anything changes."

Now he sits. His right leg bounces up and down fast; it feels like the leg has a mind of its own and it, too, is anxious and worried. Josh think, "Is there any actual next of kin that I need to call?" When this thought hits him, he looks through your contact on your phone once again. Your contact list is relatively short. There's no one that has the same last name as you and no way for Josh to tell if anyone on that list is family.

While he is sitting in the waiting room, he hears over the intercom, "Code Blue. Code Blue, ER trauma, room four. Code Blue. Code Blue, ER trauma, room 4." Josh has watched enough medical dramas to know exactly what "Code blue" means. He feels panic rising in his center yet again. Josh tries to remember if they ever told him what room you were going into, but he has no recollection. Unable to sit any longer, he runs back up to the nurse's station and asks, "I'm sorry but can you tell me what room she is in?" 

The one sympathetic nurse says, "Sir, the code blue wasn't for her. She is in room six. And looks like they brought her into the OR couple of hours ago. You been here quite a long time. Would you like to go and grab some food? I really couldn't tell you when she'll be out of surgery, but I don't think it'll be in the next 30 minutes. Or if you'd like to go home, we'll call you as soon as we have any news." 

Josh tells the nurse, "No.  I'm okay. I can't leave her." He feels his eyes welling up with tears again. He tells the nurse, "Please let me know as soon as there is any change or news. I would be truly grateful."

The nurse pat's Josh's hands and says, "We will." Josh thinks, "Where is JK coming from? Is he even in the states? What if he is overseas somewhere? He won't be here for hours. What if something goes wrong? What if I have to break the news to him? Ahh... Let's not worry about that."

As Josh decides to get his third cup of black coffee, a woman dressed in a green surgical gown under a white lab coat comes into the waiting room. She asks Josh if he is here for you. The woman introduces herself as Dr. Marciano. She says to Josh, that you were in pretty bad shape when you first arrived, but that there are three different sets of surgeons working on getting you back together. Dr. Marciano tells Josh that your lower limbs were broken in 6 different places, 4 broken ribs, broken pelvis, broken left collarbone, and some injuries to her organs. She also tells Josh that in terms of neurological damage, she won't know until things progress. But she does tell Josh that her skull wasn't fractured, but she is expecting severe concussive symptoms.

Dr. Mariano says, "It's odd. It was like the driver of the car was aiming for her. The injuries that your wife sustained indicates that no effort was made to stop the car. It was like the driver didn't even see her at all or was going to just drive through her."

Dr. Marciano continues, "I expect that she will be in surgery for another two to three hours, so you should go and get some food and rest. We'll call you once there's any news."

Josh thanks the surgeon and says, "I'm okay. I don't want to leave her alone. I mean, I don't want her to be without me."

Dr. Marciano replies, "I get it. If it was my husband, I couldn't leave either. What I can do is have someone bring you some food and drinks. Hang in there."

So, Josh sits and waits. As Dr. Marciano promised, one of the nurse's assistants brings you a tray of food and water. At this point, Josh has been in the hospital for almost six hours. He thinks, "When the hell is JK getting here? She is going to need him. If she wakes up and he isn't here, she will be devastated." He eats what he can off the tray and sits there with his head in his hands.