Thanksgiving

Chapter 15

"She's been asleep for about 5 or 6 hours."

"How was she when she was awake?"

"She seemed as good as can be expected. She didn't say anything about pain and then 'boom' she was grabbing for the button."

"Do you know who put the tube in her foot?"

"They made me leave the room for that."

"It got infected."

"I could tell. They just took it out not long before you got here."

"Have you seen the doctor?"

"He was in not long after she fell asleep. He seemed relatively ok with how it looked."

"Sweetheart... when did you sleep last?"

"Mom, I'm fine."

"You're not doing anyone any good if you're running on fumes. Your children need a parent at home."

"My wife needs me here."

"Bring in Kate or let me stay and sit with her. She just needs someone to keep her company. Have you called her mom?"

"Shit, no. And she was supposed to call Ray this morning about coming for Thanksgiving."

"Thanksgiving? I don't think she's going to be home for Thanksgiving."

"I'm seeing that."

I finally find enough energy to open my eyes. "Christian? Grace?" I look at the two standing at the foot of the bed. Christian's mom, Grace, is still in her doctor's coat. She looks like she's had a long day. Working all day and then coming to see me? She's a saint. She's a pediatrician and I trust her opinion in all things medical. Christian looks tired and worried with his arms crossed at his chest, his hair is a floppy mess.

Christian comes to my side quickly and sits on the edge of the bed. "Baby, that pain medicine hits you like a brick. How does your foot feel?"

"It's throbbing a bit. But it's tolerable right now. How does it look?" I pull the sheet back and see it's still oddly colored and the area where the tube was is covered by a single large bandage. The skin surrounding it is an angry red. "Where's the tube?"

"They decided to just take it out and see how the antibiotics do with the rest of the infection, sweetheart. The location was infected," says Dr. Grey as she points to the bandage.

I bend my knee and bring my foot up to have a closer look. "All I did was slam it into the flipping bed." I touch it gingerly to see where it hurts the most. I flinch when I get a couple inches from my toes.

"Honey, Christian is going to go home and get some rest."

"Don't put words in my mouth, mother."

"It's ok, you can go," I say it, not meaning it, but I know he needs his rest.

"I can sit with you if you want, sweetheart," says Grace. I love her to death but she's a bit much to handle sober – I can only imagine her when I'm feeling drugged.

"You don't have to do that, ma'am." This time I mean it. "If you can just get me some real food, I'll be good."

"I'll make sure you get some good stuff, baby. No more liquid meals," Christian says as he leans over and kisses me lightly on my lips. "They're hoping to do surgery on Friday, so you're going to be here a while."

"Stupid question, what day is it?"

Christian smiles. "That's not a stupid question at all. It's 12:30 Tuesday morning."