BEING HALSEY

CHAPTER 24

Dad's eyes are open when I reach him. He's lying on the floor, his right hand on his chest.

"Dad...look at me...say something." I gently lift his head up.

"Hal? Is that you?"

"Yes...it's me...Can you see me?" I ask, tears leaking from my eyes. I touch the back of his head. There's blood in his hair.

"Someone HELP ME PLEASE!" I shout and wipe the blood off my hands.

"Dad don't close your eyes."

I touch his head and feel a swelling.

"What's happening?"

"Oh thank God you're here Becca, call 911."

She grabs her phone and dials the number. She also gets me some ice. I gently place the bag of ice on my dad's head.

"My head hurts."

"Please hold on a little. The ambulance is on its way."

Minutes later, dad is lifted with a stretcher and into the ambulance. I hop in and squat beside him. We reach the hospital in no time and wheel him into the emergency room.

I leave the doctors to work on him and sit on the blue benches. Tray's shirt is soaked with blood. I pace back and forth, praying for good news.

The doctor comes out of the room, a brown cardboard on his hand.

"Your father is going to be fine. We did a CT scan and it turned out negative. He had a mild concussion."

I honestly don't know what all that means so I nod.

"Can he come home?"

"Yes, but he needs to be very still for the next few days. No sports of any kind."

"Sports?"

" He got hit by a baseball bat. If he experiences dizziness, headaches,blurred vision, dilated pupils, ringing in the ears, moodiness and drowsiness, bring him back immediately."

I nod and wish I had a notebook to take notes.

"I'll put all this in his discharge report."

Thank God!

An hour later we're sitted in cab heading back home. Dad is sitted right next to me, an ice pack stuck to his head. I keep glancing at him every ten seconds.

"Dad, the nurse said a small headache is okay but a bad one means trouble. If it gets high tell me okay?"

He nods.

Becca and Tray are waiting at the door with a dozen questions. They read the discharge summary at the kitchen table while I tuck my dad to bed. He's tired from all that rush and the medicine running through his veins. I head back to the kitchen and make myself a sandwich.

I'm starving.

"What happened?" Tray asks.

"I have no idea. I found him lying on the floor right after you dropped me. I couldn't think of anything so I called out for help and Becca heard me. She's my angel. Thank you so much!"

" I'm glad I helped. So how's he now?" Becca asks.

" I think he's fine. Just a little cranky and sleepy."

~•~•~•~

I step out of the warm shower and dry my hair. I quickly get dressed and head over to check on dad. I peep on his door and find him sleeping soundly. I walk over and peck his forehead, " I Love you dad."

An hour later I'm woken up by the flashing of a toilet. It's 3.30am. I run all the way to the bathroom and find him vomiting. He's showing all the signs, dizzy, ringing of ears and blurry vision.

In less than ten minutes we're walking into the ER. Tray helping the nurses to push the stretcher as I hand over the discharge papers and the CT scan. {Tray slept in his car just in case I needed his help.} The ER physician does a quick exam and finds everything wrong. Dad has a slow heart rate, unequal pupils and drowsiness.

Both Tray and I sleepwalk to the ER waiting room. Too numb and terrified to say anything to each other. The hallway is empty but gives an impression of having survived a rough night. Empty soda cans, newspapers on the floor and candy wrappers on the tables.

I wonder how many others have sat here in a daze waiting for the doctors to appear and deliver bad news.

I hold Tray's hand and pray for a long time. Then back and forth in a soft voice. I give Tray Polly's number since I forgot my phone and he informs her of everything and promises to call again if something new comes up. The doctor comes and we both stand up.

" Doc, how's my dad?"

" Your father has a fracture of the skull. It looks like someone hit him behind the head causing him to fall and damage the skull. The bone is cracked and alot of blood has accumulated in there. It has caused a blood clot which has grown and increased pressure inside the skull. The only treatment right now is to remove the clot by opening the brain.

"Oh my God!" I cover my mouth and burst into tears.

"Please listen." The doctor says, " We need to get an air ambulance and fly him over to University Medical Center."

"The patient is deteriorating." The ER physician shouts from the Emergency room. " You need to take a look."

The doctor runs to the room with me behind him. Tray grabs my arm and hugs me tight. I slap his chest to let me go but he holds me and let's me cry and cry until I'm drained.

"He's going to die Tray...." I sob. "My dad is going to leave me." I bury my face deeper into his black hoodie and hold him tighter.

Tray rubs my back and kisses my hair.

"No he won't. I won't let that happen."

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