Green Pastures (Edited)

Chapter 12

Sameal didn't let go of my hand as I wandered down the empty hallway, in search of the nurses' station. We found it ten minutes and several turns later. No one turned to acknowledge us when we stopped at the counter.

"Can someone help me," I asked. No one acknowledged me.

Angry, I slammed my hand down on the counter, hard. "Can someone help me," I asked, loudly.

"What is it that you need, miss?"

"I need to speak with someone who can tell me what is going on with my Grandfather."

"We can't give you any information unless the doctor is present."

"Well, then get a damn doctor!" I didn't mean to be rude, but I had so many emotions going through me and I just wanted answers.

The nurse nodded and said, "I will call on someone right away. What is your Grandfathers name?"

I gave her his name and turned on my heels to walk away. Sameal, still holding my hand, followed me. We stopped outside my Grandpa's room. I knew I should go in, but I didn't want to. Instead, I turned my back to the wall and slid down it. Sameal looked down at me and said, "I'm going to go in and check on him. I'll be right back."

I nodded and watched him open the door and disappear. Now that I was alone, I had time to think. This was the first time I had been back in a hospital since the accident. I hated it. Th smell, the plain walls, the cold, and the empty hallways. I sat there for five minutes before a doctor walked up to me. Scrambling to my feet, I whipped out my hand and he grasped it, in a hand shake.

"I'm Isa'Bella Minders, Shaw's granddaughter."

"Hello, Isa'Bella. I'm Doctor Braddfurd. I have been in contact with your grandfathers Oncologist and we have decided that it's best for him to be on bedrest and oxygen from here on out. I assume that you are aware of his condition?"

"Yes. We've discussed it."

"Good. It is imperative that he receives as much care at home as possible. We cannot give you an exact timeline of how things will progress, but I can tell you that he has only a few months."

"Okay," I sighed. Only a few months.  "So, what exactly happened tonight?"

"His lungs are having a very hard time working now. The cancer is making it difficult for them to function like they should. He should have already been on oxygen."

"Did he know this?"

"I am not sure, but regardless, he will have a little longer now that he is on it."

"Thank you, Doctor Braddfurd!"

"Here is my number if he needs anything else. You call me, and I will do what I can." He pulled a business card from his pocket and handed it to me.

I slipped it into my back pocket and he turned to the room. Before he could turn the nob to open it, it opened and Sebastion stood in the doorway. He looked between the two of us and asked, "So, what's going on with him?"

Doctor Braddfurd motioned for him to come out and I walked into the room. Sameal sat in a chair beside Grandpa's bed and Grandpa was watching me walk across the floor to him. When I was close enough, he reached out and grabbed my hand. I squeezed it and said, in a small voice, "I'm sorry. For getting angry, I mean."

"It's alright, Girl. I understand."

"I love you, Grandpa."

"I love you, too."

 

I leaned down and kissed his forehead and he patted my back. We waited for the Doctor and Sebastion to come into the room and when they did, Doctor Braddfurd explained to Grandpa that he was to do as little as possible and to let us take care of him. He explained to the rest of us what we needed to do to keep him as well as possible. He ran through the treatments that Grandpa was to be given every day. When he was done, he left, and a nurse entered with Grandpa's discharge papers, medication, care instructions, and prescriptions. An hour later, Sameal was pushing Grandpa's wheelchair out to his truck. We stopped by the pharmacy and then went home.