Robbie came flying through the barn door and dropped beside Luke, "Oh honey, what happened?" Luke smiled up at his wife, "I don't know. I woke up and Sam was beside me." She took his hand and rubbed it so hard, Luke pulled it away. "This dizziness in my head feels funny." he said. Sam didn't like the color of his skin, it was extremely pale, almost gray. Hearing the siren, she went out to meet the Rescue Squad. She waved them over to the barn and waited at the door for them. Terry McCloud was the first one to the door and Sam was grateful that she was on duty today. Terry was a certified paramedic and everyone counted on her when help was needed, the hospital was forty minutes away. Terry greeted Sam and went to Luke, beginning the process of evaluating his condition right away, with a comforting manner, making him feel more relaxed.
Robbie and Sam stood together and waited. After a few minutes, Terry told them he needed to be transported to the hospital. Robbie looked at her and asked if he would be alright. "Robbie, you and Sam follow us. We'll take good care of him." Terry told her, not actually answering her question. Sam took her mother to the house to grab keys and her purse, they would need the medical cards at the hospital. Robbie didn't quite know how to react, she wanted to cry, but felt that would only make things worse, so she hurried and got her things together and saved the tears for later. Robbie stayed in the background most of the time, quietly taking care of things without much fuss about it. But when the going got tough, she was ready to take charge and do what was needed with authority.
On the road both women were silent. There was little that could be said until they knew more. Sam had called Tim and he would meet them at the hospital. Robbie still wanted to cry, but held back her tears by twisting a tissue constantly in her hands. Sam gritted her teeth, while all the possiblities of how an illness could effect the ranch, ran through her head. The possibility of losing her father loomed into her thoughts as well and Sam felt short of breath, she had never been faced with the possibility of losing someone she loved. They arrived at the emergency room entrance and hurried through the automatic doors. Sam thought it was a good thing they were automatic, because she felt weak and out of sink with her limbs. Her mother's tennis shoes didn't make a sound on the tiled floors as she walked to the nurses station and asked about her husband. They were told to take a seat in the waiting room.
Robbie took a seat close to the door's that would take her back to her husband, hoping each time they opened, that it would bring news of him. She was disappointed many times as the minutes dragged by, with no news. Finally, Sam went back to the desk to ask for any information she could get. A new person was seated at the desk and smiled up to her. "It's just that it's been so long, I'm starting to worry about my mother too now, she needs to see him." she told the woman. "Come with me." she told Sam, leaving the desk and striding toward the forbidden doors. Sam grabbed her mom's hand and they went through the door's that had been closed to them for over an hour now, at a rapid pace. Not far into the hallowed curtained rooms, her father laid in a bed, appearing to be resting. The nurse left them and Robbie took Luke's hand in hers. "Honey, can you hear me?" she asked him weakly.
Before Luke could answer a woman in a doctor's coat, threw the curtain shut on them, with such a sudden motion, Robbie almost lost her balance. "I'm Dr. Mathes. Your husband?" she asked with unecessasary curtness. Robbie nodded, unable to speak. "He's resting now and we have him on a monitor. It seems he had a mild heart attack, but he should be fine. We'll start him on meds and keep him here at least overnight." she said so matter of factly, Sam wasn't sure if the news was good or bad. The doctor turned to leave them without another word and Robbie laid her hand on the doctor's arm. "Tell me, what does this mean? Is he going to have a full recovery or what?" "I will discuss all of this with you before he goes home, I have another patient to see now. Excuse me." the doctor said and headed out the double doors in a hurry.
Robbie turned to Sam, "I'll be back minute hon, stay here." Sam saw a very determined look in her mother's eyes and nodded. Shortly, Robbie returned to the room with a mature looking man with her. "Sam, this is Dr. Herndon, he is taking over your father's care." The doctor reached out his hand and Sam shook it, "Thank you." she said to him. "Ladies, I want to run a few more tests and get a full eval on Luke. Ahh, Luke, glad you're awake. I'm Dr. Herndon and I'll be taking care of you. How do you feel?" he asked warmly. Luke tried to sit up in the bed and the doctor told him to just lie still. "I don't rightly know doc. Fuzzy, yep, I feel fuzzy all over. That's the best way I can describe it to you." Luke said weakly, looking to the doctor for answers. "Don't worry, that's to be expected when you have an episode like this. I'm going to order some tests Luke, will that be ok with you?" Dr. Herndon asked, with his hand laying on Luke's arm. Luke nodded and glanced over to Robbie. She nodded and smiled at him, assuring him that things would be alright now.
Sam walked out with the doctor and asked him, "Is it really a heart attack? I didn't think that feeling dizzy was part of that, and he hasn't said that he's in pain." Dr. Herndon turned her toward the hallway he needed to turn down, "It could be, but none of the tests have come back yet. Don't worry, I have ordered all the tests to determine the extinct of any damage. The meds are kicking in now, and he is resting comfortably, so that's a really good sign." He smiled at Sam in such a way, she relaxed and felt better. "How did you come to be his doctor?" Sam asked, unable to resist knowing how her mother had accomplished this feat. "You mother and I are old friends. We dated in High School as a matter of fact. When she popped into my office, I was delighted to take your father's case. I will be checking on...other things as well. I am head of cardiology, so all the the doctors here, answer to me." he winked at Sam, letting her know he did not approve of the other doctor's attitude.
Sam went to the cafeteria to get coffee and a bite to eat for her mother and herself. She glanced at her watch and realized that Tim should have been here by now. Forgetting the coffee, she exited through one of the many doors leading to the outside of the hospital and called his cell. Straight to voice mail. She tried Salena's and got no answer there either. Sam looked at her watch and realized that it had been several hours since she made the call to Tim, and he should have been here long ago. Pacing along the sidewalk, trying to figure out what to do, she looked out into the parking lot and recognized Ned's truck parked out there. It wasn't hard to recognize because of the large untility boxes on the back. Sam headed toward the truck, but before she got to it, Ned called out to her. Turning around she saw him sprinting towards her. "Sam, anything wrong?" he asked catching up to her. "It's Dad. He may have had a heart attack." she told him with tears falling onto her cheek. Ned put his arm around her, "I'm so sorry. Let me help, tell me what you need?"
After some time of sitting in Ned's truck with a box of tissues in her hand, Sam felt stronger. Ned told her he would go back to town and find Tim for her. He was sure that nothing was wrong, but he would call her soon. Sam joined her mother again in the tiny room her father was in. He was resting and Sam told her mother to come down and have a bite to eat with her. Once they were seated at a table with the cold sandwiches and coffee eaten, they both felt a little better and Sam told her mother that Ned went to look for Tim. Robbie almost lost it, thinking that something could have happened to Tim today. Sam calmed her mother down, telling her that Tim probably had a flat tire or something on the way. While they finished their coffee, they overheard a couple at the next table talking about an accident that had happened earlier on the road they were on. Sam and her mother looked at each with horror in their eyes. What if..Sam got up. "Mom, go stay with Dad, I'll go down and check and see if they brought anyone in from that accident." Robbie was frightened and shaking, but went back to the room to stay with Luke.
Sam went around the corner of the hall a little too fast and bumped straight into Ned. "Ned! I thought you were going home.." Ned put his arm around her, "Now, don't get upset, Tim is just fine. He's in the emergency room, almost done though. He got run off the road when he was heading here and the rescue folks thought he needed to get checked out. He's just a little bruised, not hurt!" he told her gently. Sam quickly got herself back on track and continued around the corner to find Tim, with Ned close behind. Just as she put her hand on the button to open the doors, Tim came through them. Sam jumped into his arms, "I'm so glad you're ok!" Tim smiled and pulled her arms from around his neck, "Hey, be gentle sis. A little sore right now, but I'm ok. How's Dad?" "Better. He's resting and seems comfortable. Come on, Mom is worried to death about you!" she told him. Sam turned back to Ned, "Thanks Bud, you always were around when I needed you to be." She kissed him on the cheek and they walked back to the room together.
Tim turned to them, "Anything I should know about, or be happy...about?" Ned and Sam laughed and Sam told him, "Ned and I were always good buddies at college, nothing more." "Oh well, maybe there's still hope for you Sam." Tim teased as they entered the room, only to find nobody there. As they looked around, a nurse told them he had been moved to a room upstairs. Turning to head upstairs, they stood face to face with Jake. Looming menancingly over them, with his six foot six frame, Sam took a step back. "What are you doin here, Jake?" she asked, with her brows knitted into a frown. "Now what kind of a question is that? He's my father too you know and I want to know if he's going to be alright. I saw the squad lights and came when you did. I just didn't..know..what to do." Jake said in an ever increasing softer voice, one that Sam had never heard before. Her heart softened in response to his tone and she answered, "He is resting. We won't really know anything until tomorrow. But Jake, this isn't the time for you to be..around. Let's find out all the answers for Dad first, before you make an appearance."
Jake looked more hurt than Sam or Tim had ever seen him. Jake couldn't meet Tim's eyes and turned away, walking toward the doors. Sam just stood there, unable to stop him, and yet feeling that something had changed in Jake with her father's episode, something she could almost see...
No comments:
Post a Comment