Falling, Pt. 2

I held my Mom's hand, gently rubbing thumb along her fingers. Opposite us sat my Brother and his Wife; he had pulled his cap down over his eyes, crossed arms over his chest and tried to nap while she stretched her legs across his lap and listened to her iPod. My Mom's walking buddy, who rushed to the hospital when she learned what happened, sat with her eyes focused on her book.

"You're Father wanted to get something to eat," she leaned in and told me. "He hadn't been feeling well all week, thanks to the bronchitis, but he insisted on going out for an early dinner. I stalled as much as I could, but you know your Father." Stubborn all the way, something which both my Brother and I managed to inherit to some degree. "He wanted to go to Don José's, but I talked him into Pick-Up Stix. Because I could just pop right in and bring it home. But he insisted on getting in the car with me." She rolled her eyes.

"I pull into the space, and your Father starts griping about how I'm in the spot crooked. I told him 'Okay, I'm gong to back up and pull in again.' I started backing up, and he opened the car door and stepped out on his weak foot. He tried to stand and fell back, rolling under the car a little bit." I noticed her eyes starting to redden. "Thank goodness I stopped the car. I didn't even see him.

"Some people from Starbuck's ran out with napkins. More from the nearby massage place came with pillows and blankets. People were on their cell phones calling 9-1-1." Her voice started shaking. I moved my hand to her back and rubbed her shoulders. "One man stayed on the phone until the ambulance arrived, asking me questions and telling the operator my answers. How old is your Father? Is he coherent? Can he talk? He was fine for a little, but a bit fuzzy when I asked him something.

"When the paramedics arrived, they stabilized his head and tried lifting him. Oh did he scream! Something about his neck. They managed to get him in the ambulance and told me they were taking him to the hospital. I headed hoe, got his insurance cards and headed to our regular hospital."

We heard a frazzled woman in the corridor, almost yelling into a hospital phone that her husband should have been out of surgery and hour ago and that no doctor had been in to contact them yet. Where was he? "I sat in the Emergency Room waiting and waiting," my Mom continued. "Finally, one of the nurses called the paramedics and found out that because his fall had caused a head injury, it was considered a trauma so they took him to a different hospital. That's when I called P- and she met me here."

I hugged my Mom, rocking back and forth a little. "And now we're just waiting."


Just a note: My Dad did suffer a serious fall last week, and the posts about it are my way of processing everything and to keep a record for when he recovers. My apologies for any confusion.