Waiting Room PT III
The old brown table had $10 worth of vending machine snacks laid on it. Jackson assumed they were for his family and grabbed a bag of Baked Lays and sat down. The waiting room was freezing cold. Jackson shivered and thought about going back to the car to get a jacket. But, he felt guilty and didn’t want to leave his family. And, he was scared to go alone lest Mr. Weirdo would be waiting for him in the shadows. Mom and Julia were at the nurses desk talking in a low murmur. Step-dad was reading a Sports Illustrated magazine. Jackson went over to step-dad and sat down.
“What took so long?” Step-dad wondered.
Jackson thought about the man and the conversation. “I,” he stammered, “I needed some time to think. This is surreal for me.” Jackson whimpered.
“Tell me about it?” Step-dad asked cautiously.
“Well, what did the doctors say,” Jackson asked, his eyes never came up from the ground.
“Pick your head up, you know better than that. No one came out yet, the nurses only know that he is here. We are waiting on the doctor to come out now,” he replied.
Jackson silently nodded his head and sunk into his chair. He noticed a Latino family on the other side of the room. They were standing up, praying towards a picture of Mary on the wall. An older lady had a chain of Mary in her hand and raised it as an older man prayed aloud in Spanish. Three kids sat sullen and did their best to imitate the older lady. Two of them looked as if they were under the age of five. One child was obese, and his weight made him look older than how he carried himself. After staring hard enough, Jackson noticed that the younger kids were twins. He remembered how Michael always talked about having twins. Mom and Julia came back from talking at the nurse’s desk. Julia grabbed a Snickers and sat by Jackson. Mom sat down by Step-dad and laid her head on his shoulder. Her tears had aged her and bags beneath her eyes were already beginning to form.
“Have you been praying honey?” Mom asked in a low voice.
“I’ve been praying more than that family,” he said pointing with his head towards the Latino family.
Mom chuckled. “Good,” she said grinning, “don’t stop.”
“What did the nurses say?” He asked.
“They can’t give any information because they don’t know. Honey, he has been in there for 2 hours now. What do you think it could be?” she asked.
“I don’t know, Vanessa. I really don’t know. If it was bad, we would’ve been got the news. I think God has been hearing my prayers,” he said in a low whisper.
“Please don’t stop praying,” she begged.
“Why would I when I pray to the One who hears and answers prayers?” He rhetorically asked.
Julia and Jackson ate their snacks in silence. Jackson finished his chips before Julia and looked at her Snickers.
“They say, you ain’t you when you hungry,” Jackson said playfully, “can I have a piece?” he asked.
Julia laughed softly, and said, “You’re so stupid.” She handed Jackson the Snickers and Jackson tore a piece off.
“You see what I see?” Jackson asked, as he handed the candy back to her.
“What? That you’re greedy or the twins?” she replied.
“Bingo! It made you think about Michael too, huh?” Jackson asked.
“Yeah”, she said in a soft voice. She paused and her eyes began to water. She held back the tears.
A younger Latino woman came into the hospital and went straight to the other family. She had on a work uniform, and everything was still buttoned up and neat as if she just got ready for work. When she made it to the family, she hugged all the kids for a long time. She ended each hug with a kiss on the forehead. She began to talk in a frantic voice to the family in Spanish. The older man kept replying with “yo no sé néna.”
Julia knew some Spanish. She whispered to Jackson, “He’s saying I don’t know. You think someone they know was the driver of the 18wheeler? The news did say two people were airlifted to the hospital.”
“Possibly”, Jackson quipped, “He uses time to tell us I guess.” He put his face back into his phone.
The young Latina lady walked up to the nurse’s desk and spoke fluent English like it was her first language. She walked away with the same answers mom and Julia got. The unknown only filled one’s imagination with thoughts of what could be. The unknown leaves the wanderer in a state of pessimism. She staggered back to her family, head hung low. She passed mom, Step-dad, Julia, and Jackson and for the first time acknowledged their presence. She walked over.
She respectfully inquired, “Was your relative in the car accident too?”
Mom replied without thought, “Yes, unfortunately, our son.”
Step-dad asked, “Was a loved one of yours involved?”
The Latina lady hesitated, “Yes, unfortunately. And I have no information. The nurses seem to only know when their lunch break will be.”
Mom chuckled, “Exactly,” she said.
The Latina whimpered, “He is my husband. Next week is our one year anniversary. Today, I found out I was pregnant again with a boy. I can’t wait to see the look on Paul’s face when I tell him this.”
Mom said, “Congratulations! That’s so sweet and beautiful. I’m sorry this happened.”
The Latina replied, “You know, I saw a man earlier and he said everything happens for a reason. That gave me some peace, you know?”
Step-dad butted in the conversation and added, “I’ll be praying for you, your family, and Paul.”
The lady was taken back by the gesture. She paused. She said, “Thank you. I know your son will be okay, he has strong parents.”
Step-dad replied, “Thank you miss.”
She walked away and sat down around the kids and started speaking in Spanish again. The family all looked up at mom, Step-dad, Julia, and Jackson and smiled softly as if to say, we understand. The doors opened and a guy in white scrubs came out along with a guy in dark green scrubs. Together they stood between Michael’s family and Paul’s family. Everyone was silent. The ticks of the clock could be heard loud and clear. Both families perked up and stared at the men in scrubs, waiting for them to announce themselves. Tick, Tick, Tick.
The doctor in white scrubs loudly announced, “I am looking for the family of Paul Franscio.” The young lady stood up quickly. Both men walked over to the family in a calm manner.
She never made eye contact and had a defeated look to her person. As soon as they got close enough, her questions bounced like basketballs, “How is he? What happened? Where is he?” The doctor in white spoke, while the doctor in green watched. He spoke in a low voice so that only the family could hear. Towards the end of the conversation, the doctor in white pointed to the doctor in green and said, “He will conduct the autopsy.”
The Latina was the only one talking and she was relaying everything to the family in short, quick bursts. The family watched with a kind of reverence each time the doctors spoke.She turned to her family and spoke really fast in Spanish. Their eyes widened as she explained. The older man slowly shook his head in disappointment and the older woman let out a screech. The agony in her voice bounced off the walls and found our ears. At the end of the exchange, she stared into space. Disbelief had yet another victim. The realness of reality finally found her and her family out. She stood silent and frozen. For, what can one say or do when someone they love has tragically and suddenly been reduced to a memory?
The doctor in green asked, “Do you mind if Paul’s organs are harvested for donation?” After a prolonged pause, he inquired with caution.
“Ma’am?” he asked. “Are you ok? Do you need medical attention?”
She was crying softly like these were the last tears she would ever cry.
Her voice stammered, “No. No. No. What do you mean?” she mumbled. She answered her own question, “Well sure, he doesn’t need them. Can I see the body? Can we see the body?”
The doctor in white said, “Of course, that wouldn’t be a problem.”
They followed both doctors back through the doors. Everyone silently watched everything unfold. In their hearts, although unspoken, everyone feared that the doctors would bring similar news about Michael.
The doors of destiny opened as they did before. This time an Indian man in white scrubs and the same guy in green scrubs stepped into the lobby. Everyone noticed it was the pathologist from earlier.
Julia gasped and said, “Oh my God, no!”
The guy in white scrubs stepped forward and the guy in green scrubs walked past him and went to the nurse’s desk.
The Indian doctor announced, “I am looking for the relatives of Michael Terry. Everyone stood up in unison. The doctor came closer as if to keep the information confidential.
The doctor looked at everyone’s scared faces. “Michael will live,” he began, “the surgery was a success. As of now, however, he is in a comatose state because of the traumatic brain injuries he faced in the accident. He suffered a broken hip in three different places, we placed metal plates around his hip to aid the healing process. His tibia and fibula on his left leg were broken in several places and we placed dissolvable screws in his leg to aid the healing process. When his car rolled over the barrier, his arm was outside of the car and it rolled on his left arm, causing a laceration that ran up to his elbow. The doctor pointed to his arm to give a visual of what to expect. We had to amputate his arm up to the elbow. As of now, we are expecting that he should wake up in 2-5 days. His body is now healing on its own.”
Julia asked, “Can we see him?”
“Yes, as we speak he is being rolled into an ICU room now. Once he is situated and we have a steady IV set up, a nurse will come and escort you to his room. Michael is really strong and it’s a miracle that he survived. I know an amputated arm isn’t good news, but with the technology today we can create a prosthetic arm that will match his skin tone and in 6 months with physical therapy he will be able to use it just like a regular arm.” As he walked away, he stopped and said, “His survival is the greatest miracle I’ve ever seen.”
The doctor walked away. The Latino family was gone. Michael’s family sat in the waiting room. Everyone thought about how life would be different for Michael. Mom and Step-dad held back tears and silently stared off into space. Mom worried about the pain that Michael was in, and wondered how he would finish his last semester of college. Step-dad wondered about the hospital bill that would inevitably come and wondered if his boss would allow him to pick up more shifts. Julia wondered about how she would nurture Michael through any insecurities that may arise. She already promised to herself she would stay by his side. Jackson went outside for some fresh air. It was great that his brother would live, but he wondered about the new normal that awaited their relationship. A bus pulled up, people traded places as some got off and others got on. The bus pulled off and everyone went their separate ways. Across the street stood the same man from the parking garage. Jackson noticed him and watched him from afar.
The man smiled at Jackson with a smile showing all his teeth. He mouthed, “Life is best compared to a mist of water, short and refreshing.”
“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of. ”
