More of Fall In Love

Sorry I missed posting yesterday. You've heard me mention my Aunt Sissy and her boyfriend, John. John had called a couple days ago with some bad news about Sissy's health and also that of her son. We arranged a dinner with them at a place that's about an hour and half away. Picked them up in the afternoon and headed out. But almost dinnertime isn't a good time to be on the roads, especially when there is construction going on all over lately. Took us over two hours to reach our destination. The trip and dinner gave us time to find out more about the health problems and offer support. Sissy had a knee replacement over the summer and had continued to have a lot of pain. More tests and x-ray studies were done and, as she put it, the hip on that side was "all eaten up with arthritis." She will have hip replacement done in February. Around the same time she had that diagnosed, she heard from her son and learned he will be having open heart surgry next month to replace a valve. It seems that when docs were giving him chemo and radiation a few years back for a mass on his chest, it damaged his heart. Last night my son called and in talking to him I learned his MIL is a candidate for a lung transplant. When it rains, it pours.

I think there are periods when my father doesn't recognize people. You know how babies smile as a defense? Several times now I've gone to see him and he smiles at me like that. Not my Dad's smile, not like he knows me. He doesn't speak until I do and then it's a general response.The other day when I went over to take him some things he'd asked for, he was asleep with the tray table across his bed. Woke him gently and he had that expression he gets when the nurses wake him for meds or vital signs. I spoke to him but he didn't reply so I just started putting the items on the tray table, talking like everything was fine. I'd brought him a couple drinks, chapstick, and some Pringles (doc said okay to give him a little of what he wants now and then). I was putting things away and only when I touched the Pringles can did he speak: "Don't go away with that." His fine motor movements are failing so I opened tha can for him and he began happily to munch and stare at the TV. So we watch Frankie and Johnny together without another word from him. Eventually he snuggled down in the covers and went back to sleep.

It was the middle of the week and it was supposed to be a quiet evening. The plan was to go for pizza, then just hang out. But when he arrived at the apartment, she was standing in the open doorway looking upset. She had her cell phone to her ear but shut it down when she saw him approaching. I've been trying to reach you. Have to cancel, got to get to the hospital. She reached in to grab her purse off the table the girls kept next to the door and yelled back to Sammi. On my way. Be sure to lock up. He followed her to the elevator. Are you alright? Whats going on? On the way down, she told him about the call she had gotten from the roommate of one of her students. The girl had tried to commit suicide. As the EMTs were taking the injured girl out, she had asked the roommate to call and say she couldn't attend class next day. You must mean something to her, he said and let her know he would take her to the hospital so she wouldn't have to worry about driving. Why me? Because she has no one else, she answered for herself. The student had come into her office one day on a pretext, cried and told her she had been raped at a party. The girl was at odds with her parents and at nineteen could say no to them being called. She'd listened, consoled, and helped the student get the care she needed, even personally taking her for her first appointment with one of the school's therapists. She thought things were going okay.

He listened intently, told her she had done all the right things. But he knew she was feeling she'd missed something and was somehow at fault for what was happening now. At the hospital, they had to wait for permission to see the girl. When the doctor learned who they were, she was allowed to visit for just a few minutes while he waited outside for her. When she came out of the room, her posture seemed a little rigid, her face tense. She shook her head when he started to question her and they left the floor in silence. In the elevator on the way down to the parking lot, tears began to stream down her face but still she waved him off. It was only after they gotten into his car that she reached for him. He let her sob for awhile until she regained control and explained what she'd been told. Her student had been going to therapy, doing all that was suggested; had been holding up. Then she got a call from Student Health Services telling her she had contracted a sexually transmitted disease; that triggered her suicide attempt.

What can I do to help? she wanted to know. We need to eat first, keep you healthy or you won't be able to help anyone. Then we will discuss it. They gave up the idea of pizza and stopped at a sub shop instead, getting him a sub and her a container of cream of broccoli soup to take home. Back at the apartment, Sammi wisely stayed out of the way. They ate and then talked for hours until he insisted on making her a hot toddy to drink before she headed off to bed. At the door, she sat the mug down and threw her arms around him. Thank you! For what? For being here, for helping me, but mostly for being you. A long, tender kiss ended the night, leaving her outlook a little brighter.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5wdqf2x2vmy94eg/ws_FallInLove_5.zip?dl=0