The minor complication
My dad didn't make it home today because of yet another minor complication. Only we didn't know it was a minor complication until 7:00 pm tonight. No, instead we got to wonder for 12 hours just what the hell was wrong and why they were keeping him knocked out with drugs and not letting him go home. A "nothing to worry about" sure would have been nice around, oh say, mid-morning or so, but the nurses wouldn't explain anything and so Mom spent the entire day at the hospital waiting to talk to a doctor who would tell her something. I spent eight of those hours calling her every hour and talking for 30 minutes about what ever topic I could pull out of thin air. I don't think I have ever had a politically oriented conversation with my mother in my entire life and I had at least two of those today (turns out she doesn't think President Bush is such a stand up guy either.) If I had known this was going to be a whole day ordeal that would result in a severe case of cauliflower ear then I would have spent the hour and a half it takes to get to the hospital by city bus. There's the kind of quiet, supportive silence that you can offer in person which simply doesn't work over the phone and I was forced to "chitchat" instead. I don't do "chitchat" very well and for that matter, neither does my family. A family get-together dinner is followed by long periods of silence where we are content simply just to BE with each other. If anyone has something to say then they say it, but no one makes small talk for the sake of small talk so today was a rather surreal experience. At least at the end of all that waiting it was good news. If the blood tests look okay in the morning, then he can go home. Whew.