Innocence

Hospital

The next day, I drive up to the hospital to see my dad. I meet Johnny in the lobby. My poor brother spent all night with our father, shuffling him from one test to the next test until finally at four in the morning, they found him a room in the cardiac wing of the hospital.

“Hey,” he says. He looks exhausted. His eyes are red and he has big black bags under his eyes. He probably hasn’t slept at all.

“How is he?” I ask.

“Tired, but he wants to see you,” Johnny tells me, taking my hand and walking towards the elevator.

We take a short elevator ride up to the 3rd floor, which is the cardiac unit. Johnny holds my hand as we walk through the hallway. We head into room 321. We see our father sitting up in bed with a breathing tube under his nose. His face is pale and he looks weak. His eyes flutter open and he looks at me in surprise.

“Hi Maci.” he says, extending my hand. I take it, expecting him to shake it, but instead he pulls me into a tight hug. He kisses my cheek. “How’ve you been?”

“Better than you, I guess,” I say, pulling away from his hug. He smiles.

“Here” I say. I reach into my purse and take out the ultrasound pictures. I hand them to him and he studies them closely.

“Oh yeah! There’s my little grandkid! I remember when you two were like this, your mother and I couldn’t get over it. You know, your mother wasn’t that much older than you when we found out we were going to be parents. How’s the father?” he asks.

“Matt's ready just like me.”

“That's good...I'm sure Matt will be a good daddy!” my dad says.

“How’s your heart?” a nurse asks. “The heart rate went up, are you okay?” she asks.

“I’m find, Patricia,” my dad tells the nurse. “I’m hanging with my kids.”

“Well, don’t get too stressed now, Jonathan.”

“I won’t,” he says.

“So, a baby, eh?” my dad asks. “You’re going to be a good mom. You’re going to graduate high school in two weeks?”

“Yeah,” I say. “I can’t believe it.”

“Well, if I can’t get out of this shithole, I’ll be there,” he says.

“Really, this time?” Chet asks.

“I promise,” my dad says.

“Swear on it?” I ask.

“Swear on it,” he promises, shaking both our hands. “Now, can I have lunch?” We all laugh.

“I’ll see what I can do,” I say, leaving the room.

I walk to the nurse’s station and find the same nurse, Patricia, by the ice machine. I walk up to her and ask her politely for the menu.

“Sure, sweetie,” she says. She finds the menu and circles the things my dad can have and crosses out the things he can’t have. It’s a pretty simple list. He can’t have anything fatty. The only thing he can have is a piece of French bread and a green salad.

“You know what? Can you order three of these?” I ask. “My brother and I haven’t eaten anything all day and if it isn’t a problem, we’d like to eat,” I say.

“Sure!” she says, she picks up the phone down to the kitchen and orders three of the salads.
I wait for a few minutes until the meals arrive, I then walk back into my dad’s room.

“Got anything?” my dad asks.

“Yup, they said you could have either a salad and a piece of bread or nothing,” I tell him.

“Johnny, I ordered us the same thing. I have to go see Matt at three. So I figured we could eat here,” I say.

“Sounds good, thanks,” Johnny says, taking a tray from me and sitting down on the comfy chair to eat.

I place a tray on the rolling table for my dad. I open it and cut it up for him. I hand him the fork and he digs right in.

“Good! He’s eating something!” a doctor says, entering the room just as I sit down. “So, Mr. Caldwell, I have some good news and some bad news,” he says. “Which would you like first?”

“The bad,” we all say. The doctor laughs.

“The bad news is that we have a diagnosis. I’m afraid you have a condition called Coronary Artery Disease. It’s a disease in which plack forms in the coronary arteries, causing abnormal blood flow the heart muscle. I’m afraid this is the cause of the heart attack. The good news is that your condition isn’t severe, despite your heart attack. The thing is though, is that you’ll have to make some serious dietary changes and lifestyle changes fast. I’ve scheduled an appointment for you to see a nutritionist to help you begin these changes,” the doctor says.

“Wow, sounds good!” My dad exclaims.

“It is, it’s a very good thing. However, if this happens again, I can’t guarantee that the heart attack will be this minor. You will need to start these changes as soon as possible if you want to live,” he says.

“When’s the appointment?” Chet asks.

“Today at three,” the doctor says.

“Thank you,” My dad says.

“No problem. Good luck,” the doctor says, shaking our hands. He leaves the room.

“Well,” I say. “That’s good news.”

“I believe it is,” Johnny says. “But make those changes!”

“I know, I want to see a grandkid before I kick the bucket,” our dad says with a laugh.

“You will, if you do everything you’re supposed to do and more!” I tell him.

“I promise both of you, I will.”

We eat the rest of our meal in peace, Johnny bragging about the band's upcoming tour, and the new album they are releasing.

I leave the hospital in good spirits at two thirty and am at ruby tuesdays by three. We hang out from three until 9 then I go home to Sara's place.

“So, the hospital went well?” Sara asks as soon as I get in the door.

“Yeah, he’s looking better,” I say. “Didn’t you talk to Johnny?”

“Yeah, but he’s at home sleeping. The poor thing’s exhausted. But, I’m glad you two went, your dad needs you both right now,” Anna tells me. I sigh and hug her. “Oh and asshole called. He wanted to talk to you.”

“Finally!” I shout. “God damn it! When?”

“Two hours ago, he wants to talk to you. I guess your phone’s off, but he called Chet, who called me. Chet said he didn’t want to go talk to him until he slept first,” Anna said.

“So, we’re going tomorrow?” I ask.

“No, Johnny’s coming here tomorrow, at noon.” she says.

“Night.”

I walk into my room and get into my pajamas, and lay down falling asleep and trying not to worry about my dad...

♠ ♠ ♠

Sorry it's out so late. :)