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I arrived, hardly knowing how I had gotten there at all, and parked in the emergency room parking area. Running up to the automatic doors I waited as they opened slowly and cursed them as I bolted into the waiting area of the emergency room.
Neither of my parents were in sight so I made my way to the front desk.
“Josh…Tanza,” I said, only then realizing I was out of breath.
The nurse looked up from her computer. “Take a deep breath honey. Are you okay? Do you need to see a doctor?”
I shook my head, exasperated and struggling to find the words I needed in the moment. It was all too much and I was overwhelmed, not knowing where my parents were or how Josh was doing.
“My brother. An ambulance brought my brother here.” I took another deep breath. “He collapsed at his football game.”
That seemed to ring a bell and she nodded and pointed down a hallway. “Football player, that’s right. Curtain three. It should be fine for you to go in there now.”
I hurried down the hall and read the numbers that were posted above the different curtained sections of the emergency room area. I reached Curtain three and to my surprise, it was empty and there were fresh new sheets on this bed. I whirled around, shocked and scared at what this might mean, but thankfully a nurse standing nearby read the situation and rushed over to me.
“Looking for the football player?”
I nodded affirmatively at her.
“It’s okay, they’ve moved him up to the third floor. If you’ll just head up there and check at the nurse’s station they’ll be able to send you to him.
I felt like it was all taking too long. I just wanted to get to Josh’s side and make sure everything was going to be okay. At this point I had no idea what was going on, what had really happened, or if he was in any immediate danger. The fact that he had been moved to a real room didn’t give me any comfort and I wondered what on earth it could all be about as I raced back down the hall and into one of the elevators.
The third floor was a flurry of activity and I was deposited right outside of the nurse’s station.
“Excuse me, my brother is Josh Tanza. I was told he’s up here.” I looked around at the nurses behind the desk and waited for one of them to show me a little mercy.
One of the male nurses nodded. “Yeah, the football player. He’s in 308.”
Now certain where my brother was, I was in less of a hurry because I wasn’t sure what I was walking into. My mom hadn’t had the time to explain everything on the phone and now I had to face the fact that Josh was really, truly ill.
The door was open and a doctor was exiting the room as I approached it. My parents were standing on either side of Josh’s bed and my brother was lying there, hooked up to several different monitors, looking so pale you would have thought he had either seen a ghost or somehow morphed into a Casper-like version of himself.
“Oh my god, Josh.” I rushed to my mother’s side but hesitat
ed before leaning in to hug my brother, opting instead to squeeze his hand. He made a strong fist, but not nearly as strong as I knew he was capable of and that concerned me.
“Honey, I’m so glad you’re here,” my mom said as she embraced me. My dad came around to hug us both tightly while Josh looked up from his hospital bed with a slight grin on his face.
“You guys having fun?” He asked.
I rolled my eyes at him. “Hey dude, you be nice. You’ve got us all worried. What’s going on with you?” I posed the question to my mom and dad as much as to Josh.
“We’re still waiting to hear a few results from the doctor,” my dad said calmly. He looked rough, like whatever he had watched happen to my brother on the football field had taken some years off of his life. For all I knew it might have.
Josh didn’t look well. He was pale and his skin was clammy and although I knew he hated it, I kept checking his temperature with the back of my hand.
“You’re too cold, Josh.”
“You’re telling me,” he shot back. “And they won’t let me wear a shirt yet. I’ve got to stay hooked up to all of these things for a while.”
“Well, they’ve got to find out what’s going on. My guess is that a cheeseburger is to blame for it. Somehow, someway, it’s a cheeseburger.”
“Ha-ha,” Josh said, not finding the remark humorous in the least. “For your information I have been eating a healthy, protein-filled diet. Trying to keep myself lean.”
He didn’t look lean though. He looked puffy, like he had consumed just a little too much sodium. I was worried, less so than I had been on the way over, but still enough that I made a conscious effort to hide the emotion from my face as much as possible.
“Mom, Dad, do you guys need anything? I could go get you some snacks or a coffee or something. Whatever you need.”
