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“As soon as Jake is settled, you’ll be able to go back with him.”
He stood up and got the door for her, making small talk while he led her back to the waiting room.
The family was waiting, Dan, Lisa, Ryan and Hocus. Dan and Ryan looking like unshaven, aging hippies, Lisa still in sandy beach-strolling clothing, Hocus, braless, wearing a turban to keep her hair nice while she fried fish.
Trying to keep it together, their presence made all the difference to her. She controlled her emotions and introduced them.
“We’re her ragtag family,” Lisa said, sniggering.
“Dr. Gage golfed with daddy.”
They did look like a motley bunch, but Pam didn’t care, hugging them.
“He has lung cancer,” she said, sniffing. “That’s the preliminary report. They’re getting him settled, and then I can go back. I think we’d better cancel the party.”
“Pam, that’s next to impossible,” Dan said gently. “The rental people are there right now, putting the dance floor in place. Laura is watching over them. The portable toilets have arrived, and you know that means that there’s no turning back.”
“You’ll have to pay for everything anyway,” Lisa said softly. “Ryan and Dan can act as hosts. It’ll make the grandmothers step it up.”
“Lisa, they’re almost ninety, for god’s sake. What are they going to do?” she asked.
“They’ll be on guard. Also, how are we going to contact over a hundred people? Ain’t happening.”
“Lisa’s right, Pam. You don’t have to worry about anything,” Ryan said. “Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do.”
“Just leave it up to me,” he said. “It’ll give me something else to do.”
“We’ll all chip in, Mom. You just take care of yourself and Jake.”
They were in the middle of a group hug when a nurse came into the waiting room.
“Miss Braddock?”
Pam stood there like a deer in the headlights.
“That’s you,MissBraddock,” Lisa said, pushing her toward the nurse. “Don’t worry about anything at home.”
Pam nodded and left the waiting room again, this time following the nurse.
“Did he wake up yet?” Pam asked.
“Not yet. He’s stable though, and that’s a good sign.”
The cubical was at the end of the hall, closest to the elevator, so Pam didn’t feel like she was in a fishbowl.
“I placed the chair there for you,” the nurse said. “If you need anything, just push this button.”
She pointed to the call light device.
“If he wakes up, let us know right away. I’ll be in and out.”
“Thank you so much,” Pam said, sitting down in the chair next to the bed.
Jake’s hospital bed was in its lowest position, so she could hold on to his hand while she sat, looking over the situation. She noticed he had a tube snaking under the sheets, carrying urine to a bag hanging on the bed. Knowing Jake for the short time she had, less than a year, the catheter was going to annoy him when he realized it was in place. Modest for a guy, Jake was super careful about his hygiene. When he spent the night with Pam, he was considerate in the extreme about his bathroom habits, requesting from the onset that he had a bathroom separate from hers. Offering him the bathroom/dressing room off the back hallway satisfied his need for privacy or whatever it was.
With his head on the pillow and an oxygen mask over his lower face, he looked so vulnerable. His hair was messy, so she took a hairbrush out of her purse and stood up, gently brushing his hair the way she knew he liked it. It was while she was caring for him that his eyes opened.
