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CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
RORY
Callie and I head back up to the waiting area, and I hand Maddie her Diet Coke.
“Took you long enough,” Maddie says.
“Sorry,” I say, “Callie and I needed to… I don’t know.”
“It’s all right, Rory,” Mom says. “We all deal in our own way.”
Callie and I sit down with Mom, Jesse, and Maddie.
“Any news?” Callie asks.
“Nothing in a while,” Mom says. “But—” She jerks as a woman in scrubs comes out and heads straight toward us.
I swallow, but it doesn’t dislodge the lump in my throat.
“Mrs. Pike,” the woman says.
“Yes?” Mom doesn’t stand.
But Jesse does. “I’m Jesse Pike, and you are?”
“I’m Dr. Alonso, the resident on your father’s case. The attending cardio thoracic surgeon sent me out with an update. Your father has been moved onto the heart-lung machine now.”
“And what does that mean exactly?” Jesse asks.
“It’s actually called a cardiopulmonary bypass machine,” Dr. Alonso says. “It works to provide blood and oxygen to the body when the heart is stopped for a surgical procedure.”
“In English please,” Jesse says again.
“I’m sorry, let me try to explain better. I know you’re all upset and worried. Your father has significant blockage in his coronary arteries, so the surgeon needs to redirect the blood to the heart—in other words, bypass.”
“We understand,” Callie says.
“In order to do the procedure, the heart has to stop while the surgeon is making those bypasses.”
My mother goes white. “His heart isstopped?”
“Yes, but it’s no cause for concern, ma’am. The heart-lung machine is directing blood and oxygen to his body while his heart is stopped.”
“Oh, God,” Mom says. “I just can’t deal with this.”
“Ma’am, your husband is doing very well.”
“You just said his heart is stopped.”
“Yes, so we can make the repairs. So we can redirect the blood flow.”
I stand then. “Doctor, you’re talking to a scared wife and scared children. Is our father okay?”
“Well, your father is on the operating table, and he’s on the cardiopulmonary bypass machine. But the surgery is going well.”
I sigh. “I understand. That’s all we’re going to get out of you.”
“She can’t say anything else,” Callie says. “No doctor can guarantee a successful outcome. That would be a malpractice nightmare.”
