by R. Casteel
The sun was just starting to rise over the Rocky Mountains when a tired doctor came dragging himself through the double doors.
Dad was with Mother in a room the hospital had provided for her. Steven and Karen were huddled up on one couch. Cynthia was asleep on Charles’s lap in another. Charles didn’t want to disturb the others if there was no word, but as he moved, Cynthia woke up and seeing the doctor awakened Steven and Karen.
“I am Dr. Clayton Baldwinn. I am one of eight surgeons who have been working on Kristina all night. Is this all of the family?”
“No,” Charles replied. “Mom and Dad are resting in a room down the hall.”
“It might be a good idea if the whole family was here,” Dr. Baldwinn said.
Charles walked down the hall, it seemed like a mile; a few doors down he found Dad awake, staring out the window with the lonely tears of heartache making their way down his face.
“Dad,” he said. “The doctor’s out, he wants to talk to us.”
A few minutes later, they were in the room. The anxiety was so tangible, you could feel it in the air.
The doctor continued, “It’s been a long night. Dr. Davidson gave you a report on part of the operation. The entire process, actually three operations, took over twelve hours. We removed a kidney, fortunately, she is young, healthy and barring unforeseen problems with the other kidney should be able to live a long life providing there are no complications from the craniotomy.”
“Dr. Davidson explained why we had to go in. As far as it goes, the operation was a success. We went in and repaired the torn blood vessel. She lost a lot of blood between the three injuries. She had to have three units of blood to replace what she lost due to the accident and the operations. These types of surgeries are always dangerous.
“The next seventy-two hours are critical. We’re monitoring her internal cranial pressure constantly. She is on a respirator because of her punctured lung, and will be for at least the next twelve to forty-eight hours. I don’t want to alarm you unnecessarily but I must prepare you for the worst. The risk of pneumonia and atelectasis are high. In her weakened condition, either on of them could easily be fatal.”
“Doc,” Charles said, “I know what pneumonia is. What is the other thing you mentioned?”
“Atelectasis is the incomplete expansion of a lung or portion of it, normally occurring within forty-eight hours of surgery.
“There are other concerns we have that will have to wait until she is out of immediate danger. I want to prepare you for the worst, and when it doesn’t happen, which I hope is the case we can breathe easier.
“Kristina may suffer some memory loss and even possibly some damage to the brain itself. We’re watching her very close. We have brain waves being transmitted. What we don’t know is if they are being received where they are supposed to or not.
“I can only let a couple of you at a time into ICU, and only for a few minutes. I want to prepare you before you go in. Kristina doesn’t look like the same beautiful young lady. It’ll be difficult to even recognize her as the same person.
“After you see her I strongly urge you all to get some sleep…and I don’t mean here. Get a motel room near by and give the hospital a number where you can be reached. Our ICU staff will call the moment anything happens. There’s nothing you can do here, for now. Later Kristina is going to need all the strength, love and support you can give her. Now, who will be first?” he asked.
Mom and Dad went first, they didn’t stay long, Dad had to almost carry her back to the waiting room.
Steven and Karen were next.
Charles thought he could be strong. Seeing his baby sister on that bed with tubes everywhere and monitors flashing brought back too vivid memories from the last time he was in an emergency room watching through a window as they tried to bring life back into the crushed body of his wife. He started to falter but his anchor held. “Let’s go,” she said.
Chapter 9
After their arrival, Kristina’s name had been released by the hospital. Her picture, provided by the airlines, was all over the news.
Charles led the family out a side door away from the lights and cameras of the waiting reporters. The day was dreary. Gray swirling clouds filled the sky. Wind whipped at their clothes as they stood on the street.
Charles looked up and down the almost deserted street. In frustration and exhaustion, he ran his hand tiredly through his hair. Pausing for several seconds as he tried to rub the tension from his neck, he wondered where the nearest restaurant was located. Then he remembered it was Christmas.
Cynthia stopped a nurse going in. “Excuse me, can you tell me where we might find a restaurant open somewhere close?”
“There’s a café around the corner that stays open twenty-four hours a day. They cater to the hospital staff.”
“Thank you.” Cynthia took Charles’s arm and gave it a slight squeeze.
“I’m really not hungry,” Mom said dejectedly.
“These next few days are going to be difficult Mother.” He placed his arm compassionately around her shoulders.
“I know you don’t feel like eating, but you need to keep up your strength for Kristina. It’s not going to do her any good if you wear yourself out.”
They walked around the corner and across the street to a small café with the word ‘Doc’s’ written in neon lights over the door. They sat down at the largest booth and ordered. There was no small talk, no smiles or laughter.
Christmas was on hold.
Several of the hospital employees came and went. The whole hospital must have been aware of Kristina. Many of the staff came over, and said they were praying for her and try not to worry. White Memorial had the best ICU in the city.
The food came and they ate, but with little realization of what had been eaten.
Steven paid the bill and then brought the car around. Trans World had made reservations at Holiday Inn not far from the Hospital.
The hotel was expecting them and showed them right to the rooms. With the festive atmosphere in the restaurant, Charles was glad they had already eaten. Everybody was dead tired. Charles knew they needed to get some sleep, but would everybody get rested for the long period of waiting that lay ahead?
“Dad,” he said, “can I talk with you a moment?”
Charles took him off to the side. “Dad, I’m worried about Mom. She looks like she is ready to collapse.”
“Son, your mother and I have been married forty years. We’ve seen good times and bad. Through it all, your mother’s faith in the good Lord above has been her strength and shield. He has seen us through famine, drought, a tornado and fire. The Lord saw us through a hard time six years ago. He will see us through this.”
Charles and Cynthia went into the room and as soon as the door was closed, she was in his arms softly crying. She had been his strength at the hospital. She was worn out physically and emotionally. Now it was his turn, until the next storm arrived. He got her clothes off and carried her into the shower. She had stopped crying but she was still clinging to him for support. He got her dried off and carried her to bed.
Charles had lost track of time, his head felt like it was being pounded on. No someone was banging loudly on the door. Slowly opening one eye, he focused on the clock. He wanted to get back to the hospital and hadn’t planned on sleeping so long. Cynthia was starting to stir and open her eyes. With the noise they were making, the hotel better be on fire.
He grabbed the robe provided by the hotel and opened the door.
There stood Ron, Howard and Sherry Lee.
“Oh, it’s you. Hi!” Still half asleep, Cynthia sat up and the covers fell off. “Come on in while I get dressed.”
She swung her feet out of bed. Bare ass naked, she walked to the bathroom.
“I guess that will teach us not to go knocking on their hotel door any more before the sun comes up,” Ronald surmised.
“I guess that’s payback for all the times at home we used to walk around
like that in front of her,” Howard chuckled.
Sherry looked at both of them, “Men!” She threw her hands in the air in mock desperation.
Cynthia came out of the bathroom and took one look at Charles. “Unless you’re going to a toga party, you had better put something else on.”
After he had gotten dressed, they headed to the hospital.
The rest of the family was already there and he gave his mother a hug.
Ron went into ICU to find out what the latest status on Kristina was.
Half an hour later he came back.
Charles looked around the now packed waiting room with amazement. Here were three people, whom he had known only a few short days, sitting in an ICU waiting room a thousand miles from the rest of their family. They had never met Kristina, they had only met him twice and yet they were here.
“Now for some good news,” Ron announced. “Everything is looking good for Kristina. Her intracranial pressure is steady, which means there is no leakage from the repair. Her temperature is normal, which means that so far there is no post-operational infection.
“She is breathing normal and the respirator could come out as early as this evening or early tomorrow morning. Her progress has amazed everyone in ICU. Quite frankly, after seeing the extent of her injuries, I am amazed myself. That is one remarkably strong woman in there.”
Everyone hugged and cried over the good news. Charles knew what the doctors had told them yesterday, but something told him he could trust Ron’s judgment.
Everyone was hungry and it was decided to find someplace to eat.
“There’s a House of Pancakes not far from here,” Howard said. “We passed it coming in.”
Everyone agreed that sounded great. Telling the nurse where they were going, they piled into vehicles and left. It was starting to look like a motorcade with so many cars.
It was a very different atmosphere around this table. Smiles, laughter and a feeling of joy that had nothing to do with Christmas and yet everything to do with it.
They knew that Kristina wasn’t out of the woods yet. She still had a long way to go. But for the first time since hearing about the accident, they could take a breath.
“Howard, what’s your line of work?” Charles Sr. inquired.
“The family runs a horse ranch just outside of Cross Cut, Texas,” Howard replied. “The ranch has been in the family for over a hundred years. My great grandfather settled there after the Civil War. They lost everything when Sherman cut his swath of destruction across the south.
“Since then, the land had been passed down from father to son.
“Horses are our way of life, from Army contracts in the beginning to rodeo circuits. Petterson quarter horses have been known for top breeding and sound horseflesh. Everyone in the family is involved. Cynthia is the family vet and trainer. My son David is good with the horses, but I fear that he is leaning another direction. I have a feeling he will follow Ron’s footsteps. His high school grades are excellent, especially science. We have two teenage daughters whose interests are switching from horses to boys.”
“I was raised on a small dairy farm in Wisconsin,” Sherry said. “I met Howard at a Future Farmers of America convention in Kansas City, Missouri when I was a senior. We fell in love; at least I did, at first sight. When I found out that Howard was going to Texas A&M I put my application in also. We were both on scholarships and we couldn’t get married. But we couldn’t wait so we secretly got married and hid it from the school the whole time we were there. Both parents were a little upset about not having a ceremony so we had another after graduation. I love our home in Texas and am thankful for all that the Lord has blessed us with.”
“What’s it like being a doctor?” Charles Sr asked.
“One day my dream is to have a small community hospital in Rising Star,” Ronald said, “one where we could handle all but the most serious problems. As it is now, everybody has to go to the city. We don’t have any rehabilitation capabilities, nothing for long term needs of patients. We have patients on dialysis who have to drive two sometimes three times a week, an hour or more one way to have this done. I see the big city hospitals becoming more and more concerned with profit than how to care for patients and the needs of families. That is the major reason I came back home. Being a doctor or a nurse should be about helping people, not about getting rich or having fancy houses and boats.
“The community is growing, with a good hospital we could help build a community where our youth could find jobs close to home. Where family members could be close to loved ones in their time of need. Our elderly patients often have to be discharged before they are ready. They’re being sent home where they can’t receive the proper care they need or else being forced to go to overcrowded nursing homes where the staff are already overworked. A hospital shouldn’t be forced, because of government regulations and bureaucratic red-tape, to send patients out before they’re ready.”
Charles looked at his Dad, who after a moment, nodded.
He looked at Steven, and they stared at each other and he agreed with a slow closing of the eyes. That left Karen, she looked at Steven and then at Charles and smiled. Not one word had been spoken yet they had just voted; unanimously to do all they could to see this dream become a reality.
“Ron,” Charles said, “Merry Christmas.”
Charles had put on his business face, the one he used when dealing with corporate lawyers and banks. He had been told that when he went into this mindset it was impossible to understand what he was thinking, planning or feeling.
Cynthia poked Charles in the ribs and whispered, “He hasn’t a clue to what you’re about to say.”
“And you do?” he smirked.
Again whispering in his ear, “You’re about to tell my brother that Randall Construction will help make his dream a reality.”
She had a smug grin on her face while he was trying to close his jaw.
“Was I right?” she asked.
Almost speechless Charles managed, “Yeah.”
She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a big kiss.
“Ron,” Charles said, “as President and Chairman of the Board, for Randall Construction I am pleased to announce that after taking a vote. It was unanimous. Randall Construction will design and supervise construction of the hospital in Rising Star, at no cost to the hospital or its future investors.”
As the magnitude of what Charles had said began to sink in, tears of joy began to run down Ron’s face. “How can I ever thank you?”
“There is one way and only one,” Charles said. “Run your hospital the way you just said a hospital should be run, with an honest desire and concern for the patients and their families. Where the concern is how a person walks out of the hospital and not how much money they leave in it.”
“With God as my witness for as long as I am alive, as long I am part of the hospital and the community that surrounds it, you’ve my word on it.”
They reached across the table and shook hands. There were satisfied smiles and tears around the table. They had become more than friends. They had become part of a community effort to build something good and decent toward the future of tomorrow. Of all the projects over the years that Randall Construction had done or been part of, this was the project that felt the most right, despite the fact that it wouldn’t make them any money.
As they stood up to leave, a gentleman seated right behind them stood up and took the bill from Charles’s hand.
“Pardon me,” he said, “I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation. I would like to pay for your meal. In return I have something of interest concerning your hospital plans you might be interested in, by the way my name is Timothy Grey.”
“Mr. Grey,” Charles said, “right now the only ideas and plans for a hospital are one ones you heard around this table. We have no designs, no financial backers. We don’t even have the ground to build it on. The only reason we’re around this table this morning is my sister is in Wh
ite Memorial in critical condition. We’re headed back there now to check on her at this time.”
“I’ll follow you to the hospital,” Grey said, “for what I have to say, is of utmost importance for your future plans.”
“Very well. If it’s important enough you would be willing to come to an ICU waiting room to discuss it, we’ll listen.”
“Good, I’ll say goodbye to my party here and join you at the hospital.”
“Charles, who is Timothy Grey?” Ron asked after they had left the restaurant.
“Nobody really,” he answered, “just the owner of the largest construction materials provider in the country.”
“I wonder what that was all about.” asked Steven.
“I don’t know, but I am sure he will tell us soon enough,” Charles replied.
“We have never dealt with him before, have we?” Karen asked.
“We have used a lot of materials provided by his company,” Charles Sr. said. “But to answer your question, no, we have never dealt directly with Mr. Grey.”
They all met at the hospital and Mr. Grey kept out of the way until the family learned about Kristina’s condition. Ron went in and checked with the nurses. A few minutes later, he came out with the report.
“I am really encouraged over the outcome, she is stable and there is no sign of complications at this time.”
“Now Mr. Grey,” Charles said, “let’s hear what you have to say.”
Mr. Grey cleared his throat, “As I said in the restaurant, I couldn’t help but overhear your plans for a new hospital. Before you try to find the money to build your hospital, I wanted you to know this. Grey Construction Company, of which I am the owner, provides construction material across the country and Canada.
“As owner of this company I am willing to provide all, I said all, construction materials at cost, with free delivery of materials on site.”
He gave us a moment to digest this and continued.
“With this agreement in writing, it should speed up locating the financial backers you need. I’ll have all the papers drawn up immediately. Your lawyers can contact mine as soon as you’re ready to start.”
