by Weeks, TJ
She pulled into the small shopping center and watched them hurry to the door of the familiar ice cream shop. They held the door open for Sandra.
They all gave their orders and sat down at a small table to spend time together.
“Is mom coming to get us tonight?” Her grandson asked.
“Yep, she will be there in a bit.” Sandra told them both. Both of their eyes lit up. Sandra’s daughter worked as much as she could to provide for her children. Sometimes she was able to pick them up, and sometimes she would end up working a double shift at the small convenient store and not see them until the next day.
Sandra worked part time at the hospital as a registered nurse. She had recently gone from the full time chaos of an emergency room nurse, to part time surgeon nurse so she could help more with her grand babies. Her daughter had recently divorced a
violent man that didn’t deserve to have her or the kids. But he thought taking the kids from her would make her come back to him and he tried fairly often to take them from school or on their way home from school. They needed to be watched, so Sandra took it upon herself to help keep them all safe.
The three finished up their ice cream and headed back out to the car. “Buckle up guys.” Sandra told them. “Grandma.” Her granddaughter always enunciated the D. “Do I HAVE to do my homework today?” She questioned.
“Well, yes. What kind of question is that?” She asked her.
“I don’t have any!” Her sweet grandson bragged. Sandra laughed at both of them. She backed out of her space and became blocked in by a white Ford pick-up truck. She slammed her brakes and got out to find out what was going on and quickly got back in her car. It was their dad. She grabbed her cell out of her bag and began to dial the emergency number when a squad car pulled up behind the truck and flicked his sirens on and off.
The Ford truck pulled off and the cop car pulled into the spot next to Sandra.
“Ma’am, are you okay?” The officer asked stepping from his car. “That is my ex son in law, there is a restraining order for him to stay away from the kids.” She offered the information.
The cop looked back at the truck speeding away and called in the description of the vehicle.
“What is his name ma’am?” He asked her.
“Bill Wright.” Sandra quickly answered. The cop hollered the information into his radio. “I will follow you home.” He offered.
Sandra nodded and began to back out again. She headed down the street and finally made it to her small house. She herded both of her grandchildren into the house and waved to the cop to thank him for his service.
Sandra situated the kids and had them working on homework and drawing when her daughter walked in.
“MOTHER! Why didn’t you call me?” She angrily questioned
frantically walking through the house.
Sandra emerged from the kitchen wiping her hands with a rag. “They are fine, a cop escorted us home. How did you find out?”
“He texted and said I shouldn’t let my mother give our children ice cream.” She told her.
“He isn’t supposed to have contact with any of you. You need to give that information to the cops.” Sandra instructed.
“I have.” Her daughter told her. Sandra sat down. “Liza, you have to get away from him, there has to be something they can do.”
“There is, they are looking for him on violation right now.” Liza advised her mom.
Sandra nodded her head with a little relief. “Stay for dinner?” Liza nodded as she spooned a heap of mashed potatoes in her mouth. Sandra laughed standing to gather the other food. Liza gathered the kids and all sat at the table and finished the mass of food her mother had cooked.
Sandra and Liza hugged and she kissed her grandchildren goodbye. She stood on the porch and watched them leave, hoping that all would be okay. Sandra went back in and decided that a shower and a book would be in her near future. She had to be up at four A.M. to be at the hospital by five to be off in time to get the kids.
She woke the next morning,
dressed in her scrubs and made her way out to get to work. She
rummaged through her purse on her way out and fumbled for her keys. She hopped in the car and backed out of the driveway. The hospital was about a twenty minute drive. She parked in the employee parking lot and went to start her shift.
A surgery was scheduled for six that morning and Sandra made her way to the operating room to help the doctor ready for it. The doctor was already scrubbed up and waiting for her to arrive as he held a conversation with another doctor about the routine surgery. Sandra slipped on the
doctor’s smock and then his gloves. She scrubbed down and put on her own gloves and mask and took her place next to the doctor. The surgery began at six sharp. He made his firsts incision to take out the patient’s gallbladder and finished up the surgery within a half hour.
Sandra cleaned up the operating room and herself then headed out. She made her way to the cafeteria
downstairs and went through the line to gather her a healthy lunch. She sat at a corner table watching the plethora of people come in and out of the busy hospital. She knew that some of them were family of patients. Their faces were sad with worry. Sandra always felt bad for people that had to deal with the tragedy of a loved one being in the hospital. She watched other nurses and doctors rush in and out to grab a bite to eat during a slowdown of the ER. She sat back and
remembered those days and was thankful that she didn’t have to deal with the hustle and bustle of that anymore.
Sandra finished her lunch and headed back upstairs to organize her work station and check on each patient that had been through surgery in the last few days that still remained there. She stacked the charts and went in room by room to take vitals and update the families of the patients on the status of discharge.
Her last patient was a man who had been dealing with stomach cancer. They had removed part of his
stomach. The surgeon was positive they had removed all of the cancer, but he was stuck with a major
recovery process. They had kept him a few extra days to make sure
infection did not take over his body since he didn’t have much family support except for his wife that had her own issues, which mainly
stemmed from old age.
“Good morning Mr. Kiser. How are you feeling this morning?” She asked the surprisingly upbeat older man.
“Actually really good. I was up walking this morning again, I am ready to go home and take care of my wife.” He stated.
“Now Mr. Kier, you can’t go home and do all kinds of strenuous activity. I need you to rest. That is a lot of reasons I have not let you go yet. You seem a little stubborn.” Sandra
laughed.
The old man laughed with her. “Me, stubborn, never.” He joked. “I am going to let you go today. I know your wife can’t drive, so I will be taking you after my shift is over. If you want to get dressed and be ready by about two.” She advised.
A smile crept across the old man’s face. “Thank you Miss Sandra, for everything.”
Sandra nodded as she pulled the door open. She was a bit partial of Mr. Kiser. She had been driving to get his wife and bringing her up there and taking her home after her shift every few days. She had gotten to know both of them very well.
Sandra looked at her watch and saw that time was passing rather slowly for the day, it was only one o’clock. It had felt like she had been there for days.
Sandra finished up the paperwork of the few that she had decided to release today and went and delivered the care instructions to them. She made her way to Mr. Kiser’s room.
“Ready sir?” Sandra asked.
“Yes ma’am.” He belted out. All of the nurses and doctors had come to like Mr. Kiser. He was a sarcastic old man that made jokes about everything. Some of the nurses would go check on him and make extra trips to his room just to hear what he would say next. He made the whole floor a bit brighter with his infectious smi
le and the quick wave of his hand when he would walk by you that made him look like he was a mean old man and then he would turn around and ask if it made him look mean and tough.
Sandra called for a wheelchair for the man as hospital procedure. “I don’t need a damn wheelchair.” He told her. “I know, but they have to wheel you out. Standard procedure. You know that.” She told him.
He plopped down in the chair and gave her a look of disapproval. “Mr. Kiser, we sure are going to miss you.” Said the nurse wheeling him out.
“Well, I am going to miss all you ladies as well as the doctors. My wife doesn’t like my jokes very much as y’all do here.” He laughed. “I am anxious to see her though.”
Mr. Kiser raised his hand to his brow as the sun hit his face. Sandra asked the nurse to wait with him while she retrieved her car and pulled up closer.
She rounded the corner to see Mr. Kiser standing there out of the chair when she pulled up.
“Mr. Kiser, you are supposed to be sitting.” She told him opening the passenger side door.
He waved his hand at her and sat down in the seat of Sandra’s car. She thanked her co-worker and made her way to the other side. She sat down and told Mr. Kiser to buckle up. He looked at her for a moment and reached back and pulled his belt across him.
“You used to be a cop, you know the law.” Sandra laughed. Mr. Kiser waved his hand again. “These cops ain’t gonna give me no ticket. They know how mean I am.”
Sandra laughed at his comment of being mean. “You have them fooled, don’t you?”
“Don’t you ruin my rep.” He spat back quickly. Sandra laughed at his joke as she pulled into his drive way. She got around and opened his door. Mr. Kiser stepped out just as his wife had made it out of their squeaky old screen porch door.
“Oh my goodness. You’re home. I am so glad you are home.” She cried as she slowly tried to make her way down the steps to them.
“Oh woman, just stay up there, I’m coming that way.” Mr. Kiser
instructed her.
Mrs. Kiser stayed on the porch and waited for them. Sandra helped both of them into the house. She sat Mr. Kiser down into the large recliner that he was headed towards.
“So glad to be in my chair.” He said in relief. Mrs. Kiser stood over him crying. She bent down and kissed him square on the mouth. Sandra almost cried with the sweetness that they showed each other.
“Do y’all need anything?” Sandra asked the sweet old couple.
“No, I think we are okay. I can make sandwiches.” Mrs. Kiser stated. “You don’t have anything to cook?” Sandra questioned them. “No, I can’t cook much these days with my arthritis and he doesn’t need to be up cooking.” She told her.
“I have cooked for the last few years.” Mr. Kiser looked up at Sandra. “Mrs. Kiser, what have you eaten since your husband has been gone?” She wondered.
“I have eaten some sandwiches and plenty of spam. I like spam, it is just hard for me to open sometimes.” She told her.
Sandra felt terrible for not paying more attention. “Oh no, this will not do. Give me some time I will be bringing over dinner.”
“You don’t have to do that.” Mr. Kiser waved his hand at her again. Sandra waved her hand back at him. “I have to get my grandkids and then give me a bit and I will be back over.” Sandra confirmed.
Mrs. Kiser thanked her for her generosity and tears streamed down her face as she sat down in the chair next to her husband.
Sandra hurried to get to the school. She quickly got out, knowing that she was running a few minutes behind. She entered the school and watched other children run past her. She scanned the faces of the little ones looking for her grandson and
granddaughter. With no sign of them and the children dwindling down to very few, she began to panic.
“Ma’am, have you seen the
Shrewsbury kids?” She asked one of the teachers guiding the children to go their separate ways.
“They were right here a bit earlier. May want to check the office.” She offered.
Sandra hurried to the office and opened the door. Both of them sat quietly reading in chairs in front of the long desk. Sandra breathed a sigh of relief and hugged them both, smashing their books against their bodies.
“Grandma! You are squishing my pages.” Her granddaughter spat out. Sandra let them both go. “We weren’t going anywhere gramma.” Her grandson told her.
Sandra held both of their hands and guided them out. “I know we usually do something special for y’all after I pick y’all up, but today we are going to do something special for someone else.” She explained.
They both looked at her with a disappointed expression. “Everything is not about y’all. We are going to go cook dinner for some older patients of mine and take it to them.”
The two children did not look enthused, but went along with it and helped once they made it to Sandra’s house. They cooked up some chicken, mashed potatoes, cornbread with butter, and a mass amount of
homemade banana pudding. They took large bowls and platters of each thing they made and covered it with aluminum foil and made their way down the few blocks over to the Kiser’s.
The two children followed their grandmother to the door and waited for someone to answer her knock. An older woman opened the door and squealed with delight at the sight of the two children. Sandra smiled at her and invited herself in with the heavy platter of chicken.
“Set everything right here guys.” Sandra instructed. “Oh my gosh, Miss Sandra. This was not necessary. It smells great.” Mr. Kiser made his way to the kitchen table.
Sandra began uncovering the platters and looking for plates in the cabinets. She grabs two plates and set them on the table.
“I want you two to have a
wonderful hot dinner together. Mrs. Kiser, will you be able to cover this up and put it in the fridge and save it for tomorrow?” Sandra asked.
“Yes, I can. Did you two help with all of this?” She asked the children. Both of them smiled and nodded. Mrs. Kiser covered her mouth and tears streamed down. “Thank you very much.” She told them.
Both of her grandchildren gave the old woman a hug. Sandra and the children left them to have their first dinner together in a while.
“Gramma that was nice.” Sandra’s grandson said on their way out. “The woman can’t cook, and has been eating sandwiches since Mr. Kiser has been in the hospital with cancer.” Sandra explained.
Both of the children felt bad for the older couple. “We should take them more food grandma.” Her
granddaughter told her.
“I took them enough for a couple of days. I will probably go back later this week and take them some more.” She said.
“Can we help?” She asked. Sandra smiled and nodded, happy that her grandchildren were learning how to help people that couldn’t help themselves.
The three made it back to Sandra’s just as their mother pulled into the drive. The two ran to their mother and began spouting off what they had done that day, and telling her about Mr. and Mrs. Kiser. She tried to listen to them both and nodded trying to show that she understood what they were talking about. Then they ran into the house.
“What in the world was that?” Her daughter asked. Sandra explained the situation and what they had done. Both of them were very proud of the kids for being so generous and wanting to help.
Sandra, now left to herself, decided to make a few more things she could take to the Kiser’s the next day. By the nights end, she had made two pies, a lasagna, a tater tot casserole and Shepard’s Pie. It should be enough to last them for a few nights of dinners along with dessert. Sandra was proud that she could help them out and was excited to be able to get this to them. She would bring the kids home tomorrow and let them help deliver it. However, it was time for her to rest up for her day tomorrow. She had two surgeries to help with tomorrow and a few more people to release.
Sandra laid down on the couch and flipped on the TV. It was nice to r
elax and get off of her feet for a while. She fell asleep watching a lifetime movie. Her phone automatically went off for her normal scheduled time to get up and Sandra jumped and sat up. She looked around and realized she had fallen asleep on the couch. She showered and dressed in her favorite scrubs with unicorns and rainbows printed on them. She pulled her curly hair back into a ponytail and
practically skipped out of the house with happiness that this was Friday. She made her way to the hospital and into surgery. Her daily routine was complete in just a few hours and she was ready to start releasing people. She began filling out paperwork and going to notify them and the families. She loved getting to release people, it always seemed to make them happy that they got to take their loved ones home, and the patients themselves were ready to be comfortable in their own surroundings.
Sandra’s day was finally over and she was excited to get to the kids and get home to deliver everything to the Kiser’s. Sandra pulled up to the school and was able to relax for a moment since she was early. She watched the workers from the factory a little ways off taking their breaks and sitting at a picnic table. They all looked so tired and she felt for them, knowing and remembering how it felt to work such a hard job and long hours as they probably had.
A soft ring came from her phone. She picked it up from her lap,
remembering she had not turned it up after leaving work. A picture of her daughter appeared on the screen.
“Hey kid.” Sandra answered. “They let me off early from work, can you believe it?” Her daughter told her.
Sandra laughed at her excitement. “The kids should be getting out in just a minute. You want to just meet us at the house?”
“Sounds good.” She stated before hanging up. Sandra made the routine walk from the parking lot to the school and gathered her grandchildren. “Mom is already off of work and wants to take y’all to do something I think. So we have to hurry.”
Both of the kids ran to the car and belted themselves in without being told. Sandra rushed down the few small streets it took her to make her way to her house and her daughter was waiting. Both kids jumped from the car and ran to hug their mother. Sandra hugged them all goodbye and made her way into the house to gather the food. She was sad that the kids didn’t get to come with, but knew they needed the time with their mom.
