by Pepper Paris
“Exactly, I knew you’d get it. Might as well have a little fun while I can before I go into the corporate world and have to have regular colors. If it looks horrible on me, you’ll tell me right?”
“Uh, sure. I seriously doubt that anything is going to look bad on you though.”
“Awe, Jay. You’re so sweet. I’m certain that if it looks horrible you’ll know it. Everyone has an opinion. I mean take beards. Sometimes a beard looks really good on someone, but then again I kind of like the short scruffy look. There’s nothing wrong with a beard, but it’s just a little sexier when it’s not three feet long and braided.” Her laugh rang out reminding me of how much I’d missed hanging out with my friends.
“You won’t have to worry about that because doctors aren’t allowed to have long beards. It would be a hygiene problem.” I gave the auto response, but wondered if I was going to be able to make the cut.
She pulled into the visitor parking area of the hospital and put the car into park. She was halfway out of the car before realizing that I was still sitting in my seat.
“Jay, are you okay?” She sank back into the seat and pulled the door closed.
“I want to go in and check on my dad, but I don’t want to deal with all of the remarks my brothers will make.”
Without paying attention to anyone outside of the car, she pulled me into her arms.
“I’ll be right there with you. You’re not alone anymore. If I can deal with the four of you guys, I don’t expect to have any problems with your brothers. You just focus on your dad and let us protect you.” Roxie kissed my forehead.
“You don’t know how horrible my brothers are. They’re nothing like you’re used to dealing with because the other guys like you. Everything out of Noah and Craig’s mouths are a barb meant to hurt in the worse way possible.” I forced the tears back. I couldn’t break down now, my dad needed me.
A determined look filled Roxie’s face, “Well, we’ll see if they can take the same stuff they dish out.”
“They won’t say anything in front of you. It will all be whispered or seem so innocent that you’ll think they didn’t mean for there to be a problem.” I sat up, not wanting to bother her.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’ve got this.” She smiled and took my hand. “We’re not going to leave you to face any of it by yourself.”
I sighed. While her words were reassuring, I couldn’t imagine things not going completely wrong once we were inside.
There wasn’t any point in putting it off because Roxie was expecting me to be comforted.
“Now or never, right?” I pasted on a smile and reached for the door handle.
“Yes, it is.” Her smile was the only thing that made me hope this time it would be different.
We bypassed the front desk and went straight back to the cardiac surgery waiting area.
My mom, both brothers and multiple other aunts and uncles were gathered in the small room taking up most of the space.
“Jay!” Mom exclaimed as she caught sight of me jumping up and hurrying over to us.
“I’m so glad you got here so quickly.” She threw her arms around me with a sniffle.
“Roxie, thank you for bringing him to us.” Mom gave her a quick hug as well before directing us to where she’d been sitting moments ago.
“Of course.” Roxie kept a tight hold on my hand, “How’s it going?”
We stood awkwardly in front of my mom because the seats around her were taken up with relatives.
“He’s still in surgery right now. They say it’s normal for it to take several hours. It was so horrible. We were just walking.” His mom gave a sad smile, “We’ve been trying to get in better shape so we’ve taking a walk every morning together. He was doing just fine until he started feeling short of breath and dizzy.”
“I had no idea what was going on, but he didn’t look right so he sat down on the park bench. I’m so thankful I ignored his protests and called the ambulance.” She wiped away a fresh set of tears with a tissue.
“You did the right thing mom. It was important to get him medical attention as quickly as possible.” I reassured her.
A man in scrubs entered the room, “Is the Marsh family here?” He paused taken aback when the entire room focused on him.
“That’s us.” Noah waved.
“Ah,” He walked around until he was standing in front of Mrs. Marsh. “Ma’am, your husband came out of surgery with flying colors. They’re going to take him to the recovery room and you should be able to see him when they get him settled into a room in the next few hours.”
“We can’t see him now?” Mom asked standing up.
“No ma’am. We have to make sure everything is going okay. Once he wakes up, we’ll let you back. Now would be a good time to get something to eat or take a walk out in the garden.” He suggested.
“I’ll wait.” My mother crossed her arms with determination.
“Why don’t some of you go ahead and get some dinner?” Mom suggested as she glanced at the people gathered around us.
The doctor followed her gaze, “Only immediate family, a spouse or children are going to be allowed in today. The rest of you can visit tomorrow assuming the main doctor allows it.”
He turned to leave as did a few other relatives.
There were still enough people to fill over half the room, but I was able to take a seat across from mom as she settled back in to wait.
“Laura, we’d love to stay, but …” Aunt Beverly trailed off.
“It’s okay, you have things that need your attention at home. Go. If anything changes, we’ll tell you.” Mom gave her a hug without getting up.
As she left a few others made their excuses and all the while promising to come back tomorrow.
I knew that my mom wasn’t going to leave no matter what. Even if she had to sleep out here in the waiting room.
“While I know you’re going to say you’re not hungry, Mrs. Marsh, I’m going to order some pizza.” Roxie offered, “Is there anything you hate?”
Mom shook her head, “No anchovies. Other than that anything goes, dear.”
“All right. I’ll get it going.” She pulled out her phone and started the order.
Roxie hadn’t been around our family very often, but mom had always invited her to our family events because she understood things weren’t great for her at home with her mom and aunt.
Mom was one of the few people in my family that had always believed in me. I’d told her that Roxie and I were dating to keep her from worrying about me, but I hadn’t shared the other information about the fact that I was only one of four guys.
“Jay, I hope you didn’t have to leave any of your exams.” Mom finally focused on me. She was trying to think of something else besides the fact that she wasn’t in there with my dad.
“Nah, I’ll be able to get an extension on the last few that are tomorrow. I wasn’t going to wait another day before coming here.”
“Oh, that’s right, Doctor Jay you’re being paged to save lives.” Craig chuckled.
“In the on-call room with a hot blonde.” Noah added.
I sent a glance in Roxie’s direction, but either she hadn’t heard them or was choosing to ignore them. If she could ignore their banter then I would too, I decided taking a higher road.
“Nope,” I took her hand giving her a smile, “No, blondes at least unless Roxie changes her hair.”
“Well, I’m not changing my hair or visiting a salon until we know your dad is getting better.” She gave me a quick wink.
It was like she was my personal armor to keep my brothers from getting under my skin.
Noah looked at the two of us as he got a mischievous look, “So are the two of you dating?”
Roxie gave my hand a squeeze. “Yep. I even went up to spend Thanksgiving with him last year. He hadn’t been home in forever and talking over the phone or with text messages just wasn’t the same.”
“A little bit of home was just what I needed
.” I exhaled the breath I’d been holding because I knew my brothers might say anything to her.
“He’s not much of a catch, but I guess there’s someone out there for everyone.” Craig shrugged. “Whatever.”
“Craig, be nice to your brother, he works very hard. He deserves to be happy. Roxie is a very nice girl.” Mom reprimanded him.
“He does deserve to be happy, doesn’t he?” Roxie beamed up at me. “I just hope we last as long as you and Mr. Marsh have. How many years have you been together now?”
Mom actually blushed at being the question. “We’ve been together just over thirty years. It certainly doesn’t feel like it’s been that long.”
Roxie seeing that mom was happy talking about them as couple, scooted closer. “How did you meet?”
A laugh erupted from my mom which surprised all of us. “It’s been a while since I told this story, but I hated his guts when we first met.”
“Oh, no. He must have been persuasive because you’re here now. Go on…” She urged Mom to tell the story.
“Well, George wasn’t one to take no for an answer, but his family set us up on a blind date. I had agreed to go out with my friend at the last minute as moral support, but I was supposed to sit at a different table and rescue her if she needed it.”
“He never made it to her table. When he saw me sitting by myself he thought I was his date or that’s what he told me. I think he knew it was the wrong table all along.” She smiled at the memory, “Anyway, he came up and sat at my table and started talking like he’d always known me.”
“’You’ll never believe the day I’ve had.’ Those were the first words out of his mouth. Not Hi or I’m so and so, your date. Just started in on everything that had gone wrong with his day.”
“I was such a shy thing back then that I didn’t know what to do. This strange man was sitting at my table and I didn’t know how to make him leave.”
“Wow! Was he doing it on purpose or was he just being a jerk?” Roxie asked eagerly.
“Oh, he was doing it on purpose. I wasn’t anything to look at back then and he was betting that I wouldn’t do anything to cause a scene. He ordered for both of us and acted like it was perfectly normal to eat dinner with a stranger.”
“I would have been furious if something like that happened to me, but I wouldn’t have been able to keep my mouth shut either.” Roxie grinned at the thought.
“Jay gets his quiet nature from me and not his outgoing father because George ate that entire meal and I swear he didn’t stop talking for more than a minute. It wasn’t like I could get a word in edgewise. Well, I decided that I’d eat my dinner and make him pay for it.”
“What about your friend? Didn’t she notice that there was a man at your table with you?” I asked curious. I’d never heard this part of the story before.
“No, she had someone at her table. Turned out he also had a date and they were both at the wrong table, but she liked him and left with him. That’s when I got angry. I had no way to get home and was stuck with this strange man, and no money for a taxi.” She shook her head, “Things were a little different back then and it wasn’t as dangerous to accept an offer of a ride from someone, but I didn’t want to go anywhere with this obnoxious man.”
“What did you do?” Roxie was eating up the story.
“I excused myself to go to the restroom and snuck out the back. It was a two mile walk in heels through the fields, but I wasn’t about to let him make any more decisions for me. I thought I was shy, but I’d just never had anything to get upset about before that moment.”
“It seemed like only seconds later that I arrived home because I was so worked up, I hadn’t even paid attention to anything, but leaving him behind.”
“Seriously mom, you left dad with the check?” Noah stared at her incredulous.
“Yep. Three days later, flowers were delivered to my home.” She twisted the ring on her left hand, “He’d tracked down my friend through his family and was able to figure out who I was.”
“The card said, ‘Dinner? Let’s start all over again.’ Followed by his phone number and name.”
“I ignored him. He sent flowers every day for two weeks. Finally, he showed up in church and took a seat next to me after the service started. When I realized who it was, it was too late to change seats without making a scene. Then he used all that charm he’s always had to make my mother love him and wrangled an invite to Sunday lunch.”
She got a dreamy look on her face, “By this time, he was starting to grow on me and when he asked for a date, I agreed. He hasn’t shut up ever since. Until today that is.”
“Aw, that is such a cute story. Did he know you didn’t like him?” Roxie questioned before she could dwell on today.
“He knew he was going to have to work for it, but I kept coming up with different things to see how sincere he really was. I even set him up with other blind dates.”
“No, really?” Jay gasp.
“Yep. I made him sit there with someone else on at least three different occasions. Each one of my friends gladly volunteered and while he wasn’t rude to them, he hardly talked to them at all. That’s when I knew it was true love.”
“That is so romantic.” Roxie gushed.
“Did someone order pizza?” A delivery guy called from the doorway.
“Yes, we did.” Roxie jumped up and made sure he was paid.
She placed the pizzas on the small table that held magazines and pushed them to the side, “Now, let’s eat this while it’s hot.”
I’d never seen anyone turn Roxie down and was impressed when she got my mother to eat a piece of pizza without a fight.
“Great job, Rox.” I whispered in her ear.
If my dad had to chase my mom for that long, maybe there was hope for me yet. I just hoped Roxie could hang around long enough for me to get over my insecurities.
-------
When the intern came back an hour later, we were all full and laughing at stories of my dad from over the years.
“Mrs. Marsh? I can take you to see your husband now.” He approached with a smile, “It’s just her for the moment.”
“Mom, if you’re going to stay for the night why don’t we go get your stuff from the house.” I offered. It would give us something to do and she was going to want a change of clothes and a toothbrush.
“Nah, you don’t have to that Jay. Craig and I can grab some stuff for her.”
I grinned, “Sure, if your comfortable digging through her delicates and making sure that she has her favorite things. That is so nice of you to offer.”
Noah frowned, “Um, when you put it that way. Are you okay doing it?”
“I’ll pack you a bag, Mrs. Marsh.” Roxie assured my mom. “Is there anything special you need? Prescriptions?”
“Thank you, Roxie. I appreciate it. I’d probably have three pairs of shorts and no shirts if these hoodlums had their way.” She patted her arm and turned toward us.
“Why don’t you go do that and when you come back we’ll all switch out so you can see your father. Then you can all go home for the night and come back in the morning. No sense all of us being uncomfortable in these hospital chairs.” Mom suggested.
“Sounds like a plan.” I gave her a hug. “Love you.”
“You too, baby.” She smiled sadly at us, “Now, I’m going to see your father.”
“He’s in ICU room #10, when you get back.” The intern offered helpfully. “If those of you who are staying want to move up to the ICU waiting room, it will be a little closer and you won’t have to go as far to visit.”
“Thanks.” Craig grumbled following after them.
Roxie slid her hand into mine bringing me back to the present.
“Whew!” I breathed in relief, “I forgot how much I hate being around my family.”
“Why?” Roxie asked confused as we started to walk out toward the car.
“They’re so mean to me. Everything is a joke to them. I have to watch wh
at I do and say so that they don’t have any ammunition to use against me.”
“Oh, babe, they’re just being brothers. It’s their way of teasing you because they love you.”
“You call that love?” I scoffed, “They’ve made it their life mission to torment me. The things they did to me when we were younger.”
It made me shudder to think about it.
“Aw, babe. I knew you had issues with them, but I had no idea it was that bad. Why didn’t you ever tell us?”
“I felt ashamed. How could I tell you when I let them do all that stuff to me? You won’t have been friends with such a coward.”
“Jay, you weren’t a coward. You were the youngest brother, it happens all the time. I don’t feel any different toward you. I would have been happy to have older brothers and a mom who loved me.”
“Rox, I know it’s horrible, but there are some days I wished, no I prayed to be an only child.” I stared out the window as she drove toward my house.
“There was this one day, we were playing and they convinced me to go down into our basement. It was the one place I was deathly afraid of because it was dark, and cold. I went down because they told me a kitten had gotten stuck down there and needed my help.” I gripped the door handle.
“They’d thrown a kitten down there and when I went to get it, they locked the door. I tried to get out, but they’d put something in front of the door. I spent the entire night down there alone.”
“Didn’t your mom wonder where you were?”
“No, because my lovely brothers told her I had gone to the treehouse to hang out with Carter and Kelly. At some point they came and moved whatever it was blocking the door because when I woke up, the door was cracked open just a little bit.”
“That’s terrible.” Roxie exclaimed reaching for my hand while keeping the other on the wheel.
I just shrugged, it was just one part of the torment that my brothers had done to me over the years. I’d gotten good at staying away from them and had withdrawn into my own world so that I didn’t have to put up with their crap.
