Chapter 30: The Hammer Falls

I am in gym class, outside doing track. I am with a small group of people practicing to throw javelins. My back is to the school, so I don’t notice the Principal walk up until he addresses me, saying, “Trent, can you come with me, please? There is something we need to discuss.”

I turn to see him and am a bit surprised. I haven’t done anything wrong, and all of my employees are doing quite well in school. I have no clue what he wants. He directs me over to the bleachers at the tennis courts, and we take a seat. His sombre mood is deafening. Kids all over the field notice it. When we get seated, he says, “I don’t know how to tell you this other than just saying it. There was a problem with your grandmother. She is in the hospital, and it doesn’t look good.”

I am in complete shock. This isn’t supposed to happen until next year. I can’t help but wonder if I added that much stress in her life. Worse yet, in my first life, Mom was the one that stayed with her day and night in the hospital. Mom helped Gran through this. This time Mom is in jail.

The first time, Gran suffers a few months in the hospital but lives through it. She dies five years later. This time, I have no clue what is going to happen. I had plans to ensure she would have people there for her, but that was assuming she wouldn’t be in the hospital for another year. I am not ready for this.

It was Mom that helped Grandpa cope, so he could be there for Gran. Sam had never seen any hardship in his life and couldn’t handle it in the slightest. He just pretended as if everything was normal. He buried himself in work and renovating the car. I didn’t know how to fix things so they would happen the same way. I needed Gran to live through this.

Mr. Hardy gives me a minute to compose myself then continues, “Your Grandpa is at the hospital now. Unfortunately, we have nobody that can drive you. I would suggest staying the day in school and getting homework from your teachers. Take a few days off to be with your Grandma.”

“I have my bike here and will be leaving as soon as I get a chance to talk with Carol.”

I point over to where she is practicing the discus. He nods his head in agreement. There is nothing much a person can say in situations like this, so I excuse myself and head over to Carol.

I pull her to the side of the field so we can talk privately, then tell her, “Something is terribly wrong. Gran is in the hospital. This shouldn’t happen until next year. I’m freaking out. I’m not prepared for this.”

She pulls me in for a hug. I listlessly hug her back. Holding me, she says, “I take it you are taking off for the hospital.”

“Ya, the principal said to take a few days off and take care of the family. I need you to collect homework for me. Tell Sensei I will inform him as soon as I know when I will be back in school. We can do Iaito as soon as I get back.”

She lets go of me, saying, “Go on. I’ll let everybody know. We will take care of everything that we can. Expect us all to come by for a visit. I’ll make sure we are coordinated so she doesn’t get swamped all at once. She is our Gran now too.”

On the way out of the school, I stop at the office long enough for them to know they can let Carol into my locker for her to collect my books.

When I get to the hospital, I find the room with no problem. Grandpa is sitting beside Gran, looking like somebody punched the wind out of him. Grandma is hooked up to a heart monitor and has an oxygen mask. The volume of the oxygen is set high enough that there is no way to hear her weak voice.

I know Grandpa well enough to know not to ask him what is going on. He is too stressed and can’t answer anyway.

When the nurse comes in to check on Gran, I tell Grandpa, “Tell the nurse that she should answer my questions as if I were you.” He just looks at me, confused. I expound, “Somebody with a clear and level head needs to know what is going on. Normally that is Gran. You are in shock and aren’t thinking clearly. Sam is in denial and would likely not function if he sees Gran. That leaves me. I have the brains, finances and will to deal with this. You need to let the medical staff know that they have to inform me of what is going on.”

Grandpa just nods his head for the nurse to see. She is intelligent enough to know that it is his only means of communicating at the moment. She tells me, “I will make a note and inform the doctors involved.”

I give her a half-smile and say, “Thank you. Is there a place where I can make some long-distance calls? Somebody needs to phone her children. If it is possible, I would like to read her chart before I start phoning. There is no point in phoning if I don’t know anything.”

“The chart uses technical terms. I doubt you will understand it.”

“Est non a forsit”

“Pardon me?”

“It’s Latin for, ‘it’s not a problem.’ most technical, medical words are Latin.”

“You speak Latin?”

“Only enough to understand the chart and do some engineering.”

“How old are you.”

“Why? Are you looking for a date? If that is the case, my girlfriend will be mad.”

She laughs and says, “At least you’re able to keep your sense of humour.”

That is all the flirting I do with her. She isn’t a looker, but it is nice to take my mind off of things even if it is only for a minute.

She gives me the chart, and it reads:

Stage 4 Asthma

COPD

57% Aveoli loss

What that means is her asthma is now in a state where she is permanently having an asthma attack. I’m hoping it is only a mild one. COPD is a lung disease caused by smoking. Aveoli are cauliflower looking things that line the lungs. They are where the oxygen and carbon dioxide transfer between the air and the blood. 57% Alveoli loss means her lungs are 57% dead. What is even worse is that means she has to stay on a high dosage of oxygen. The added oxygen dries out the lungs killing more Alveoli. She isn’t going to make it out of the hospital alive.

This is how she died the first time only it wasn’t supposed to happen for another five years. I wasn’t around for this in her first life. My parents refused to come down to Victoria unless they absolutely had to. Dad didn’t get along with Mom’s family. We did visit twice a year when I was little. When my sister started complaining about having to go to Victoria, we stopped coming.

The only thing I could think of is if it was Mom that convinced Gran to quit smoking, and she did it this year. Not smoking could have prolonged her life. By sticking Mom in jail, I killed Gran.

Watching Gran suffer for years caused Grandpa to stop smoking. He saw how painful the last years of her life were and didn’t want to live through it himself. Hopefully, Grandpa will quit this time too. There is a good chance he won’t because Gran is going to die a lot faster and suffer a lot less. I may have shortened his life too.

I phone her two sons, my Uncles. There is no good way to have that conversation. How do you tell a guy that his Mom will be dead in a month or two and that she is going to live a miserable life in extreme pain the entire time?

I phoned Donny first. His wife answers, and I asked her if he was home. He was. I was hoping he wasn’t so I could tell her instead.

Donny gets on the line and asks, “What’s up?”

“You better sit down.”

“That doesn’t sound good. Did you throw Sam in jail too, or is it Mom and Dad this time.”

Donny is a real asshole. I don’t think I ever heard him say two kind words his entire life. If you told him of your dreams and aspirations, he would proceed to tell you how dumb you were for wanting such foolish things. It didn’t matter what your dreams were. Every time I saw him, I wanted to pound his face in. I still do, not knowing how I resisted the temptation. What is worse is I know as soon as Gran dies, he will be a money-grubbing asshole trying to convince Grandpa to leave him a bigger chunk of the inheritance.

“You’re an asshole. A child gets assaulted, and you blame the child. Go fuck yourself.”

“There is no need to swear. You are just proving that you deserved the lickings they gave you.”

“You are a dumb ass. I was receiving gang beatings. No kid deserves to be beaten daily by a large group of people. You are making it, so I have no choice but to tell you in a negative light.”

“Then stop spreading your lies and get to the point.”

“Shut the fuck up and put your wife back on the line.”

She starts right in on me too.

“You shouldn’t talk to your elders like that.”

“I talk to everybody how they ask me to. Your husband was twisting things and trying to wind me up, so I gave him what he asked for. Now, are you going to be reasonable, or am I going to hang up and not tell you the important news I phoned to tell you?”