Chapter 8

We'd just come through town and were about a half mile from our street when we had to pull over for an ambulance with its sirens and lights going. They slowed down to make the turn and Bev looked at me.

"I don't like that. It could be our place or someone at the Bells."

I sprayed some gravel as I got back on the main road and took the corner about twice as fast as normal.

It's a two mile drive from the intersection to our driveway. Everything looked quiet as we drove by the Bell ranch. We were just getting ready to turn into our place when I saw some flashing lights heading towards us up the driveway. I straightened out and continued past it, pulling over on our side of the street, pointing the wrong way. We both turned around in time to see the back of the ambulance as it headed away from us. It was a van conversion with full double doors and no windows so all we saw was white doors with EMT painted on them.

I backed up and headed down the drive. We did our share of bouncing and sprayed a good amount of dirt as I raced to the house. Bev was calling Mom on her cell. She left a message that we were just getting home and saw the ambulance and that we were going to see what was going on at the house and figure out what to do. Call me as soon as you get this.

Mom's car and Dad's truck were both where they belonged. I noticed that the front door wasn't closed behind the screen door. It was open about a foot.

Bev took off towards the kitchen while I took the three steps to the front porch in one jump. The screen wasn't closed all the way. The spring had pulled it in towards the latch without going far enough to actually latch it. I had gotten used to pushing it in as I went through it years ago, as had everybody else in the family. Just one of those things we all did without thinking, at first so we wouldn't have to put out the money for a spring assembly right away, then because we figured we'd solved it without having to go to all that trouble.

I must really be worried for my mind to go through all that just because the screen door wasn't closed all the way I thought as I let it close behind me.

I pushed the front door out of the way and stepped inside just in time to see Bev come into the hallway from the kitchen. It's kind of a three-way intersection there, with the hall, the kitchen door and an open part of the living room all meeting at the same place.

"Nobody here," she said.

"Did you check the bedrooms?"

"No, but I don't think we're going to find anyone. The place just feels empty."

We ran down the hall. My door was open. I had Vicky's door open and was leaning into the room before it occurred to me that she might have Kyle in there and not enjoy me walking in on them. The room was empty.

"Nobody here," Bev said, coming out of my parents' room with Mom's purse. "I found this on the bed with half the stuff spread out. There was a card for the doctor near the phone."

"Is her cell in there?"

"Uh huh."

"Did you try Vick?"

"Yeah. She didn't know anything. They're next door and are coming over."

She went back into the room and came right out. She was looking at a card in one hand and dialing with the other.

"Hello. My name's Beverly Hendrix. We just got home and saw an ambulance leaving our home. There's nobody here but I noticed the doctor's card near the phone. Can I speak to him? ... I see. Is there any way you can get in touch with him? ... Oh, that would be great. It's probably Burt Hendrix. His wife's name is Maria. Thank you so much." She gave her phone number and ended the call.

"That was the answering service. They'll find out what he knows and call back."

Her phone rang and she answered, "This is Bev. Actually it's Palmer but the Hendrixes are my legal guardians. I just figured it would be less hassle to give the same last name as the patient to your nurse ... I realize that, but I thought she was your nurse when I said it. That's beside the point. Can you tell me anything about where they are? Oh, for God's sake. Will you talk with their son? He's right here."

She gave me the phone.

"Hello, this is Val."

"Val, this is Dr. Ulster. I'm treating your father. I hope you understand, I can't give out information to someone who isn't an immediate relative."

"That's fine. We'll get that straightened out because my parents have full guardianship of her and I figure she's about as close as you can get without spending nine months inside Mom. Right now, I'm looking for my parents. I assume they were in the ambulance that pulled out of our driveway just as we got home and I'm starting to get worried. Do you know where they went? And what's wrong?"

"They're here at County. I got here a few minutes ago and they took your father in for some tests. Your mother called me earlier this afternoon and said that he had severe stomach pains and I had her call for an ambulance. You're welcome to come over here and keep your mother company but I can't tell you when we'll be able to actually tell you something."

"Thank you. Any special place we need to go?"

"Come in the main entrance and take the elevator to the fifth floor. When you get off, turn right and you'll see the waiting area. Your mother's there now and I'll make sure she's expecting you."

"Thanks. You might ask her about Bev when you talk to her."

"I will."

I hung up and was handing Bev her phone when I heard the kitchen door slam shut. Vicky was in the hall coming towards us when I turned around.

"It's Dad," I said. Mom called the doctor and told him Dad had severe stomach pain. The doctor told her to get him to County Hospital. I'm surprised they got there this quick. They took Dad in for some tests and they don't know anything yet. They must have bypassed emergency because he's up on the fifth floor."

Kyle had followed Vicky into the hallway. "That's the cancer ward," he said. "The whole fifth floor and most of the sixth are for cancer. My grandmother died there last year."

"I'm sorry about your grandmother," I said, "but thanks for the information. That explains why they skipped the emergency room."

"They're real good with emergencies down there," he said, "but they don't know anywhere near as much about cancer."

"Well, I don't mean to be insensitive, but I don't want the same result for my dad that your grandmother got. First thing is to get down there. Is everyone coming?"

They all nodded their heads.

"Bev, did you see Mom's keys in the purse?"

"They're on the hook next to the back door. I saw them on the way in."

"I'll take Vicky in my Tundra," Kyle said.

"That's fine. I want something big enough in case Mom wants to come home with us or they release Dad. I can just see him lying in the back of my truck after getting out of the hospital."

I did notice that Kyle was calling the Tundra "his". I warned Grace about that the day we bought it. I wondered if she was aware he was claiming it. Not my worry.

I went to the refrigerator to grab some water and decided to take enough for all of us. There was a small cooler out on the porch and I threw a half dozen bottles inside. We made sure the doors were locked, the screen door was shut all the way and took off. I waited a bit for the dust to die down from Kyle's exit before we made our way down the driveway.

It took us almost fifteen minutes to get to the hospital, then another few to find a parking space. I know the ambulance didn't have to worry about parking but it sure didn't seem that long from the time we saw them leave till the doctor told me Dad was being checked out. I guess they really hauled ass.

I grabbed the cooler and took Bev's hand as we crossed the parking lot.

"I thought you had his pain under control," she said to me.

"You and me both. I've asked and every time I do, he says it's bad but he can handle it. He's sleeping and his appetite is almost normal."

"I've noticed. Have you tried to do anything more about the pain since you talked to the doctor today?"

"I've tried and it feels like I'm getting some resistance. I've just kept a general 'don't let the pain get too bad' order in place since he told us he was sick and it wasn't any problem to implement or keep going. Now, when I try to do something more, it's fighting me."

"What's fighting you?"

"The cancer. It's like it's got a life of its own and it wants to survive."

We were in front of the elevators and Bev pressed the UP button. She pulled me to the right after one of them dinged.

The doors opened and there was an orderly standing next to a gurney with an old woman on it. We both stopped short and I said, "We'll take the next one."

"Come on. If you wait for an empty one, you'll be waiting forever."

We got on and Bev pressed 5.

I let go of Bev's hand and gently put my hand on the old woman's arm. She turned her head and smiled at me. I could see that even that simple thing took a lot of energy.

"I hope you feel better," I said to her.

"The only way that's going to happen is when the Lord takes me home with him. This body's too old and in too much pain." I had to lean over to hear the words as she taxed her strength to communicate to me.

"Well, if that's what it will take, I wish you luck," I said.

She struggled to lift her arm from the far side of her body and place her hand over mine. She smiled and now I could see most of her teeth were missing. At that moment, she looked as beautiful as any bride. "God bless you," she said. Then she took a deep breath, laid her head down, closed her eyes and let it out. Her hand relaxed, just resting on me rather than holding onto mine. I picked it up and moved it over to her stomach.

"I think she's gone," I said to the orderly. He was looking at the elevator display and didn't do anything. Bev tapped him on the arm, got his attention and pointed at the old woman. It took a second for him to realize what was going on, then he sort of dove at her gurney. There was a ding and the doors opened. Bev and I got off the elevator.

We turned the corner and saw Mom sitting on a couch with Vicky and Kyle. She started to rise and I made a motion with my hand to push her back down.

"Oh, Val, I'm so glad you got back. He's still in with the doctors and they haven't told us anything."

I took Mom's hand as Bev sat down on the other side of her from Vicky and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. She put Mom's purse on her lap and Mom let go of me to hold onto it.

"Well, we're here now. What happened? I thought he was doing better?" I said.

"You know how stubborn your father can be, Val. He's been in a lot of pain lately and hasn't said anything about it. When I've noticed and said something, he's just blown it off and told me he was fine or he just needed to rest a bit. I guess it finally got so bad he couldn't take it. He told me he's been feeling worse and worse over the past few weeks while we were waiting for the ambulance to arrive."

"Dammit. I can't fix something if nobody will tell me there's a problem."