A collapsed Christmas

The surgery

Anne hopped into the car and followed the ambulance to the hospital, but the traffic was terrible, and she was so scared something would happen if she didn’t make it in time to see if they were OK, then her phone rang.

Anne:Hello, who is it, and what do you need?

David:Nice to hear from you too, mom. I just wanted to let you know that they just took Sandra back to remove the pipe.

When Anne heard David’s voice, she was so happy to know that they were safe but not out of the woods. Yet with Sandra, they both have a long way to go.

Anne: OK, I will be there as soon as I can, so just wait for me and are you hurt any and if you are getting taken care of?

When Anne asked if he was hurt, there was a long silence and when he was silent she knew something was wrong with him.

Anne:How did you get hurt and are you getting it taken care of? Because if you’re not, I’m going to beat your f*****g butt. Do you understand me?

David: Mom, I will get taken care of as soon as Sandra is done, plus it’s not that bad, but I have to go. I’ll tell you if anything changes, OK.

Anne: OK, you had better and remember what I said. Do you hear me?

David:I hear you loud and clear. " Don’t worry, I’ll see you when you get here.

After David said that, she hung up, and he knew just then that he was in for it, but David really had to go because a nurse came into the waiting room and stood right in front of him.

David:Can I help you with something or are you going to just stand there and stare at me?

After he said that, she snapped out of whatever days she was in and started talking to him.

Nurse:The doctor wants you to go get an X-ray of your arm, then you can come right back here. It won’t take that long.

When she said that the doctor wanted X-rays on his arm, David wondered why the doctor didn’t come tell him himself.

David:Can you get a doctor for me? Because I’m just curious why he didn’t tell me himself and get me a drink of water. I haven’t had anything in almost a week.

When David asked for the doctor, she looked so mad and just stormed out of the waiting room area saying she would get the doctor for him.

Anne went to the surgery waiting area. The only people she saw were David and a doctor. It looked like they were talking about his arm, so she went to see how he was doing.

Anne:David Louise Tatura, why on earth would you scare the s**t out of me, and what happened to your arm? Tell me now!

As soon as Anne made herself known, they both turned and looked at her. David turned a nice shade of white because he knew that he was in trouble.

David: Mom, it’s not that bad. I promise all I’m doing is check with the doctor if the nurse that came in while I was on the phone with you was actually told to take X-rays of my arm. OK.

Doctor:Mama, it’s true that he was checking to see if I had told a nurse to take X-rays of his arm, but I didn’t, so I have no clue what that nurse was doing, but I will find out.

After the doctor finally finished talking and left the room, she hit David over the head and sat down right next to him and looked at his arm.

Anne:Your arm is broken, and you will need surgery, so tell me why you aren’t having it done and there had better be a good reason.

David:I want to know that she made it through her surgery before I had mine. Then I will have it done and then you can relax some.

He had a good reason, and Anne wasn’t going to tell him that he should have it his way, plus it’s better to have surgery knowing that someone you care about is OK.

Anne:That is a good reason to have one, and I’m glad you found someone to care about, but remember to take care of yourself after she comes out fine.

David:I will know, so all we can do is wait and hope she makes it through the surgery because I can’t lose someone else.

Anne:I know you can’t, but let’s think positive instead of negative. OK, everything will be OK, so don’t worry about it and just lean over on me and get some sleep.

With that, he leaned his head over onto Anne's shoulder like he did when he was little and went right to sleep and, of course, Mandy had to come stomping into the waiting area.

As soon as the car was parked, Mandy got out and ran up to the front desk and asked where the surgery waiting area was and stomped her way towards it, only to find a pasted David and their mom.

Mandy:Have you heard anything about how she is or how the surgery is going?

Anne: No, but your brother is extremely dehydrated and starved, but he won’t let the doctor take care of him until he knows she is in the clear, so for now he is just getting some rest.

Mandy was happy that he was finally getting some rest, because the whole time they were down there he wouldn’t sleep or leave her side.

Mandy: I’m glad that he is finally getting some sleep because all the time they were down there he wouldn’t leave her side.

David has finally found someone to care about, but he needs to take care of himself too, but Mandy knows her brother is way too stubborn to convince.

Mandy jumped out of the car and ran all the way inside the hospital and by the time we caught up with her, she was already in the waiting area with Anne and a sleeping David.

Trevor:How are they both doing because, from the appearance of him, I say not very well and his arm looks horrible.

Anne just sighed and looked at David, then back at him but didn’t say anything, and he just sat down next to her.

Trevor: Don’t worry, they are both fine and will get through this OK, so just enjoy the time we have with him OK.

Anne: I'll tell you how they are. David needs surgery on his arm, but he won’t let it happen until he knows that Sandra is OK, so all we can do is wait.

After she said that, a doctor walked up to us and just said nothing, like he didn’t know if it was OK to talk or not.

Trevor:What do you need, and why are you staring at us like that? " It’s kinda weird, don’t you think?

Doctor:Yes, sorry, my apologies. I have never seen this many people waiting for one person, but anyway, I found out why that nurse came there, and she wanted to be alone with him, but before you say anything, she was fired. Now I will go check on how the surgery is going.

Trevor:Thanks doc, and can you do me a small favor since he is asleep? Can you take him and do his surgery please?

Doctor:Yes I can, but he did say he wanted to wait and see how she is, but his surgery will be before hers, so I can and mama don’t worry, we have the best surgeons here.

Afterward, he said that Anne looked more relaxed than before. Trevor was so glad, but knew it was taking him to get the surgery.

David's arm wasn’t hurting him anymore, so he woke up and looked around, and he was in a recovery room. He was wondering why he was there? Because he had no clue because the last thing he remembered was falling asleep on his mom’s shoulder.

Anne:David, you are awake. " Don’t worry, Sandra is fine and so are you, but the reason you are here is that your dad wanted to get you taken care of, so since you are awake, we can get you to Sandra’s room OK.

David got up and got dressed, asked where Sandra’s room was and walked all the way to her room and sat down in the chair next to her bed.

When Sandra could finally open her eyes, she was surprised to find David right next to her bed in a chair with a cast on his arm and asleep, but he looked so peaceful, but she had so many questions.

Sandra:David Louise Tatura, will you tell me what I am doing in the hospital and what happened? Because the last thing I remember was the building collapsed, and the floor went out from underneath us.

After she was done speaking, he came over and kissed her forehead, which caught Sandra off guard a bit.

David: I’m going to get the doctor, and I’ll be right back. I will send someone to sit with you till I get back and at least you can still yell.

With that, Sandra was left alone, then a small knock came from the door and a woman with some gray hair still looked young but old enough to be her mother.

Anne:Hello, I’m Anne Tatura. If you want to know who I am, I can tell you that my son has been worried, but you know it’s Christmas and you have been asleep for two weeks.

Sandra was thinking, wow, has she been asleep for two weeks? And she knew her mom hadn’t come, and that would have ended badly, to tell the truth. She was glad she was there instead of her own mother.