Darren’s father, Deena, and I arranged for him to have a private room and at the hospital since his insurance only covered the cost for a semi-private room. Even though we’d been told by the doctor that he’d be hospitalized for more than a week, we all agreed the added expense was worth it. We also worked out a schedule so that we weren’t all visiting Darren at the same time. Only two visitors were allowed at a time anyway, so I stayed away while Darren’s family came and went and they did the same during my visits with him.
The first time I went to see Darren after the surgery, he was sleeping. Deena and his parents had visited with him earlier and she’d called and told me he drifted in and out of sleep while they saw him. Even though I knew he was on heavy-duty pain medication, I had hop
