I've been waiting for that phone call for a year and a half. I knew that when I left for Cullowhee for college, I would eventually get a call saying someone in the family had died or was badly hurt, and when could I spare a minute to drive down? That call came yesterday. My beautiful sister Kate was in the hospital. My beautiful sister Kate was in surgery. I had no choice. I threw clothes in a bag and left Cullowhee.
On Tuesdays, I do not have class until 2:05 p.m. I gracefully lay around the house all morning catching up on homework and "Bret Michaels: Life as I Know It" episodes while Morgan is out in classes. I have class with Chris at 2, and Morgan joins us in our 3:35 class with Professor Guinness. The morning of "that phone call" I was awoken an hour before Morgan's alarm was supposed to go off. It was Ma.
"Is someone dead?" I asked, half kidding and half serious because it had better be important for someone to call before the gracious hour of 9 and after 1 a.m.
"Are you sick?"
"Yes," I growled in my gravelly voice. "What is it?"
"Has Father called you?"
"No."
"I'm on my way now. Kate's in the hospital. She has appendicitis. She's in surgery now."
By the time I had hung up the phone, I had tears in my eyes. Immediately, I reached out and wrapped my arms around now very awake Morgan.
"Lex, what is it? Hey, talk to me! Talk to me," he coaxed while I sobbed in his shoulder.
"It's Kate."
Of everyone, it was my beautiful, strong, intelligent, sister who I loved more than anything. She was in pain. Now. And I was three hours away.
Her appendix hadn't burst. Her situation wasn't life-threatening. She wasn't going to die. Morphine would eventually dull her pain. But as I sat there staring at the wall thinking, I realized I couldn't just sit in my apartment and go to classes pretending everything was ok. Instead, I leaped out of bed, threw on some clothes, and pulled my small suitcase from the closet. I shoved a pair of jeans, a shirt, clean underwear, my phone charger, a book, and snacks into the bag then locked eyes with Morgan.
"I know you're gonna say no," I said, "but I'm gonna ask anyway: will you go with me?"
He sighed. "No, baby. I can't."
I nodded. "I figured. Take care of Sparta. I hope to be back at least by ten tonight."
I ran out of the apartment, jumped into Little Honda, and hit the road.
The trip was a long one even though I shaved off half an hour of my usual destination time. My head was pounding from being sick all week. The weather was horrible with rain all through the state and wicked fog. And there was the time, ticking and ticking. While I was getting closer and closer to Kate, I felt farther and farther away as Little Honda swerved and sped through the mountains. I could not push that car hard enough. Thankfully, I avoided all police and arrived at the hospital five minutes after Kate was boarded up in the pediatrician ward.
After looping around the full parking deck, I hoofed through the one half of the hospital, across the walkway, up a flight of stairs, through the entrance of the main hospital, and into the gift shop to buy Kate a fuzzy animal. There! A bunny!! Kate had always wanted a bunny for a pet and here was a black & white floppy eared bunny!
Holy crap, that thing was expensive, too! No worries. Anything for Kate! I stood at the register where a hospital employee was before me wanting to purchase two items by deducting the money from her paycheck. Well the woman behind the counter couldn't find the "deduct from paycheck" forms. She and her also elderly coworker spent nearly five minutes trying to locate the forms while I impatiently cursed my luck desperately wanting to get to Kate! Finally, I was up and I handed over the bunny. The woman then asked where I had got the rabbit from.
"Over there on the shelf."
"Which shelf?" She walked around the register and over to the corner of the store where I had found the bunny.
I pointed. "That one."
"Right well let's see how much he is. We're having a sale on the stuffed animals." The woman crossed the store to her coworker. "Is this bunny on sale?"
"That one's 20% off."
"Ok, how do I type that in the computer?"
"Like this."
Another two minutes... I was about to just throw a twenty on the counter and say, "Here! It's a donation! Thanks, bye!"
"Is this a present for someone upstairs, a patient?"
Nope, I should have answered, I buy my Christmas presents at the local hospital.
"Yes," I said instead.
"Ok I'll just gift wrap it."
I mentally slapped my hand to my forehead. Fine, Kate will have something fun to open. Whatever. Just put the bunny in a bag and let me go see my very ill sister, woman!
"Is it a boy or a girl? How old are they?"
"It's for my fifteen-year-old sister," I added, my knees bouncing from impatience.
"Ok, I just want to be make sure I got the right age-appropriate bag."
Woman... I don't care if it's got
ducks on it. I don't care if its
Elmo.
Put. The. Bunny. In. A. Bag! AAHHH!!!!!
The woman handed me a
red polka-dotted bag. "I put him tail first with the paper open so he can breathe," the cashier woman told me.
I paused a moment to stare before smiling brightly and nodding. "Thanks!" I sprinted from the gift shop and headed to the elevators.
Third floor. Left. Right. Left again. Pediatrics!
FINALLY! I pushed open the door... well, I would have pushed it open if it hadn't been LOCKED! A nurse came and opened the door, and I spat out a room number then power walked down to 3106. I saw Seth, Kate's boyfriend, first. He was sitting, half asleep in a chair half in and half our of the hospital room. Then, there was Kate. She lying in a hospital bed wearing a spotted gown with a grayish pale face and dull glint in her eyes. This was not my sister!
Ma and Father were also in the room with Ma getting up from another chair to give me a hug. I handed Kate the polka-dotted bag. And she pulled out the bunny. And the look on her face was worth every second I spent down in that gift shop. I hasn't been there all night to hold her hand. I hadn't been there before she'd been wheeled into surgery.
But I had bought her a fuzzy bunny!! I was the ultimate sister!!!
I was able to stay for a few hours to laugh, hang out with my family, eat strangely good hospital food, and be there for Kate before packing up and heading back to the visitor parking garage. Again in the rain, I drove back to Cullowhee and slid into my seat for Human Society nearly 20 minutes late. Exhausted, stressed beyond belief, I listened to my professor talk about the social institution of
family and how important it was for the individual. She talked about how family could be blood or it could be emotional or it could be through marriage. Sitting there with my best friend Chris at my side who is like my brother and Morgan behind me who could be my future husband (
there's always a chance) with my darling sister Kate on the brain, I couldn't think of a
better lesson plan for the day.
***
Kate is doing well and was released from the hospital yesterday. She is at home and is probably sleeping away the morphine. I wish I could be there and I miss her very much. I love you, Kate! You're my brave, brave little sister.
