Having Company
SETTING THE STORY: Very often, going to the hospital involves facing some unknown procedure, trying to maintain a little control, and dealing with your well-meaning visitors.
My aunt was due at the hospital early that morning. We left the house before six, making sure to beat the traffic.
It was a common procedure from the perspective of the hospital staff, uncommon for the patient. My aunt was going to have radiation to shrink a tumor in her brain. First, she would have a ring fitted to her head with small screws, then later in the morning she would have the radiation.
My uncle expressed his concern by arranging for my aunt to have company, and doing the driving. I was the designated company. I would sit in her room, while my aunt rested, following the radiation.
It would be a blue summer day in Houston. We left the house at five-thirty and arrived at the hospital by six. If my aunt felt apprehensive about having the ring fitted, she didn't mention it. Instead she asked about my breakfast, as soon as we had checked into her room, and my uncle had gone to work. I assured her I had eaten before we left the house.
It turned out that having the ring placed was simpler than it sounded and quickly done.
"Does it look terrible?" my aunt asked, when we returned to her room.
"No," I replied, truthfully.
My aunt was reclining carefully against her pillow when the first visitors arrived, a man and a woman.
"How long have they kept you waiting?" the man said, loudly, though, in reality, it had not been long.
"It's always the same," he continued, ignoring the nurse who came in to check my aunt's vital signs. "Someone should let the doctor know, see if he can speed things up."
His harangue was interrupted when the orderly came to fetch my aunt for the procedure.
"You should stay here," my aunt told me, but I accompanied her to the room where she would have the radiation.
"Don't come inside," she stated, when we reached the door.
"Why not?"
"You never know what will happen to you."
"I don"t think the radiation lingers in the air," I said, but I obeyed her, stepping out, seeing that she was concerned about me.
The procedure itself was uncomplicated, and the ring was removed. As with most procedures, some people experience side-effects, and it is important for the patient.to rest afterward.
A group of my aunt's friends came to see her shortly after lunch. I exchanged glances with my aunt as they came into the room.
"Oh, you don't look bad at all," one of them said.
"You look much better than I expected."
"I heard you were going to have a ring"
"Let me see where they attached it."
"Did it leave a mark?"
"How long until you know the results?"
"Did you have lunch?"
"Is the doctor coming to see you?"
"Did it hurt?"
"When do you get to go home?"
"You really don't look bad at all."
"Why isn't the doctor coming to see you?"
"You might be well enough to come over on Friday.”
"Did you hear what happened last weekend?"
They proceeded to tell her, and tell each other, at length, what had happened last weekend.
When they had gone, my aunt said in her direct way, "You should have some tea. I saw a machine down the hall." I rose, conforming to her request, intending to bring her back a cup,
Having ensured my comfort, my aunt settled back on the bed. "Thank God they have gone," she said, quietly breathing a sigh of relief.