Bob
was right, but Pat wasn't sure how she would have made it through the
last few days without them.
Pat
and Katie covered the 10 miles to the hospital in an eerie silence. But
Pat's emotions rode a roller-coaster and her mind filled with questions.
How is he? How did this happen? What did that woman on the phone say?
Will he be conscious? I should call the children...but I don't know anything.
As
Katie drove up to the emergency entrance, she told Pat, "I'll go park
the car and be right with you." But Pat never heard. She was out of the
vehicle and into the hospital leaving the car door as well as Katie's
mouth wide open.
"I'm
Pat McGrew," she said to the first person she encountered at the desk.
"I was told my husband's here. Where is he? I want to see him."
"Mrs.
McGrew. Yes. If you'd have a seat, please, I'll let the doctor know you've
arrived."
Too
nervous to sit, Pat paced in front of the desk. "Is there a phone I might
use?"
The
woman pointed to a table in the waiting area. "Just dial nine first."
Pat
walked to the phone and picked up the receiver. "Who should I call?" she
wondered out loud. "Mac? Anne?" Finally, undecided, she simply set the
phone back on its cradle, dropped her head into her lap and prayed.
Bob
and Katie walked in together, just in time to hear Dr. Whorley introduce
himself to Pat. "These are our friends. They're here with me," she said
possessively, taking Bob's arm in case the doctor had ideas of excluding
them. Dr. Whorley led the group to a private conference room.
"Mom,
let's go out for dinner tonight," Mac proposed on Saturday afternoon,
bringing his mother back to now. Pat, Anne and Lisa were writing thank
you notes at the kitchen table. Pat had drifted silently away.
"Great
idea," Anne said. "I think it would do you good to get out of the house."
"Besides,
I'm getting tired of casseroles, Jell-O and chocolate cake," Gregg said.
"I'll call one of the Johnson girls to come stay with Allison," Anne said.
"Then we can go somewhere and have a drink and talk about what you're
going to do after we all leave tomorrow."
"Oh,
I don't know," Pat started to protest.
"You
don't have a vote," Mac said. "Anne, call Murphy's and get us a reservation.
Let's see, there are si..five of us. Make it for 6:30. We can all be ready
by then, right?"
"I
guess," his mother replied.
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