The Longest Night

I have sat in an emergency room several times throughout my ordinary life.  With three active kids, there were a variety of illnesses, sports injuries and accidents. We always took care of them.  If they needed to go to the ER, both of us would take them there, sit, wait, bring them home and nurse them back to health.  If they were hospitalized, we would take turns staying at the hospital.  I had the day shift; my husband had the night shift.  It was always a “we,” never just a “me.”  Now suddenly I had to make the decisions alone.  Was this a foreshadowing of things to come?

We were ushered into a waiting room where I had to sign surgical permission forms.  There was no question in my mind at this time; my husband was hurt so therefore, fix him!  By this time my other brother in law had joined us.  My husband was in surgery and they asked us now to move to the surgical waiting room.  It was the middle of the night.  There wasn’t a soul around in the area.  It was dark and quiet which matched the cold and bleakness outside the windows where we sat.  Thankfully one of my brothers in law called my home and talked to my in laws and gave them the horrific details.  They decided that they would wait until morning to tell my daughter and then join us at the hospital.   As we waited, various police officers came down to where we were sitting.  They were all as visibly shaken as we were.  Time ticked on so slowly just like in a dream.  Was this a dream?  I kept waiting for someone to pinch me and tell me to wake up, but it never happened.

We live and work in the same town that is our community.  It never dawned on me that my husband’s accident would be on TV or in the newspaper or on the internet.  At some point during the night, my brother in law suggested that I call my sons so they would not receive the news on their dad’s accident this way.  We agreed to wait until we knew the outcome of the first surgery.  I am forever grateful to have had my brothers in law with me throughout this night.  I have known them since they were young kids and they have grown into such wonderful, strong individuals who are pillars of support and never failed to be there for me or my children throughout this whole ordeal.  

I also knew once the surgery was over, we had to prepare for more to come.  While we sat and waited, I was trying to collect my thoughts.   My mind wandered back to work and I remembered the vase with the beautiful red and white tulips sitting on my desk that my husband had just sent me the day before.  My coworker said that it was just so heartbreaking seeing them sit there as a sad reminder that my life may never return to what it was before.

Finally the first surgery was over.  It went as well as could be expected.  The doctor told us with a head injury, you have to wait until the patient is awake to see the final outcome.  We were then escorted to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, which became my second home for several weeks.  They were waiting for some items to be delivered via helicopter for the second surgery to repair the tears in the aorta.  It was becoming daylight.  We could see the sun beginning to come up through the windows of the waiting room.  The longest night was turning into the longest day.