Chapter 17 -- ER
The rest of the week seemed to fly by. When Friday arrived I was still smiling from Emma's triumphant return to the game. I was so happy it was almost unbearable. As I made my way into the office on Friday morning, everyone seemed to notice.
"Are we ever going to be able to pry that silly grin off your face," Nikki called to me as I passed her desk on the way to my office.
"Why would we want do that," Penny countered as she emerged from the coffee room, cup in hand. "I love seeing him smile, Nik."
I gave her a very cliché wink as I continued walking without a word. I placed my bag on the floor next to my chair and fired up my computer as I took a seat at my desk. I loved this game. I loved this office. This felt like where I was meant to be.
The morning passed quickly and as we passed lunchtime, the office seemed a bit chaotic as I observed from my chair. Finally, around 3:30pm I made my way out into the main area to see Nikki and find out what had everybody buzzing around.
"What's going on," I asked Nikki as I reached the back of her circular workstation.
"Emma is worried about Leslie," Nikki informed me. "She was due here for an 11am meeting that she missed without calling."
As Emma emerged from her office, I noticed that Brooke was not in the office either. I wondered if we knew where she was as well. The phone rang at Nikki's desk as Emma made her way towards me. As Nikki answered the phone, Emma and I listened as we were joined by Penny, who had a look of concern on her face. Nikki completed the call and then turned to the three of us as we hovered over her.
"That was Mindy," Nikki informed us. "Leslie is on her way to the emergency room."
"Is she alright," Emma asked quickly.
"Mindy's not sure," Nikki revealed. "She said that she arrived at the house to find an ambulance in front and Leslie being loaded into it. She said the EMTs would not tell her what was going on, only that Leslie had called 911 for help."
"Was Leslie conscious when Mindy saw her," I asked.
"I didn't ask," Nikki admitted.
We all stared at each other for several moments.
"Go to the hospital and take care of Mindy," Penny ordered me. "I will go get Brooke at the open house she is running and be there as soon as I can."
I did not wait to see what else was said, I simply turned and headed for the front door of the office. I sped through the streets wildly on my way to the hospital; all the while hoping Leslie was all right. The lack of information had me unreasonably worried.
I parked in the main lot at the hospital and rushed into the emergency room. Mindy was standing there, crying. I ran to her and held her tightly in my arms. She shook and shivered as she let it all out. I gave her ample time to calm before I questioned her.
"Did they give you any information," I asked.
"Only that she was with a doctor and they would update me when they had something to tell me," Mindy admitted.
Before I could ask my next question, a handsome, young man in a white coat approached us.
"Are you the family of Ms. Adams," the young man asked.
"Yes, I'm her niece," Mindy responded. "Is she alright?"
"Your aunt's appendix have burst," the doctor responded. "We are preparing her for emergency surgery."
Mindy lost it again, crying wildly. I held her tight and stared at the young man, amazed that someone at his age could be a doctor. Mindy clutched me as tightly as she could, more scared than anything.
"I can assure you that this is routine surgery," the doctor added.
Mindy pulled away from me to face him. She was now longer crying.
"Routine," she snapped at him. "You are like 19 and about to operate on my aunt. I would advise that you not use the word routine to try to calm me down."
"I can assure that I am not 19," the doctor replied. "I will update you when the surgery is finished."
Mindy made a move towards him, but I grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her away from the young doctor. I walked her into the waiting area as the doctor disappeared around a corner. We stood there silent for a long time.
I am not sure how long it was before I heard another sound. We stood there, almost frozen, waiting. That all changed when Penny and Brooke came through the doors of the emergency room. Mindy ran to Brooke and hugged her tightly. Penny pulled me aside to get whatever information I had.
"What's going on," Penny asked in a whisper.
"Leslie's appendix have burst," I disclosed. "They are operating on her now."
"That's it," she questioned. "That's all you know?"
"As of right now, yes," I confirmed.
Penny moved past me quickly and made her way to the nurse's station. I watched as she spoke with the young woman seat behind the desk. The discussion quickly changed to Penny being visibly animated, shaking her head from side to side and raising her voice slightly. When Penny finished speaking to the woman, she turned and walked through the doors towards the parking lot. I watched through the window as she pulled out her cell phone and began dialing.
As Penny was talking outside, I made my way over to where Brooke and Mindy where standing. Without any words, they both threw their arms around me and it became an interesting sort of group hug. When they let go, they both looked at me and though I had none, I wished very much at that moment that I had answers for them. We all sat down on the chairs in the waiting room and continued to wait.
Penny returned from outside and sat next to me, across from Brooke and Mindy. She looked at them with sadness on her face.
"The surgery is going to take about another hour," Penny announced. "Emma made some calls and got some information. Apparently, Leslie was in a great deal of pain this morning and was about to call Emma when she collapsed. She had the foresight to dial 911 instead. When they arrived the found her on the floor in the front hall, curled up in a ball in a tremendous amount of pain."
We all took in this information, though I found myself dissecting it all very slowly, one piece at a time. This was good; we had information and a time frame. So we waited, together. I can count the number of cups of coffee that I drank while we sat. We didn't talk much. Penny spent a good deal of time on her cell phone and Mindy took a short nap on my shoulder when she moved to the seat next to me. Brooke just stared at me, with something behind her eyes that I could not interpret. She was gorgeous. Even in this stressful circumstance, I could not help but notice how stunning she actually was. She had me, there was no doubt.
Finally the waiting game was over. The doctor reappeared and stood before us. We all waited together for him to speak, nerves and fear almost overwhelming us.
"Good news, the surgery went as good as expected," the young doctor informed us. "Ms. Adams is recovering and should be back to normal in a few days. She's awake and you can see her if you like. Room E9 at the end of the hall on the right."
Mindy did not wait for any other words to be spoken. She blew right past the doctor and was on her way down the hall in a hurry. I thanked the doctor and we all headed towards the end of the hall. When Brooke, Penny and I reached Leslie's room, Mindy was standing over her crying. I felt very moved by the bonds of family at that moment.
Leslie was awake but she seemed extremely fragile as she was lying there. I waited as Brooke hugged her lightly and Penny gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. I made no movement towards her; on the contrary, I back away and tried to stay unnoticed. Leslie was evidently doing very well indeed, as she noticed immediately.
"Are you not happy to see me," Leslie asked me in a cracked voice that indicated her body had been through something dramatic recently.
All eyes turned to me as I formulated my response.
"You have been through a lot today," I reminded her. "I didn't want to damage you any further by getting near you and doing something clumsy."
"I am not going to break like a glass vase," she laughed at me. "And even if I do, I am already in the place that they could repair me, silly."
