Page 14 of Choosing My Happiness
Dad noticed something was not right.
“Molly,” he soothed, “let the girl speak.”
“No, I’m good, I’m just not understanding things. Why are we talking about Blaze, Mom?” I took in the numbers on the monitors. They weren’t good at all.
“Well, you’re back because of Blaze, aren’t you? He found you, didn’t he?” mom started.
I shook my head. “No, someone else told me you were here. I haven’t spoken to Blaze in 4 years…and I kinda want to keep it that way.”
Mom looked horrified. “But he’s your husband, Daisy!”
“He certainly didn’t act like it 4 years ago. But let’s leave this for another day.” I was watching Dad’s heart rate speed up, and it looked like his blood pressure was concerning as well.
It was time for some hard truths.
“Dad, I work at a hospital, I know how to read a patient’s stats. I’m giving you a chance to tell me the truth. What have the doctors said about you?”
Dad tried to shift his face from me.
“My lungs are just playing up, Baby Girl. I’ll be fine.” He tried to pacify me again. I pulled out the ballbreaker nurse’s voice.
“That’s not the truth, and I’ll ask again.”
He shifted in his bed and looked at Mom.
“Honey, let’s not talk about that,” she started. I turned my head to her.
“Do you know how serious this is?” I asked her.
“Oh, the doctors are just overreacting.” She shuffled over and stroked Dad’s arm.
I shook my head. “Doctors don’t overreact with late stage COPD, Mom.”
I regretted not packing my stethoscope, so I leaned over and put my head on Dad’s chest to listen to his breathing. I could hear the air struggling to get through the phlegm.
Mom took my movement a whole different way.
“Oh honey, he’s not dying…he’ll be fine before the weekend,” she assured me.
I slowly sat up. “What’s happening on the weekend?” I asked innocently.
“Well, Blaze’s birthday party of course. There’s a BBQ at the clubhouse. I’m going to cook that three bean casserole that he likes.”
I closed my eyes in frustration. “Why are you doing that, Mom?”
“Why what?” she asked.
“You must have realised that I left because of him. You lost your grandson because of him.”
“Well, uh,” she stammered.
“Mom, the man cheated on me for years, two of which we were married. He’s the cause of your grandson’s death, because if he’d turned up when I called him, Baby James would still be alive.” I was getting angry. ”In fact, the only reason he and I are still technically married is because I don’t want to talk to him to get a divorce organized, and I haven’t had the spare money to involve a lawyer!”
The alarms from the monitors shook me out of my rage. I turned back and dealt with Dad, calming him and adjusting his airflow rate before the nurses managed to arrive. His nurse gave me an appreciative side eye as she checked him over.
“When does the doctor do his rounds?” I asked her.
She told me. I turned back to Mom. “I need a moment. I’ll be back soon.”
