Page 41 of Love, Lies and Sleigh Rides
Behind him, Mom shook her head adamantly. Her jaw was set. “I’ll get the keys,” she said.
Pops still protested, even as they settled him into the truck a few minutes later.
“It’s such a waste of money. I know what’s wrong with me. And those ER doctors will just tell me what I already know.”
“Then why do you keep having this problem?” asked Elaine quietly with an edge in her tone.
That shut Pops up for good.
* * *
Three hours later,Pops reclined on a bed in the emergency room at Broman County Hospital. Tim and Tyler went in search of coffee while everyone waited for the doctor to come back into the room to release him.
“What if you were to stay overnight?” said Elaine. Her face stretched taut with worry.
“That’s not an option, sweetheart,” said Pops. “There’s nothing wrong with me, like I said. You heard the doc. All the tests checked out. Just stress, as usual.”
“We’re still doing a follow-up appointment. And no more work until after the holidays,” she said. Her arms were crossed and she’d set her mouth which meantdon’t mess with me.
“I can easily oversee whatever you need me to.” Kade braced himself with one hand against the wall. He’d grown tired of sitting.
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” mumbled Pops under his breath.
Elaine tapped him on the arm, eyeing Kade with an apologetic look. “What’s that supposed to mean? You’ve never complained about Kade’s work before.”
“It’s not Kade at all. I’m just feeling…obsolete.”
“Oh, honey.” Elaine squeezed his hand which lay beside him on the bed attached to an IV. Behind him, the screen blinked with his vitals. His blood pressure was somewhat elevated but not in the alarming range anymore. Pulse rate was back to normal too.
“You’re hardly obsolete, Pops. Sometimes you just need to dial it back.”
“‘Dial it back?’ I don’t know what that means.” Pops rested his head against the pillow as the blood pressure cuff whined and tightened again.
“It means delegate more instead of hogging all the work to yourself,” said Tyler as he and Tim pushed back the curtain and entered the room. He gave a Styrofoam cup to Elaine. Tim handed him a coffee too.
“No doc yet?” Tim asked.
“Any minute,” said Elaine. “He was at the nurse’s station a few minutes ago.”
They spent the next few minutes going over projects around the farm that needed tending before Christmas. Between Tim, Tyler, and himself, there wasn’t any doubt they’d finish everything with time to spare. Elaine would be busy with her studio open house tomorrow and next weekend, but she was relieved to hear her sons’ plans to take over Pops’s work. The nurse came in to unhook the IV while they talked.
“Maybe you shouldn’t even be in the parade next Saturday,” said Elaine.
Pops huffed. “That’s taking it too far, Elaine. There’s nothing stressful about playing Santa Claus.”
“All that excitement though.” Elaine bit her lip.
“I’m going to take it easy like the doc suggested. I’m not going to confine myself to bed and stare at the ceiling all day long,” said Pops. “It takes little effort to put on that suit and ride in a truck for thirty minutes.”
A half hour later, Dr. Agarwal pushed the curtain aside and smiled. He handed Pops the release papers.
“Who’s ready to go home?” he said.
Pops swung his legs over the bed and onto the floor. “Not going to happen soon enough for me.”
“I was able to make you a follow-up appointment on Tuesday with your GP,” said Dr. Agarwal. “She’s otherwise booked through the holidays. It will be at her Duluth office that day though. Is that all right?”
Kade jumped in. “I can take you.”
