They Didn't Call

Today my husband called me at work. "Everything's okay, but you are going to be mad."

I got up and closed the door to my office.

"Your Mom just called, and your Dad is in the hospital."

Here's the part where J knew I would be mad - "You mom had to take him to the ER yesterday."

Yesterday.

Somehow, I got the message to my team that I would be leaving and drove home to meet J.

As we drove the hour and half drive to the hospital, I got more pieces of the story. Yesterday afternoon, my dad felt his hand go numb when he reached out to grab the car door handle. His face felt numb also. So, he and my mom decided to play it safe, and go to the ER. They both thought that he would get to go right back home.

The doctors immediately performed a slew of tests on my Dad. They determined he had experienced a minor stroke. That first night, he regained complete control of his hand and the senses in his face began to awaken as well.

But, they didn't tell me.

To make matters worse, I had called my Dad yesterday, and my Mom answered his cell phone. As she stood outside the hospital door to the ER, she acted like there was not a thing wrong in the world.

The doctors kept my Dad overnight for observation and spent much of the day running tests. So far - miraculously, I might add - they have found no signs of damage.

We sat in the hospital room with my Dad for the remainder of the evening. I called the rest of the family, and let them know what was going on.

"We didn't want to worry you. You have more important things to worry about."

This is a croc. A cop-out. They know I can handle situations like this. That if something goes wrong - I need to be there.

Now I guess I have to worry all the time.