"Bobbi! I think you need to come right over after you drop Josh off tomorrow morning. I need you to take me to the emergency room. I've been doing some reading and I think this is the kind of thing they can do there. If I go to that appointment on Wednesday, who knows how long it's going to be before they can do anything about it."
"It", of course, is the hernia which has unilaterally decided my dad is unable to have joy in his life.
Dad has always been a proponent of quick fixes. If something is broken, he will do the absolutely least amount of work possible to repair it - which is usually nothing. This stems primarily from his impatience. Things must be done immediately, right now, hustle to it. It doesn't matter if what he's out to do makes sense or not - all that matters is that it is done without delay.
I know exactly what's going to happen tomorrow. I will take Dad to the emergency room. He and I will sit in the waiting room for Gods know how long. The doctors will see him. They will most likely tell him there's nothing they can do. This will end with me driving Dad home as he curses the entire Goddamned health care system because they did not deliver the quick fix. I am not looking forward to it.
But, like the dutiful daughter I am, I will take him to the emergency room and I will sit there while he gets examined. I will listen to his complaints as I drive him home and then on Wednesday, I will take him to his hernia appointment.
***
Speaking of quick fixes, Josh and I are having a good time. (It's true, he even said so!) Last night, Naomi cut my hair. I called Josh to let him know where we were planning to get dinner and asked him if he wanted anything. He said yes, checked the menu, and asked for a pizza. Not a problem.
Naomi suggested we go to Blythe's house to drop off my rental car and then head to her house to pick up something together. When we got there, a dark blue pickup was sitting in my spot. A guy was sitting in the vehicle. The engine was one. Naomi was parked nearby. I pulled in close and gave him the stink eye. The guy drove away without a word.
"Did you recognize him?" I asked her.
She didn't. I wondered if it was a friend of Josh's. I called him to clarify. I asked him if a friend had stopped by. He said no. He sounded surprised. I asked him who was parked in the driveway. He started to giggle.
"I got hungry!" he said. Apparently, he was done waiting for his pizza and ordered a burger.
I laughed. We hung up. What else could I do? It was a silly, silly situation.
He called less than five minutes later. "How did you know, Auntie Bobbi?" he asked. "Are you here?"
I told him I wasn't, that was with Naomi. I had simply dropped off the car, but I saw the delivery guy in the driveway. I thought he might have been a friend. I had hoped the guy wasn't a murderer. He started giggling again.
"I was hungry!" he exclaimed.
I gave him a hard time about ordering a pizza and then turning around and ordering a burger. Talk about a quick fix.
***
In other news, my sister's birthday was today. I've started creating Terraria birthday parties for everyone. I proposed letting one of her girls play as Josh since he had to work during the party. Molly volunteered, so I got to spend the day with my niece.
I don't know my nieces extremely well, mostly because I see them during the summer every three years and each time, they've grown up so much everything and anything I thought I knew about them is suddenly obsolete. Being able to interact with Molly was fun - she's such a chatterbox! We shared some stories. I got to ask her questions and she did the same. We learned a bit about each other. At the end of the day, she said her favorite part of the day was getting to hang out with me! (Is it possible I'm a cool auntie after all?)
0 comments: