“So am I.”
When we went back to Adam’s room Cookie and Eve were gone. Ted was standing outside in the hall looking in through the plate-glass window. There was a nurse inside, reading the machines.
Carl slapped Ted on the back, a gesture between men that said, I’m here for you, buddy. Then he said, “Let me ask you something, Ted. Did Adam ever have to get blood for any reason?”
“Yeah, when he was a kid. Burst appendix or something. I don’t remember, but he did get some blood. Why?”
“Because that’s a possible cause of Adam’s hep C. Not that it matters now. How he got to here is practically moot.”
Ted nodded.
“And Ted?” I said.
“Yes?”
“There is no monkey business going on.”
“That’s what Adam told you too, and you didn’t believe him. So why should I believe any of you?”
“Because I’m giving you my word,” I said, incredulous that I should be accused this way.
“Listen, Eliza. Right now, there’s what I care about, right there.” He pointed toward Adam. “I just want my boy well. That’s it and that’s all.”
I didn’t blame him, really. Besides, Ted was not a busybody.
The nurse came out.
“How’s he doing?” I asked.
“He’s holding on,” she said with a hopeful tone and left.
I sat by Adam’s bed until my sons arrived, first Luke and then Max. I was so sleep deprived and jet-lagged, it was incredible I could even think straight. I must’ve been running on pure adrenaline. We went outside with Carl and he explained to them what was going on and how they might help.
“Who wouldn’t want to save their father’s life, Doc?” Max said.
“Absolutely! Where do we have to go to get the test?” Luke said.
“Come on,” Carl said. “I’ll take you to the lab.”
Time dragged so slowly that it was torturous. At around eight o’clock, after a hospital cafeteria supper that was actually not completely terrible, Ted declared he was exhausted and wanted to go get some sleep.
“Ted, go home,” I said. “If anything changes, I’ll call you right away.”
“Thanks,” Ted said. “Carl? Where are you sleeping tonight? As you and Eve are in sort of a state of flux I thought I might offer you a room.”
State of flux. Well put, I thought.
“Uh, thanks, Ted. I actually thought I might stay with Cookie, raving lunatic that she is. One, to set her straight, and two, because Eve seemed pretty down. I think this is the time for us to all pull together, not to bicker and point fingers.”
“I see. You’re right, of course. Well, let’s get your luggage out of my car and put it in one of the boys’ cars.”
“I’ll take you downtown, Doc,” Max said to Carl.
“I’ll take Mom home,” Luke said.
“To be honest, Adam is stable right now,” Carl said. “Nothing’s going to change until we find a donor. We may as well all try and get a good night’s sleep. It’s been a very long day.”
I went back into Adam’s room and looked at him, lying there. In the morning, I’d bring his nice pajamas for him and his slippers. And I’d put a picture of all of us next to his bed. He needed a shave. I’d arrange for that. I smoothed his hair away from his face and leaned over him, kissing his forehead as gently as I could.
“Good night, sweetheart,” I said softly. “Just hold on. I love you.”
We all said good night to each other and Luke drove me back to our house on the Stono.
“So, can we talk about this donor thing? If I’m a match for Dad and they decide I’m a good candidate, what happens to me? I mean, not that it matters, because I’d do anything to help him. But I’m just wondering.”
“I think it’s a few days in the hospital and you can’t do strenuous exercise for about a month. I don’t know all the details.”
“Still. That’s not such a big deal,” Luke said.
“You know what, son? I find that whenever I’ve been cavalier about something it winds up being about fifty times bigger. We should probably wait and see.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you’re right. I’m glad you’re here, Mom.”
“Are you serious? I would’ve crawled home from Tibet if I’d had to. I wouldn’t let your father go through something like this without me. No matter what.”
“So, you and Dad have been sailing in choppy waters for a while?”
“Yes, but there’s nothing going on that won’t be all right eventually. We just have different opinions sometimes.”
Different opinions as in, I prefer the truth and he likes to invent truth that suits him. But I didn’t tell Luke that because my children did not have to have their lives destabilized from worrying about how their parents got along. Especially at a time like this.
“I’m thinking you couldn’t be more vague, Mom. But, hey, that’s okay. And you know, Max and I aren’t stupid.”
“I know that. Let’s just get Dad well. Then I can kill him.”
“That sounds reasonable.”
In the morning, I was surprised to see that I had slept until almost eight thirty, which was very unusual for me. But I’d crossed so many time zones in the last weeks that my body had no clue when it was time to wake up. I scrambled out of bed to find that Luke and Max were still sound asleep. I stood there in the hallway outside of their bedrooms just looking from one of them to the other, remembering them when they were little boys and shared a room. Now they were so tall and filled out that they looked like men from where I stood. How old would they have to be before my rational mind would recognize them as adults? And, I asked myself for the millionth time, where did all the years go? I felt like so many years had blitzed right by me. I made a pot of coffee and went back to my bedroom to dress and to put together some things for Adam. I put his pajamas, his Dopp kit, and a picture of all of us in a tote bag by the door, and then I started cooking breakfast.
The smell of bacon frying brought Luke and Max back to the conscious world. Bacon, by-product of the almighty pig, worked its irresistible magic on everyone. Luke kissed my cheek, then Max. I loved being with them and it made me deeply happy to have them under my roof, even if they were here for another absolutely terrible reason.
“Scrambled okay?” I said, referring to the eggs I was about to crack into a bowl.
“Anything’s okay,” Luke said, and filled an iced-tea glass to the top with orange juice.
“I’ll make toast,” Max said.
“I’ll set the table,” Luke said. “Anybody else want juice?”
We ate breakfast as quickly as we could and almost threw the dishes into the dishwasher in an effort to return to the hospital as early as we could. Despite our best efforts, it was still ten o’clock by the time we all got into my car.
As we were walking down the hall toward Adam’s room we could see Ted, Cookie, Eve, and Carl there with someone else. It was Daphne, Eve’s daughter. She looked like an adult. When did that happen?