A Toonie and Two Loonies

Cocaine Princess here.

Friday started off like any other normal weekday for me. I was finally in my regular routine of things and it felt good being back on track.

Last Tuesday I received in the mail my Duran Duran DVD of their live in-studio performance on A&E's Private Sessions. I was waiting for the perfect day to watch it, in other words without any interruptions. Friday mid afternoon seemed like the perfect day. The DVD was in the player and loading. I retrieved my salad from the fridge and got comfy on the sofa. I would have rather retrieved the piece of chocolate cake that was one shelf below but I won't be eating food like that for a long, long time. I did however take a deep whiff off it. It had a minty aroma. I was about to press play when I noticed the salad looked a little bland. I thought if it looked bland it would probably taste bland too. I don't usually put any type of dressing on salad. I went back into the kitchen and sprinkled a couple of Goldfish crackers on top and went back into the family room, picked up the remote and hit play.

I was in the middle of watching the band perform Skin Divers. I wasn't paying so much attention to the song, I was paying more attention to Simon LeBon when the phone rang. I hit pause and answered it. 'Hello,' I said. A woman was on the other end and asked to speak to me.' 'This is she,' I replied. 'Who am I speaking too?' I then asked. 'I'm calling from XXXX Memorial Hospital. You're listed as the next of kin and emergency contact of Ms. XXXX.' At that exact moment my heart leaped into my throat. 'Oh God what's happened to my sister?' I asked. 'She's been admitted to the ER. You need to come right away.' I don't remember if I even hung up the phone. I raced upstairs, threw on a pair of capris, a tank top and then grabbed my purse and left.

The hospital is located on the other side of town. I arrived and headed straight to the ER reception area. There was a woman wearing a blue vest and stitched in embroidery, Volunteer With A Heart. She was sitting behind a desk at a computer. I said to her, 'I just got a call my sister's been admitted to the ER. Her name is XXXX.' She checked the computer and replied, 'there's no one here by that name. Are you sure the call came from this hospital?' 'Unless there's another hospital in town by the same name, yes!' I answered. I had her recheck the computer again, nothing. 'Do you know who it was who called you?' she asked. 'No, shouldn't you know that?' I asked back. 'No dear I'm afraid I wouldn't know.' 'How can you not know? You work here. Who's the person who usually makes the call?' 'It most always is the attending ER Nurse,' she answered. 'Can you go find and ask her please?' The volunteer left her desk to go find the nurse. While waiting I could actually feel and hear my heart beating a 1000 bpm. I'm thinking is someone playing a vicious prank on me? If they are they're not going to be living for very long because I'm going to kill them! The woman finally returned and said, 'your sister was here but they transferred her to XXXX Hospital to run some tests.' 'If they transferred her then why did the nurse tell me to come here?' I asked. I immediately left right after asking the question, I wasn't about to waste any more time standing around waiting for an answer.

It was about a twenty minute drive to the other hospital but it took a little longer to get there on account of the weather. It was so crappy and nasty on Friday. I don't know if it was Tropical Storm or Hurricane Ike, Tina, Hannah or whatever it's called but we were definitely feeling its' effects. According to the weather report we weren't suppose to get any rain until Sunday but the stupid storm came early. I pull up into the Visitor Parking Area and there was a gate. To get it to open and park you needed to pay the machine $3.00. On it was a sticker that read, 'Accepts No Dollar Bills. Coins Only.' I couldn't park on the street, it was prohibited. I unzipped my purse and pulled out my coin wallet and dumped all the change on the front seat. Among the scattered coins was a toonie and two loonies.

I rushed into the ER and the receptionist checked the computer and told me the doctor was still tending to 'A'. When I asked what happened to her she said she didn't know and I would just have to wait for the doctor, and suggested I have a seat. Just wait for the doctor and have a seat, easy for her to say! The waiting room was packed. I managed to find a seat beside a poor guy who had an ice pack over his eye. Next came the waiting game.

Trying not to lose my mind with worry, I kept staring at the clock on the wall and then stared at the two large doors that led to the actual ER room thinking what are they doing to A? What's wrong? What happened to her? All these horrible images were running through my mind. I wasn't doing it on purpose, the images kept popping in my head and wouldn't stop. And on top of all that the death of my mom kept replaying in my head. Not that the circumstances were similar or anything but there were a few things that were a reminder of that awful day. I just kept thinking to myself, I can't go through this twice. Once was enough but twice is too much for anyone to handle.

Each time a nurse came out of the ER she would say 'family of XXXX.' I'm waiting on pins and needles for the nurse to say my sister's name and finally one of the nurses that came out said her name.

To be Continued.

XOXOXOXO,
Cocaine Princess