Missing Pieces by Susan Clayton-Goldner

Author:Susan Clayton-Goldner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: forgiveness, family drama, veteran, amputation, family relationships, family dynamics, learning to forgive, father daughter relationship, post wwii, war injury
Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing

Chapter Sixteen

Baltimore, Maryland

Friday, September 29, 1995

When Lillianna arrived in her father’s hospital room the following morning, his bed was empty. The nurse told her he’d been carted off to the cardiology laboratory for an ultrasound. Surprised at her disappointment, she pushed the chair close to the window and gazed out at another perfect autumn day. She’d grown accustomed to their routine, to immersing herself in the details of his care, and felt a loss of connection with the stream of time she now considered her morning.

A mystery novel lay open on her lap, and for more than ten minutes she stared at the off-white porousness of the paper, the creased triangle at the top corner of page forty-nine she’d folded to mark her place. Unsure what to do with this unexpected freedom, relief drifted over her with the click of wheels in the hallway outside his door.

“How’d it go?” she asked.

The patient transporter held his elbow as he hoisted himself out of the wheelchair and back into his bed.

“I don’t know. They rubbed slimy glop on my chest, then ran a magic wand over it and presto... some throbbing piece of raw meat appeared on a TV screen. They said it was my heart. You could have fooled me.”

Lillianna moistened a towel with warm, soapy water and rubbed the dried jelly from his chest. By the time they finished the morning rituals, lunch arrived, and he ate without his usual eagerness, then fell asleep.

After awakening a few hours later, he made an announcement. “I’m not in the mood for more storytelling this afternoon, Em. I need to get out of this place.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Lillianna stepped into the hallway to find his nurse and stood in front of the desk while she jotted notes into a patient file. When she glanced up, Lillianna said, “He’s getting stir crazy. Any possibility I could take him for a walk in a wheelchair?”

The nurse nodded, and a few minutes later appeared in Calvin’s room. “I’m going to unhook you for a while, Mr. Miller. Set you free. But stay away from the girlie bars.” She removed the IV connection and pushed the metal tree against the wall. For the next hour, Calvin Miller was a free man.

“Shall we take a ride?” Lillianna asked.

“Sure. I’ll show you where the kids play.” On one of his many trips to the basement for tests, her father had discovered a pediatric waiting room.

Lillianna helped him into his robe and slippers, then instructed him to sit on the edge of his bed while she located an empty wheelchair. They took the elevator to the basement, where wide corridors wove their way through the huge hospital complex.

The waiting room of the children’s oncology department wrapped around wooden cages filled with huge stuffed wild animals. The kids could climb inside, and they found one little boy, bald from chemotherapy, peering from behind the bars, growling and baring his teeth. Calvin pretended to be afraid, clasped his hands on top of his head and covered his face with his arms.

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