I must have managed to finally fall asleep, because the next thing I knew pink light was filtering through the window. The throbbing in my arm had subsided to a dull pain. I reached for the Gatorade, but it was hard with one hand, and it dropped on the ground. The noise made Nikki stir.
“Finally awake, honey?” she came over the bed.
“Yeah. Sorry I fell asleep on you.”
“You are the patient here. You needed the rest. I know how hard you go on tour. And you’ll be doing even more to make up for the canceled shows.”
“You know me.” I had to smile. That’s exactly what I planned to do.
“The doctor came in yesterday while you were asleep, he said he would come by this morning around 10 to check on you. If everything looks okay, we can go home.”
“I’m ready to go home.”
“Me, too. I miss Everette. I can’t believe I’ve been away from him this long.”
“I know. I miss him, too. But it’s better for him to be with family than up here with all this mess going on.”
“You’re right. Well, we have four hours to kill until the doctor comes in, if he comes on time. Doctor’s time is like Hanson time.”
“I can think of a few things to do to kill some time,” I tugged on her sleeve until she bent over to kiss me, then pulled her down beside me on the bed, it killed my arm, but it was worth it.
“As much as I want Everette to have a sister, I don’t think now is the time.”
“Why not?” Just then, someone knocked on the door. Nikki jumped up and pulled down her shirt. She looked at me like “I told you so.”
“Breakfast, Mr. Hanson.” And orderly rolled the tray toward my bed. It looked worse than it smelled. “Would you like me to bring you a tray, Ma’m?” he asked Nikki.
“No, I’ll go get something from the cafeteria in a bit. Thank you, though.”
“I’ll bring you something, too,” she said when he left, she got her purse and left me alone with the foul-smelling tray. Maybe they would come pick it up soon.
I fumbled around trying to reach to plug in my phone until she came back. It was hard to maneuver with an IV in one arm and a bandage on the other.
She sat down the coffees and paper bag and plugged in my phone without me having to ask. “I called Natalie while I was gone. Everette is fine. She said Taylor had tried to call. I explained you slept off the anesthesia most of yesterday but would probably go home today.” She handed me a muffin from the bag and took a yogurt for herself.
I felt emotional all of the sudden. “I’m so lucky to have you,” I fought back tears.
“I’m not doing anything more than you did for me when I had Everette, or anything more than you have done every day since we have been married.”
“Wow. Most wives with traveling husbands wouldn’t say that.”
“Well, you haven’t forgotten to call home one day yet. I’m glad that you think about me even when you are out living your dream.”
We got lost in reminiscing about our life together until the doctor came in.
“How are we feeling?”
“Okay.”
“I see the anesthesia finally wore off.”
“Yeah, I slept most of yesterday.”
“It affects everyone differently. Let’s look at that arm and see about getting you out of here.”
He unwrapped the bandage and I could see where they went into my arm to clear out the clots.
“Looks good. I don’t see any signs of infection. I’m going to send you home with an antibiotic just in case and a course of blood thinners. Wait a day or two for this to heal a little bit before you start those, in case it starts bleeding. I have you penciled in on my schedule for the rib resection on December 12th. We’ll send preop instructions in the mail.”
“Oh, I’ll probably schedule that in Tulsa.” I said, though I didn’t plan to schedule anything at all. I wasn’t going to miss the fun of the holidays with my family after being on tour all fall.
“No one in Tulsa is as qualified as I am. Your best bet is to come back here.”
“We’ll be here,” Nikki said.
“Good. I’ll get your discharge papers ready and have a nurse come in to help you get ready to go home.”
“Finally,” I said when he left.
“Ike,” Nikki said. I looked at her.
“You will be back for the other surgery. Don’t try to cancel it.”
“I’ll schedule it, but just not right after tour. Maybe next summer.”
“You’ll have it when the doctor scheduled it. You are going against his orders not having it now. I’m going to tell Rebecca and Taylor so they won’t schedule anything for December.”
“Okay, I just don’t even want to think about being in a hospital anytime soon right now.”
“I know you don’t, but you need to take care of yourself.”
A nurse knocked on the door and came in with what looked like a first aid tray.
“Doc says you are ready to go home,” she said to me.
“I sure am.”
“Okay, I’m just going to get you unhooked from all this equipment, then you can get dressed.”
“Sounds good.”
First, she rubbed some kind of cream on my hand, “This will numb your hand so it won’t hurt so much when I pull the IV out. I’ll do that last so it will have time to take effect.”
She moved quickly as she turned off the various machines and removed the monitors from my chest.
“Okay, this is the worst part,” she said.
Tears came to my eyes when she ripped of the tape and pulled out the IV needle. I could tell I’d have a bad bruise there. She quickly rubbed more of the cream on my hand and bandaged it.
“All done. Call us when you get dressed. Is your ride here?”
“Yes,” Nikki answered.
“You can pull your car around to the front and we’ll wheel him down.”
“I can walk.”
“Not until you leave hospital property. Liability.”
It felt so good just to sit in our car, the familiar feel of the leather and the smell of Nikki’s perfume, which she must have just reapplied. I reached over and took her free hand as we pulled out of the parking lot. I hoped I wouldn’t have to see the inside of another hospital for a very long time.