I received the message over the intercom in the classroom.  Mary, please come to the office. You have an important phone call.  The fear I felt grew as I rushed out of the room and down the stairs to the Middle School office.  “Your father has had a stroke.  Please get here as soon as you can.”

It is the feeling of sheer terror, one’s mind fast-forwarding to the worst case scenario. When I arrived in the ER, I had no memory of how I had even gotten there.

Walking into the small room behind the curtain, there he was.  He had no feeling on one side and that same side had left him blind.  He mumbled, “Hey Honey.”….I knew it was bad.

I stepped outside of the room to speak with the cardiologist, a distinguished physician, someone I knew personally.  One of the best.  “Your dad has had a massive stroke, we believe it to be the result of an apparent heart attack he suffered several days ago.  There is little chance of recovery and what you can expect to see is a deterioration over the next 24 hours. I am sorry.”  How could this be?  He had just walked my five year old daughter to nursery school that very morning.  Less than three hours before.  He was going to die.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

via Daily Prompt: Vivid