{"id":227,"date":"2022-02-09T21:37:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T02:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foxglovesystems.com\/herbheineman\/Stowaway\/?page_id=227"},"modified":"2022-04-07T17:56:12","modified_gmt":"2022-04-07T21:56:12","slug":"seventeen","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/herbheineman.com\/Stowaway\/seventeen\/","title":{"rendered":"SEVENTEEN"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Debbie and Gladys waited more than an hour for Con to be brought back from the x-ray department. Instead, a nurse entered carrying a slip of paper. \u201cYou are Connor Flynn\u2019s family?\u201d she asked, looking from one to the other.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d Debbie said. \u201cI\u2019m his wife, and this is his mother.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cX-ray called. They took him straight to the O.R..\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid something happen in x-ray?\u201d Gladys asked, wide-eyed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t get the details, but it sounded like the scan showed leakage from the anastomosis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh sorry, that\u2019s where they stitched the aorta back together. So they\u2019d have to go back in and revise the suture line.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what are his chances now?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t really say. But Doctor Bird \u2014 Kravitz\u2019s assistant \u2014 said Mr. Flynn\u2019s condition was critical. He also said there was no point in your hanging around all afternoon. Mr. Flynn\u2019s in the recovery room, and he hasn\u2019t come out of anesthesia yet. Just leave a number where you can be reached. Someone\u2019ll call you when he wakes up and you can come over. Do you live around here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Gladys answered. \u201cI\u2019m from New York, but Debbie\u2019s from  Edison, not too far. I don\u2019t have my car here. My husband drove it back to New York this morning. He had to get back to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll drive you home with me,\u201d Debbie said. \u201cYou can stay overnight and we can come back to the hospital together. Oh God, I\u2019m so scared!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd things looked so good last night!\u201d Gladys said mournfully. \u201cYou try to look at the bright side, and this is what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

They left the hospital and headed for the parking lot.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think we should call Mike?\u201d Debbie asked her mother-in-law.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I were home in Brooklyn, I\u2019d want to be called. Work or no work, I\u2019d come straight down. I\u2019d want to be here when Con wakes up. But Mike might see it as having to make a choice: the shop, where he can be doing something useful, or sitting here unable to do anything but wait. He can be here in a couple of hours if anything happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

By five that afternoon Con still had not emerged from anesthesia, so Gladys called Mike in the showroom, knowing that he was unlikely to leave before six.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsn\u2019t that unusual, to take that long to come out?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think so, but I\u2019ll call you the moment he\u2019s awake.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike did not offer to come. The two women went to a nearby diner and ate in silence. There was little to say. Neither could help the other. They agreed not to go back to the hospital right away, hoping that fresh air would provide them a modicum of comfort. When they did go to the desk at eight o\u2019clock, they were greeted by a terse, somber announcement: \u201cHe\u2019s still not awake.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShould we stay?\u201d Gladys asked, uncertain as to who was best equipped to answer. Nurse De Luca had some experience with such questions. \u201cWe have the motel\u2019s telephone number, and I promise I\u2019ll call as soon as there\u2019s something to report. You might as well wait there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Debbie felt comforted by the nurse\u2019s evident competence and took Gladys\u2019s arm to leave. They took another thirty-minute walk. Gladys was tiring and they returned to the motel. There they found a message awaiting them at the desk. \u201cPlease come to the hospital as soon as you get this message.\u201d<\/p>\n

Debbie clapped her hands and her face broke into a smile. \u201cLet\u2019s go. He\u2019s awake!\u201d<\/p>\n

They were at the hospital in less than fifteen minutes and rushed up the stairs, ignoring the elevator.<\/p>\n

Out of breath with anticipation, they burst out of the stairwell and all but ran to the nurses\u2019 station. Nurse De Luca was still there, but the cheerful greeting they expected was not. Seeing her expression, Gladys and Debbie stopped in their tracks. Nurse De Luca came out to meet them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no good way to break this to you.\u201d She swallowed and took a deep breath. \u201cThey called me from Recovery. His heart had stopped. They tried to restart it, but without success.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow about his breathing?\u201d Gladys asked, as if that made any difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d been on the ventilator ever since the operation,\u201d Nurse De Luca said, \u201cand his arterial oxygen level had been good. That isn\u2019t what caused the arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen what did?\u201d Debbie had trouble controlling her voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know. But Doctor Kravitz is on his way down. He can probably tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n

A minute later Doctor Kravitz stepped out of the elevator. Seeing the teary-eyed, confused women, he stretched out both arms and took first Debbie\u2019s, then Gladys\u2019s hands in his. \u201cCome with me,\u201d he said and led them into a vacant consultation room, closing the door behind them.<\/p>\n

\u201cDear ladies, last night I was so upbeat with the result of the surgery. Now I\u2019m devastated almost to the point of shame.\u201d<\/p>\n

His gentle, sincere tone comforted them as much as the truth of the situation allowed. They were willing to believe he had done all any surgeon could to save Con.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst let me say how sorry I am at your loss,\u201d Doctor Kravitz said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a loss for you too, wasn\u2019t it?\u201d Shocked as she was, Gladys could not help empathizing with the surgeon.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re very kind, Mrs. Flynn,\u201d he answered. \u201cAnd I\u2019ll be totally honest with you. We\u2019re not sure why Con didn\u2019t wake up. Anesthetic deaths as such are very rare, especially if a skilled anesthesiologist is in charge. And Doctor Cunningham is eminently qualified. He\u2019s board-certified in anesthesiology as well as internal medicine and has more than fifteen years\u2019 experience with not a single anesthetic mishap that I\u2019m aware of. Most often when a patient fails to wake up it\u2019s due to a surgical complication and whatever made surgery necessary in the first place. Occasionally there\u2019s an underlying condition that screws up metabolism of the anesthetic agent. The admission note refers to alcohol, but I wouldn\u2019t be too ready to blame that. We did get a peek at his liver in surgery and on the surface it looked normal, no sign of cirrhosis. So we just don\u2019t know. We mustn\u2019t forget what his body had been through. We just didn\u2019t have time to evaluate him properly. It\u2019s amazing that he even survived the first operation as well as he did.\u201d <\/p>\n

The two women were no longer listening. Doctor Kravitz had needed to get the confession off his chest; Gladys and Debbie needed to come to terms with the prospect of life without Con. And they needed to inform Mike.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think I should call him tonight,\u201d Gladys asked, \u201cor let him get a night\u2019s sleep? There\u2019s no need for him to come down tonight, really. What could he do here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s up to you,\u201d Debbie answered. \u201cIf you\u2019re asking my opinion, I\u2019d say call now. Let him decide when to come down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doctor Kravitz nodded agreement. \u201cHe may want to speak with me. If he does, give him my home number, and I\u2019ll make myself available.\u201d He fumbled with his scrub suit and took his wallet out of his pocket, withdrew a card, and gave it to Gladys.<\/p>\n

Gladys walked back to the nurses\u2019 desk and asked whether she could call her husband in New York. The request was granted without hesitation.<\/p>\n

Mike might be home or in the showroom. She decided to try home first and Mike picked up after the first ring. Obviously he\u2019d been waiting for her call.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow is he?\u201d Mike asked before Gladys could even identify herself. She wished she had rehearsed her opening line, but words failed her. \u201cIt\u2019s not good, is it?\u201d Mike said, understanding the mute message, though not in its entirety. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe still isn\u2019t awake,\u201d Gladys said. Her words were technically true, though far from the whole truth. \u201cPlease come down tonight. I need you here.\u201d There was a tone of urgency and unsteadiness in her voice that disturbed Mike, and he felt a chill in his back. When was the last time she had said to him that she needed him?<\/p>\n

For once he wished he had not tossed back a couple of beers the moment he got home, and he knew only too well that he could not risk a traffic stop. \u201cGive me a couple of hours,\u201d he said. \u201cSomething I need to take care of.\u201d She did not question him. She knew what he needed those extra hours for. Shaking her head, she reasoned that arriving late and unhurt was preferable to following his son\u2019s example.<\/p>\n

Mike drank a cup of hastily brewed instant coffee and willed himself to recapture his sobriety. But metabolism trumped wishful thinking and, conceding defeat, he decided to take a brief nap. The time was eight o\u2019clock.<\/p>\n

Gladys waited \u201ca couple of hours,\u201d and a third hour besides, before starting to worry. Could Mike have been so upset that he would not wait to get behind the wheel, and then end up either in an accident or in a state trooper\u2019s scrutiny? For want of a better idea, she called home. He should, of course, have left hours ago, but he answered on the fourth ring.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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<< SIXTEEN<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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EIGHTEEN >><\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Debbie and Gladys waited more than an hour for Con to be brought back from the x-ray department. Instead, a nurse entered carrying a slip of paper. \u201cYou are Connor Flynn\u2019s family?\u201d she asked, looking from one to the other. \u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d Debbie said. \u201cI\u2019m his wife, and this is his mother.\u201d \u201cX-ray called. They […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-227","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nSEVENTEEN - The Stowaway Gene<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/herbheineman.com\/Stowaway\/seventeen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SEVENTEEN - The Stowaway Gene\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Debbie and Gladys waited more than an hour for Con to be brought back from the x-ray department. 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