Page 7 of Break Line

Kai carried two cups of coffee to Nathan’s room. He’d stopped by the cafeteria to talk with the manager and worked out a trial deal for the purchase of coffee from his family’s plantation.

He sipped his cup as he got off the elevator.

“Best coffee evah!” He spoke aloud as he walked down the corridor. He knew that Nathan would appreciate a good cup; it was a week with him in the hospital. Chances were, he’d only had bitter or burned coffee brought to him. Kai walked through the door to his cousin’s room.

“Hey, cuz. You plannin’ on making this your vacation suite or somethin’?” He spoke as he walked through the doorway.

Nathan slowly turned his head toward the door, offering a weak smile to Kai. He accepted the cup of brew eagerly.

“I’m so ready to be out of here.”

“I’ll bet. You don’t strike me as the lay around type.”

“Not even on my worst day.” He took another sip of the coffee. “Thanks for this. First decent coffee I’ve had since before. . .” his voice trailed off and the blank stare returned.

Kai nodded. He couldn’t fix this; all he could do was bring the coffee and offer his support. His cousin was in a bad place both mentally and physically. He hated that he couldn’t fix it, but he could be there.

“I was hoping they would release me today, but . . .” He fiddled with his phone for a few seconds, before sighing. “The nurse said I opened up the wound on the back of my leg, so now I don’t know if they are going to let me go.”

“I hope they do, but don’t you have to be able to walk and put weight on your leg before they release you?”

“I’m waiting on the doctor to come in and tell me what’s going on.” He eased back into the pillow. “I don’t know man, I just feel so groggy after falling, and my leg burns really bad. I wish they’d given me a shot of the pain meds in the IV, but if they do, I know for certain they won’t release me. I’m hoping he’ll prescribe something I can take at home, and I can get on with it already.”

Kai stared at the floor realizing that even if they sent him home, Nathan wouldn’t be able to drive himself for a while, and even longer if he was taking painkillers.

“I can get Tommy to be your driver for a while if you’re okay with that. He’s got his license now, and I told him he needs fifty hours of practice. You’d be there to keep him from speeding, and it would keep him busy. He’s been hot and heavy about spending time with a girl from school. He don’t need to be getting serious about that stuff now. Boy needs a future.”

“Sure, Kai. I’ll even pay him twenty a day to drive me around. Maybe more on days I have to run errands. That would be ten bucks to the campus and ten bucks home. It’s worth the cost to have dependable transportation.”

The unsaid spoke volumes to both men. They were on the same page, same paragraph, and same sentence.

“Guess now we just wait to see when the doctor is going to let you go.”

* * *

“Here’syour discharge papers and instructions. Mr. Wanoki has been contacted to pick you up.”

Relief flooded Nathan’s mind. Finally, he could get back to a normal life.

“Dr. Kelley has asked for a home visiting nurse to come by daily to change the bandages. At the end of two weeks, a tentative date for physical therapy is set.” Louise shoved the papers across the mobile cart for him to sign.

“Good luck, Mr. Fletcher.”

The transport person pushed a wheelchair through the doors immediately after Louise walked out. Nathan was helped into the wheelchair, his bag of personal possessions placed in his lap.

“Anxious to get home?”

“You can’t imagine! It seems like an eternity that I’ve been here.”

They were stopped in front of the elevator for a few minutes. Wade, the nametag read on his chest, pushed Nathan into the open elevator. “I would have to have someone care for my little dog. Found him down by the beach one morning. The poor little guy was nearly starved. You got any pets?

“Not yet. Thinking about getting a dog after my daughters come to live with me.” Nathan was jostled in the chair as Wade tried to maneuver around a cracked part of the sidewalk.

“Sorry about that. They are supposed to fix this next week.” He pushed the wheelchair down the walk to a spot marked with a car symbol. Kai pulled up in his jeep and jumped out to help Nate into the car.

* * *

Toward the endof the two weeks, Nate fell when he was going to shave and the incision on the back of his thigh opened. It seemed that the rest of the wounds were healing fine, but the back of his thigh remained painful, swollen, and tender. Nathan cleaned up the mess from the floor the best he could, but when he tried to stand, intense pain in his leg caused him to yell out and collapse again onto the floor.

Vera was in the house that day to clean and discuss the nanny position. She immediately called 911 and wouldn’t try to move him. She kept saying she didn’t want to make it worse and the nurse wasn’t due to come by until the afternoon.

The paramedics worked quickly, exchanging minimal words but a few sidelong glances that had Nathan worried.

“What’s the problem, guys?”

“We will need to transport you to the hospital, Mr. Fletcher. You’re going to have to have that re-stitched. I’ve applied a compression bandage to it for transporting. Try not to put any weight on that leg.”

The two men worked together to lift him onto the gurney and get him situated comfortably.

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