Page 51 of Grounded
“Yes,” she said breathlessly.
“This is Dr. Wylie. Your grandmother had a small setback this evening. We think everything is fine now, but we’ve moved her to ICU to keep a close watch.”
Annie was wide awake. “ICU? What happened?”
“There was a slight change in the rhythm of her heart. It’s likely caused by one of her medications, but as a precaution we want to keep a closer watch for the next twenty-four hours.”
“I’ll be right there,” Annie said, jumping out of bed and looking for her clothes.
“Why don’t you wait until morning? She’s resting well now but I’m sure she’ll want to see you then.”
Annie’s mind raced. “Are you sure. I can be there in just a few minutes. You’re sure she’s okay?”
“I think she’ll be fine. I wanted to call so that when you do come in the morning, you would understand why we moved her.”
Annie couldn’t sleep after the phone call, so she got up to make a pot of chamomile tea. After putting on the kettle, she turned on the faucet and washed a dirty glass while her mind worked through the information. She had taken for granted that once Beulah made it through the surgery, all would be fine. But there were no guarantees in life. Her grandmother had said it herself a hundred times.
After turning off the faucet, she still heard water running. In the past few weeks, she had grown used to the sounds of the house, but she didn’t remember this one. She turned on the back porch light and went outside to see if the sound was louder. There was a pitter-pattering, as if it were raining. The heavens were clear. The sky was full of stars.
The sprinkler! Annie ran to turn off the spigot, not giving a thought to her bare feet and what might be in the tall grass. With a heavy heart, she surveyed the damage illuminated by the stock barn’s security light. Puddles of water stood in every low place in the garden.
I’ve ruined her garden,she thought. Of all the things she could mess up, it had to be this.
Chapter Twenty-One
Beulah pushed herself up in the bed and tried to get more comfortable without moving her leg. The growling coming from the bed on the other side of the room was near deafening. She was surprised a small, elderly woman could snore loud enough to vibrate the water glass on her tray.
What did hospital people think, calling this type of room “semi-private” when there was no privacy to it? A mere piece of shiny polyester fabric hung between her and this roaring bear with whom she was doomed to share the night.
At least all that ICU rigmarole was behind her. It ended up being a little reaction to her medication, that was all. Just another excuse for the hospital to make a little more money out of the whole deal, is what she thought, or avoid some kind of liability. Anyway, it had all been fine. The worst part was she couldn’t get any sleep.
A snort from her roommate’s bed caused Beulah to jump nearly out of her skin. There ought to be a noise ordinance in the hospital. It seemed to her there was a competition on who could make the most noise, what with the nurses chattering like magpies at their station, the public address system blaring a lullaby every time a baby was delivered, and equipment rolling in and out of the rooms, banging into beds and carts as they went. They had put her on the old people’s floor, that was obvious, and Beulah resented that not a little, what with all the yelping and hollering that went on in the other patient rooms. Beulah couldn’t wait to get home.
She never had liked spending a night away from home, even on the few vacations she had taken in her life. How Annie flitted from one hotel to the other in her years of flying, Beulah could never understand. She reckoned you had to get used to it when you were young. Beulah had always been a homebody, and that was a fact. She liked knowing what her bed was going to feel like when she got into it at night, and she liked waking up in her own house.
“Mrs. Campbell, how are you?”
Beulah looked up to see a pretty nurse with a blond ponytail and a belly protruding from under her blue uniform. There was something familiar about the face, the small, upturned nose, and the blue eyes.
“All right, and you?”
“You don’t recognize me, do you?” The ponytail swung as the nurse reached over the bed for the blood pressure cuff, attached by a black coil cord to the wall.
“You do look familiar, but I can’t place you,” Beulah said, studying the girl’s face.
“I’m Sandy Sallee, except now I’m a Turner. I cheered with Annie at Somerville High.” She wrapped Beulah’s arm in the cuff. “I saw your name on the chart up front, and when I saw you were from Somerville, I knew you had to be Annie’s grandmother.”
“Now I remember. Your daddy is Everett Sallee from over on Cedar Hill.” Beulah remembered Sandy. She was one of the pack of girls Annie ran around with after she got her driver’s license.
“How’s Annie doing? She got any kids yet?” Sandy hit a button and waited.
“No, she’s not married.” Beulah watched the cuff slowly expand and squeeze her arm.
“You’re kidding! I thought she’d have a litter by now. I’m on my third and due any day!” Sandy rubbed her stomach and turned sideways, giving Beulah the full view of the last days in her third trimester.
“I see,” Beulah said, not caring one bit for the younger generation’s urge to show their swollen bellies in every conceivable way.
Sandy stuck a thermometer in her mouth. “I thought Annie would marry Brett, as crazy as they were about each other. I guess you never know.” The thermometer beeped and Sandy pulled it out. “Normal, and so was your blood pressure.” She threw away the sanitary wrap and put the thermometer back in her pocket. “Give her my best, Mrs. Campbell, and if you need anything, just ask for me. I’m on shift until seven tomorrow morning.”
