A Call at Midnight is Never Good News

As I sit in my car from Uber on my way to the hospital, I laugh at my optimism. For the first time in months I’ve been able to respond that moms doing better and then I get the midnight call that mom fell and is at the local hospital. 

She’s happy to see me when I arrive and tells me “You always show up at just the right time.” I knew that a trip to the ER alone would be awful. 

My mom has a big purple goose egg on her forehead. After the doctor visits, it turns out all seems well but we need to get a CT scan to make sure there is no bleeding in her brain. He also reports she has an ear infection. Good to know! 

The ER visits are always long. It is already a constant cycle of questions about when we can leave. My mom tells me she thinks this is “D.U.M.B.” and we should be leaving. 

It’s 1:30 a.m. and I try to get her back to sleep. We wrestle with the sheets, the bed, scooch her butt up, down, then sideways. I’m convinced I will never get her to sleep. 

Just as we find the right position and she nods off they arrive to take her for her scan. Bleary-eyed.