Sand and Water part 3
"The Radison."
Josh glanced up from the Sports Illustrated magazine he had stopped reading about forty minutes ago. "What?" he asked.
Sam looked away and started tapping the plastic armrests of the chair. "We were supposed to be at dinner now. At the Radison."
"Well, all's I can say is that he owes both of us the bafe for putting us through this."
Sam almost smiled, but he ended up just nodding.
"Mr. Seaborn? Mr. Seaborn?"
Josh and Sam both looked up from their own thoughts to see a young doctor, his scrubs stained with blood, entering the waiting area from the O.R. hallway.
Both men scrambled to their feet and the doctor approached them, a grave look shadowing his face.
"Mr. Seaborn?"
"Yes, I'm he." Sam answered. "Can I see....how's my Dad?"
The doctor sighed.
Sam's heart fell. He lost his balance slightly, and switched his weight unto his left foot.
"Sir," the doctor began. "Your father had a massive tumor bordering his aorta."
Both Sam and Josh blinked, Josh glancing at Sam questionably who returned with the gaze with equally confused eyes.
"Obviously, operating was an extremely risky situation. We had, however, no other options."
"Tumor?" Sam was able to choke out. "What...what?"
"Yes sir. It apparently had grown so large that it had disabled your father's heart's ability to produce oxygen. Which is why he passed out."
Sam felt dizzy, Josh grasped his hand to steady his friend- and himself.
"We were able to remove the tumor."
Both men breathed a small sigh of relief.
"But," the doctor continued reluctantly, "In doing so, we discovered that there were at least five smaller tumors bordering the ventricles. And, your father had no oxygen for twenty minutes, at least, before we were notified of his arrest and came on the scene."
"Twenty minutes?" Josh asked, shockingly.
"Yes. Because of that, and other complications, he is currently in a coma.... but stable."
Tears of raw pain formed in Sam's eyes. "I-" he swallowed, trying to gain composure. "Will he wake up?"
The doctor looked at the young man, now just a boy who wanted to his dad. He shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry, sir. But we just received a cat scan of his brain directly following the arrest. A ventilator is the only thing keeping him, or that can keep him breathing now. And that too, in time, will stop working."
Sam dropped Josh's hand and sunk into his chair. "How long will the ventilator keep him...alive?" his voice wavering on the last word.
"Could be days, months. Not longer than eight, most likely." Then, hesitantly, "We can take him off the ventilator, however."
Sam eyes widened, searching for a string of hope he could grasp with all his might. "And?"
The doctor looked away. "He has an organ card."
Josh looked aghast. "You want to kill him so you can harvest his organs? You bastard! You tell his only son that his only parent is dieing, that there's not hope. Then you press for dibs on the kidney-"
"Josh." Sam interrupted in a soft voice. "He wouldn't want this. He wouldn't want to be on a machine. He told me..." his voice broke, but no tears fell. "He said, "My boy, if I can't do it myself, then I ain't gonna want some piece of metal doin' it for me.""
He turned to the young doctor, standing slowly. "May I see him?"
tbc
to be continued.