Chapter 23: Father And Son Meet Again

May 9, 1992 - Saturday

The rental car quickly made its way into the parking lot of the St. Vincent Hospital, in Billings, Montana. After a little thought, they had decided to take an airplane, since it would have been about an eight-hour drive. Even with the much shorter hour and a half plane flight, the wait was excruciatingly painful for Rob. Ellie had thought to bring her portable phone, and Rob was able to call the hospital once before boarding the plane to Billings. He was able to get some information, but not as much as he wished. Kara had been in an auto accident in Miles City, and had been flown by emergency chopper, to Billings. From there, she was rushed into the emergency room in the early morning hours. After one successful operation, it was determined that she needed an additional surgery, so she had been rushed into the O.R. again, and that's where she still was. During the call, the phone battery had died, so Rob had been left wondering and waiting. From a payphone in the Billings airport, Rob had found out that she was still in surgery, and the news had made him even more nervous.

Alan drove to the emergency entrance and Rob, who was in the passenger seat, had the door opened before he stopped. Alan was about to go and search for a parking space, when Ellie spoke up from the backseat.

"I'm going to go with him," she said, as she hurried out of backseat to follow Rob.

After finally finding a parking place, that seemed a mile away from the hospital, Alan made his way through the main entrance of the hospital. Out of breath from running, he glanced around. There were a lot of people scattered around, but none that were recognizable. He really didn't think they would be in the lobby anyway, so he made his way to the front desk.

"How can I help you, sir?" A nice, middle-aged woman asked.

"I need information on a Kara Tandy."

The woman looked up the information, and then looked back up at Alan.

"Ms. Tandy is in recovery and cannot be disturbed."

"So, she's out of surgery?"

"Yes, sir. And she cannot be disturbed," the woman answered, looking back down.

"I understand that," Alan said, slightly frowning at the woman's repetitiveness.

"It looks as though a room is being prepared for her," the woman said, looking up. "I just sent another couple up there."

Alan briefly thought about how odd the word "couple" sounded to him, but didn't say anything about it.

"Yes, I dropped them off."

"Well, we can only allow two people up there at a time, sir. It's somewhat restricted. It's the Intensive Care Unit."

"Can't you make an exception? I won't stay long, I promise," Alan said, flashing the woman a smile.

"It is . . . only one more person," she said, sighing, trying to make a decision.

"Please."

After a second or two delay, the woman finally wrote some numbers on a card, and handed it to him.

"Okay, sir. Just go around this desk, get on the visitor elevators to the left, and go to the fourth floor. There is a waiting lounge up there. Her room will be 4016, but she's not in there yet."

"Okay, thank you."

"I hope that I won't regret my decision, sir."

"You won't. Don't worry."

Alan made his way to the fourth floor, found the correct room to see if anyone was in there. It was empty, so he walked to the waiting lounge. Rob was sitting on one of the sofa beds and Ellie was sitting in a chair, talking to him. When Alan appeared, both of them looked up.

"Any word?" Alan asked.

Rob shook his head.

"Not yet. The second surgery went fine, but I don't know any of the details yet," he said.

"Well, at least what you've been able to get was good news," Alan offered.

Rob nodded and then leaned over, placing his head in his hands. Ellie stood up, and took Alan to another part of the room.

"Someone from the emergency room came up here to talk with us," she whispered.

"And?"

"Apparently, they had found directions to the dig site and Rob's name and phone number in her purse, so they called Rob, just as soon as the purse was brought in by the police. Their father was notified after that, and he should probably be here soon."

"Maybe we should leave and give them some space, when he gets here," Alan suggested.

"Are you crazy?" Ellie whispered in a loud sort of way, causing Rob to look their way. When he rested his head back in his hands, Ellie continued, "I'm sure Rob's father is going to be very upset, and mostly at Rob. We can't leave him."

"Well, whatever you think is best," Alan said.

Ellie nodded, and then walked back toward Rob, with Alan following.

"Want something to drink, Rob?" Ellie asked.

Rob looked up slowly.

"Sure. A Coke will be fine."

Alan walked to the vending machine in the lounge, and frowned as the Coca-Cola light was on, indicating that it was out of stock.

"I'm going to get you a Coke, I'll be right back," he said, as he hurried from the room, checking for change in his pocket.

In Alan's absence, a very dramatic reunion began. A man could be heard in the hallway, yelling at someone.

"I don't care about your ridiculous rules! I demand to see my daughter now, damn it!"

"Sir, please calm down. There are a great many patients on this floor," another man said.

"You calm down. Now where is she?"

"She will be brought up here very soon, sir."

"Maybe you didn't hear the question. Where is she right now?"

"In recovery, sir."

"And where is that!" the man said, gesturing with his hands, as if trying to get the information out of the other man more quickly.

From inside the visitor's lounge, Rob stood up. Ellie did the same, looking at him.

"Tell me that's not him," she said, sighing.

"Oh, that's him," Rob answered.

A man, of about 55, prominently came through the door of the visitor's lounge, causing everyone there to look up. He scanned the room for one person in particular, and when he found him, he quickly made his way to him.

"I hope you're happy," Robert Tandy, Sr. said to Rob, in a very eerie-like manner.

"No," was all that Rob said.

"You're always causing trouble in this family," Rob Sr. added.

"I've done nothing wrong," Rob said. Ellie noticed that Rob was barely making eye contact with his father.

"Your sister is in the hospital," Rob Sr. said loudly and condescendingly. "She's only here because you, in all of your selfishness, needed her to drive half way across Montana to see you."

Rob had been very subdued to this point, but he finally became defensive.

"She wanted . . . " He began to say, but then stopped. "I don't have to explain things to you anymore."

"You are a sorry excuse for a human being," his father said, becoming more enraged every second.

His father took a step closer, and that's when Ellie decided to interfere.

Alan was able to find another vending machine, but he had to go to the third floor to do that. He exited the elevator, and walked toward the visitor's lounge. The closer he came to the lounge, the louder the voices became. At first, he heard a stranger's voice, and then noticed how it seemed to escalate very quickly. He could tell the stranger was arguing with someone, and Alan guessed it was Rob's father arguing with Rob. Still following the voices, he rounded the corner, went into the lounge, and found everyone yelling at each other. Just as he arrived, he caught sight of Ellie getting into the yelling match, too.

"I'm sorry to intrude . . . but what in the hell is wrong with you?" she yelled at Rob's father.

"Uh-oh," Alan sighed.

Rob's father stared at the strongly opinionated woman. He was about to yell back, when Rob interrupted.

"Ellie, don't worry about it. It's fine."

"Fine? This man just accused you of something very unnecessary. He needs for someone to bring that to his attention."

Alan grabbed her arm from behind, startling her.

"I think you should stay out of this, don't you?" he suggested, in a strong manner.

"Hey, he started it," she said, gesturing toward the impossible man next to Rob.

"And I'll finish it, too," Rob's father said, as he went after Rob.

He attempted to swing at Rob's face, but missed, as Rob dodged his fist. He ended up hitting him in the shoulder instead. From there, he just settled for tackling his son. The two grown men fell to the floor, with Rob's father getting a lot of cheap shots in, as Rob struggled to free his arms that were pinned beside him.

Alan handed the sodas to Ellie, dashed by her, and made it to them. He pried Rob's father away from Rob, giving his friend some breathing room. Naturally, Rob Sr. took offense to the assistance.

"Alan!" Ellie shouted.

Ellie's voice of warning could be heard, but it was already too late for Alan to move. Rob Sr. hit him square in the jaw, making him stagger sideways into some of the waiting chairs. The people in the waiting room had scattered now, taking cover in the corners of the lounge, watching the drama unfold.

"Stay the hell out of this and never touch me again. You hear me?" Rob's father shouted to Alan, as he rubbed the hand that he used to punch with.

Alan, who was really the only calm one of the bunch, was suddenly and understandably, very upset. He regained his balance, wiped the blood away that was already coming from his mouth, and took a few steps toward his attacker.

As in a role reversal, it was Ellie who was now calm. She placed herself in front of Alan, whispering to him, hoping that her voice would get through to him.

"Okay, okay. Relax. Take it easy," she kept repeating.

Alan gave her a strange look. He wanted to listen, but he had just been hit for no reason, and wanted to retaliate. He gently moved her out of his path, and went toward Rob's father. She got in front of him again, causing his anger to slip away some, but he still sidestepped her and continued toward his assailant. He didn't get too far. Right then, security showed up. Two large men barged into the room, trying to figure out what was going on. They instantly grabbed the man who looked to be the one that was most angry looking, not to mention the only one in movement. Alan. He protested, but the two giant men grabbed him, and began to escort him out. They had a very tight grip on both of his arms, leaving Alan feeling helpless to get out of the situation. He glanced toward the one person he thought could help him.

"Ellie," he whispered, as he was forced past her.

She was about to help in any way that she could, but Rob was back on his feet by then, already talking the large men into releasing Alan.

"Excuse me. He didn't have anything to do with this," Rob tried to explain.

The guards, and the indisposed Alan, were already to the doorway when they stopped. After a brief explanation, and a promise that no more violence would be carried out, all four of them were left in the lounge. The guards seemed disappointed with the decision they had come to, looking as if they were hoping to break some heads. Reluctantly, but yet forcefully, they threw Alan back into the room, and then disappeared down the hallway. Alan shook his head, as he thought about how he had promised that nice lady downstairs that she wouldn't regret letting him in the hospital.

"You okay?" Ellie whispered, as she took hold of his arm.

He nodded, as he sat down. Following his suit, everyone sat down, with Rob and his father sitting a distance away from each other. After five or ten minutes of silence, Rob finally spoke up.

"Did you have to assault my friend?" he asked sternly, not even looking up.

Rob Sr. glared at his son.

"You should teach your badly behaved friend to act more civilized," he said, dramatically straightening out his suit.

Alan made eye contact with the elder Tandy, but didn't do much else. Whatever he might say or do, would inevitably turn into another excuse for father and son to feud.

"Maybe you should apologize for punching him in the face," Rob commented.

"That's not necessary. Really," Alan said, shifting uncomfortably in his chair

"Maybe he should apologize for man-handling my Armani suit!"

Having had quite enough of this senseless bickering that would only lead to another fight, Ellie stood up.

"Rob, why don't we just go take a walk and leave Mr. Miserable to himself."

Rob looked at his father, and then looked back toward Alan and Ellie. He saw Alan nod his head in agreement.

"Okay, let's do that."

Rob stood up and joined his friends by the doorway. Before leaving, he turned around.

"I'm just as worried as you are about her. I don't know why she would drive in a storm in the middle of the night. She must have known how dangerous it could be."

Rob Sr. continued to simply stare at his son. It looked as though he didn't even know the young man talking to him, and that he didn't want to get to know him either. Years and years of bottled up anger had driven a wedge between them, and Rob didn't know how to fix it. He wanted to say more, but he was certain that his father didn't want to hear it anyway. After a formidable silence, Rob lowered his head and walked out into the hallway, with Ellie next to him.

Alan had walked ahead of them and Ellie saw him talking with one of the nurses. As he finished the conversation, he nodded to the nurse, and then approached Rob and Ellie.

"She says there's a smaller waiting room, around the corner."

Ellie nodded, but she could see that Rob was paying no attention. He looked so very distraught. She took Rob by the arm, and followed Alan down the hallway. There was one other woman in the tiny waiting room, and when the three of them walked in, the room was pretty much filled up.

Ellie still had the two cans of Coke in her hand, so she offered one to Rob. He took it graciously, opened it, and consumed just about the whole can. Ellie handed the other can to Alan, and then looked around the room. She found a coffee pot in the corner. Relieved to have finally found her caffeinated beverage of choice, she quickly made her way to it.

"Sorry about you almost getting arrested," Rob said, sitting down and looking at Alan. It was the first thing he had said in quite a while.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Alan said, sitting across from him, "A little adventure never hurt anyone."

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Rob asked.

"Yes. Yes, I do," Alan answered.

After getting her coffee, Ellie sat next to Rob.

"If she's anything like you, she must love life. She'll fight to stay here, Rob. Just like you would," she offered.

"I hope you're right," he said, putting his head down again.

Having been waiting for another hour, Rob heard his father questioning people in the hallway again. His approach was terrible, with him treating everyone inferior, but the information he was seeking was the same information Rob wanted to know, so he listened intently from the small waiting room. After hearing him demand to talk to some type of surgeon, Rob saw his father appear in the doorway.

"They're going to find one of the surgeons," Rob Sr. said.

"I heard," Rob said, looking away from his father.

"This is preposterous, having to wait this long to find out something," Rob Sr. complained.

"It's only been an hour since you arrived," Rob pointed out.

His father began to get angry again.

"Well, it's been quite a lot longer than that, since they had called me. The damn jet wasn't ready, so I decided to drive," he said, glaring at Rob. "How in the hell did you find out about it anyway?"

"She had my phone number and directions to the dig site written down in her purse," Rob explained.

"Someone was nice enough to call him," Ellie added, feeling somewhat justified for bringing herself into the conversation, since she was there when Rob received the call.

It was evident that Rob Sr. was about to respond in a nasty way, when he was interrupted by a woman, who appeared behind him in the doorway.

"Mr. Tandy?" she questioned.

He turned around, quickly answering.

"Yes."

The woman was dressed in blue hospital scrubs and had a surgical mask around her neck. She had a real ambiance about her, and it was easy to tell that she was a woman of importance.

"Good afternoon. I'm Dr. Susan Scaletta, a neurosurgeon on staff here at St. Vincent. I performed Ms. Tandy's first surgery, earlier in the day."

"How is she?" Rob Sr. asked.

"Well, I don't have the details of the second surgery, but the first one was very successful."

"What was wrong?" Rob asked, walking into the hallway.

"She arrived by helicopter and was unconscious. We ran a head CT and found there to be formidable swelling in the brain."

"Oh, my God," Rob whispered.

"A subdural hematoma, otherwise known as a blood clot, was formed in the brain."

"So, you're saying that everything is okay, in regards to her brain?" Rob Sr. asked.

"The surgery went very well, but I don't want to leave you with false hope. We'll have to wait and see how she is, when she wakes up."

"Do you have any idea what the second surgery was for?" Rob added, still in shock from what he had just heard.

"I believe it was associated with internal bleeding, as my team was very worried about that during the first surgery," Dr. Scaletta said, and she added, "They haven't updated you at all?"

"No, they haven't. Only that she's in recovery, wherever the hell that is," Rob's father said, in a hateful way.

Families of trauma victims were almost all the same. Very nervous, very scared, and very easily defused. The surgeon tried her best to ignore his intended tone, and continued.

"Well, I'll try to find out more information, when I go downstairs."

"Thank you. That would be most helpful," Rob said.

She could tell that the older man still wasn't content.

"I do know it wasn't as severe as the brain trauma, otherwise they would have done the surgeries in a different order."

Alan had stopped, just inside the doorway of the waiting room, listening intently. Ellie was right next to him.

"That's positive," Ellie commented.

Dr. Scaletta glanced at the clock in the nurse's station.

"I'm needed in surgery in just a little while, so I'm afraid I have to be going."

Rob moved past his father, and shook her hand.

"Once again, thank you for everything," he said.

She smiled.

"I'll be sure to send someone up here with an update soon. Good evening."

The neurosurgeon quickly got back into the staff elevator, disappearing from their lives very quickly, leaving them all at a loss for words. Only for a few minutes, though.

"I can't believe it," Rob's father said, disgusted.

"What's the matter? Everything the doctor said was very positive," Rob said.

"That's just it. The doctor. The doctor is a female . . . and a little girl no less. Merely a child."

"She wasn't a child," Rob said.

Alan was standing next to Ellie, and he could feel the tension building inside of her. He moved, getting her to look at him.

"Stay out of it," he whispered, pleading with her, "He's just upset. He probably didn't even know that it sounded bad."

"Oh, I'm sure he is full aware of what he just said," Ellie whispered back, ready to pounce.

"She had to be younger than you!" Rob's father yelled to him.

"Who cares? It sounds like she saved Kara's life, so who really cares?" Rob shot back, getting somewhat angry.

Rob's father waved a hand in the air.

"You've become so weak minded in our years apart. Have I taught you nothing?"

"No, actually. You never taught me a damned thing!" Rob yelled back.

Alan could see that Ellie was going to invite herself into the argument. He firmly took her by the hand, and lead her back into the waiting room.

"What are you doing?" she asked, angrily.

"Saving you from yourself."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Alan stopped, thinking about something for a second.

"You know, on second thought, I'm saving myself from you." Seeing the strange way she was looking at him, he explained, "You fight with him. He fights with you. I get socked in the face."

"Okay, fine," she conceded, as they sat down in the waiting room.

Alan sat directly next to her, making sure that she didn't spring into the action that was going on in the hallway. He breathed a little easier, when the voices began to die down in the hallway.

Rob finally took a few deep breaths, trying to contain his anger. This wasn't the time or place to have this knock down dragged out fight.

"You know what? Think and do whatever you want. I just don't care anymore," he said, surrendering.

He didn't wait for the response, as he turned around and marched back into the small waiting room.

"Alan," he announced, as he got closer. Alan stood up. "Let's go into the big waiting room. I'm tired of being cramped up in here."

"Okay," Alan said, looking at Ellie.

They made their way into the hallway, where Rob Sr. was still standing, and walked past him. Alan kept Ellie to his right, so she couldn't come into contact with the angry man.

After about fifteen minutes of waiting, Rob's father entered the waiting room and sat down, close to the door. No one spoke. Just ten minutes later, a doctor came into the room. There were about a half dozen other people in there, as well, and every eye in the room went directly toward the man standing in the doorway.

"Mr. Harper!" the doctor asked, looking around the room.

A man of about sixty slowly got to his feet. Ellie thought he looked completely exhausted, as she watched two younger people of about thirty stand with him.

"I'm Paul Harper," the man said softly.

The doctor nodded, and gestured for them to come out into the hallway, for privacy. Even with them out of the room, Ellie could still hear them talking. The doctor was giving this family some really bad news, and the older man suddenly needed to sit down. They brought him back into the waiting room and sat him down, next to Rob's father, who quickly got up and made his way farther into the room, to give the man some space.

Rob almost began crying himself, watching this man agonizing over the apparent death of his wife, who had been in a car wreck. Rob noticed that his own father was also looking distressed. He was relieved to see that his father seemed to actually have human compassion. Everyone in the waiting room looked on helplessly, as the man's defense system crumbled down, causing him to cry like a baby. The other two members of his family, one male and one female, huddled around him, crying along with him. People in the waiting room were becoming fidgety, not really wishing to witness the tragic course of events, but no one dared move, as the doctor finally exited the room. After a brief pause, people began to move around again, whispering and talking with each other.

Ellie looked to Rob, who was wiping away some tears, looking emotionally drained.

"Anything I can do for you, Rob?" She whispered in a concerned way.

He couldn't even speak. His voice was just gone, hidden behind the newly formed tears that began to slowly stream down his face again. He just shook his head no, and went back to placing his head in his hands.

Ellie put a caring hand on his back, trying to soothe his sadness, but she knew the only thing that would help him, was to get some good news. As if on cue, another doctor walked into the room.

"Mr. Tandy?" he asked.

Rob's father stood up at once, and strolled over to the man.

"How is she?" he asked quickly.

Rob had gotten up and approached the doctor, too. The Tandy men were escorted into the hallway, as Alan and Ellie waited. A few minutes later, Rob came back into the room.

"She's out of recovery. They're moving her up here, to the ICU. Should only be a little while now."

Ellie stood up.

"That's great news," she said in a relieved way.

"Yes, very good," Alan said, echoing her thoughts.