Kevin the Comforter - Chapter 6 - Lonesome Joan
Setting- The hospital Sunday, around noon.
An hour has passed since Kevin has been brought to the hospital. Joan is pacing back and forth in the waiting room area, waiting for a doctor to come and inform her about Kevin's condition and whether he will be okay or not—after they were done taking and analyzing the x-rays of his head and body.
One of the nurses walks up to Joan and asks her if she would like to phone her parents. Joan nods weakly in reply and the nurse leads her to a phone at the nurse's station. Joan is getting desperate as on the third try, she still has not been able to reach either of her parents, Luke or Grace on their cell phones.
She then calls Adam and is immensely grateful when she hears it ringing instead of connecting her to his voicemail. An out of breath Adam answers the phone on the 5th ring. Joan is so happy to hear his voice that she talks on top of her voice and at lightning speed, leaving Adam both deaf, dizzy and none the wiser as to what she is telling him. Joan goes on babbling for a couple of minutes, before Adam is able to ask her what she is talking about. When she tells him the second time, she is a bit calmer, but her voice is high pitched and nerve racking.
Adam can only make out that Kevin is in the hospital, he is clueless as to what landed him there. Joan tells Adam that she cannot get a hold of anyone else in the family. She tells him that Luke is at Grace's, and asks Adam if he could possibly go over there and then accompany them to the hospital. Having heard Joan out, Adam tells her that he cannot inform Luke or Grace or accompany them to the hospital, because he is visiting a college 3 hours away from Arcadia, along with his dad.
Joan then says, "I'm so stupid! I knew you had an interview at a college today. Being so worried about Kevin, I guess I forgot. Sorry, Adam, for worrying you needlessly."
"Cha. No problem, Jane. I hope Kevin will be okay and you too, Jane!"
"Thanks for caring, Adam. I gotta go, the doctor is here to see me. Bye, Adam."
"Bye, Jane."
The doctor approaching her is a grumpy, middle aged man with a weary look on his face.
He introduces himself as Dr. Atkinson.
"I'm Joan Girardi. Is my brother going to be all right?" she asks him.
"Miss Girardi, your brother's unconsciousness was due to a blow to the head, which he sustained during the fall. A CAT scan shows that he has a heavy concussion, but there's no permanent damage. We closed his head wound with a few stitches and he should come around as soon as the anesthetic wears off."
Before doctor Atkinson is able to proceed, Joan hysterically butts in,
"Anesthetic, you mean you had to operate!"
"Please calm down, Miss Girardi. We had to operate on his right arm in order to set the fracture. He will have to be in a cast for six weeks. After that, with some physical therapy, he should be able to have full use of his arm. Your brother is in the recovery room, you may see him now if you'd like."
Doctor Atkinson looks at Joan for a reaction, who slowly nods her head. He walks over to a room further down the hall, opens the door and tells Joan that she may stay with her brother as long as she would like. Before he leaves, Doctor Atkinson asks Joan for her home phone number and the one of her parents' cell phones. He will have a nurse ring her parents and tell them where they are.
"Thanks, Doctor Atkinson, for taking care of my brother and phoning our parents."
"You are welcome, Miss Girardi." With that, he closes the door and leaves her alone with Kevin and a nurse.
Joan says, "Hi, I'm Joan Girardi, Kevin's sister."
"Hi, I'm Cynthia. Would you like some time alone with your brother?"
In reply, Joan nods.
"I'll be down the hall at the nurse's station. If you have any questions, just press this button and I'll come back in here."
Feeling odd about calling an older person she doesn't know by her first name, Joan just says "Thank you." The nurse gives her a weak smile and leaves, shutting the door behind her to give them some privacy.
Joan walks over to Kevin's bed, leans over him and whispers his name, just in case he is still asleep. Slowly, Kevin opens his eyes. For a moment he focuses on Joan. She can see the pain in his eyes—and the disgust. He doesn't like having to face her in such a vulnerable position. Kevin winces, then grabs his forehead with his left arm since he feels a sharp pain, as if some one is driving knives through his head again and again.
"You fell down the stairs and bumped your head, that's why you have a headache. The doctors stitched you up." Kevin then fumbles to find the stitches.
Semi-sarcastically, Joan adds "Don't worry, the scar, if any, will be covered by your hair." Seeing Kevin's confused expression due to her 'reading' his mind, she gives him a weak smile.
"Kevin, I'm so sorry you broke your arm." She gives him a sympathetic smile—she knows what that means: He will be dependent on others until his arm is healed.
As Joan's words sink in, Kevin snippily says, "I don't need your sympathy. Why are you here? Why not mom and dad?"
"I was there when you fell. You do remember that, don't you?" Joan asks worriedly, wondering if he has lost his short term memory.
"Yeah, I remember you stalking me in my room, then following me to the stairs. Now I wake up in this room—and here you are. So now that you have me cornered, you have achieved your goal. So say what you have to say and then leave!" Kevin says sarcastically.
A bit taken aback, Joan stammers, "I know this won't help heal the wounds I inflicted, but I am truly sorry." Joan cries in remorse as well as shame, she feels Kevin's emotional pain. "I have caused you so much pain, which I wish I could take back. You're such a perfect big brother—protecting me, comforting me—and what do I do in return? Hurt your feelings!" As Joan casts a tearful glance at Kevin, she adds, "I am so sorry." She then hurries out of the room.
Here I am, alone in the silence of this hospital room with a gigantic headache, my only visitor is the person which landed me here in the first place—my little sister, who at the moment is una persona non grata. However, my worst concern is for the broken arm, which Joan pointed out to me—with one arm I can neither transfer myself, dress myself, nor wash myself, so I guess I'm dependent on my family, just like when I came home from the rehab center. So I guess that kinda means that I'm back to square one.
I start feeling a bit woozy. Next thing I know, someone is gently stroking my hand, a stranger is calling my name, asking me to open my eyes. My eyelids feel really heavy, yet I somehow manage to open my eyes. When I look up, I see the nurse that was in here earlier to check on me. She's not alone—to my dismay, Joan is standing next to her, she's the one stroking my hand. I pull my hand back—with a surprised look on her face and tear-filled eyes she lets go of it as if she's been struck by lightning. Then she rushes out of the room, once more leaving me alone with the room's silence and my ever spinning thoughts which seems to get me no where. I want Mom and Dad, that I do know, but as Joan keeps on popping in, they probably haven't arrived yet.
Meanwhile, Joan is making a path in the linoleum in the hallway outside of Kevin's room with her pacing. She doesn't like the thought of him being alone, but he has made it clear that her presence is not wanted. It is now 4:10 pm and their parents, Luke and Grace are all still unreachable, which adds to Joan's uneasiness about Kevin being in the hospital as that too is her fault. After all, Kevin fell when he tried to make a quick get-away from her—by going down stairs and he lost his concentration as well as hold and fell down the stairs. Kevin already hated her, now Mom, Dad and Luke would hate her too for her involvement in this accident. Boy, had she ever been in bigger trouble?
Should I give it one more try? I mean, besides the nurse, he is all alone in that room. Who am I kidding anyway? If I went in there to see Kevin, it would be for my own benefit, not his. After all, he has shown that he'd rather be alone than have me for company. My concern for Kevin is nagging at me, yet I can't make myself enter his room once more, just to feel his hatred towards me. How I wish thinks were normal between the two of us! What is 'normal' anyway? Well, him hating me is abnormal, that is the only thing I can conclude, as my brain isn't ready to discuss the meaning of a normal relationship between me and my older brother at this moment. I actually wish that God would show up, then at least I could have a conversation with someone else besides myself. People thought I was crazy, saying that I talked to God, what would they think if they knew I was having discussions with myself? I guess I would have to go straight back to crazy camp then. No! No more crazy camp for me!
Suddenly I feel a gentle tug at my shoulder, it's one of the nurses from the nurse's station. She asks me if I am okay since she has called my name a few times and I haven't answered. I tell her that I'm fine. She then tells me that they have finally gotten hold of our parents and that they are on their way. I ask her if she knows where they've been, but she hasn't asked and they haven't told her. I really need some sugar or I'll faint, therefore I walk over to a vending machine and, for once, get myself a regular Coke. I sit down on the bench closest to Kevin's room to wait for our parents' arrival—which is a drag with all these goofy thoughts spinning around in my head. At least God could show up to make time pass quicker and make me less miserable, but I guess I don't fit into to Her/His/Its schedule today.
When our parents, Luke and Grace arrive some 20 minutes later, they ask me where they can find Kevin. I point to the door to the right of me and say, "He's in there." The four of them rush into the room, leaving me alone in the hallway. Somehow I think Grace would come back out and ask me to join them, but she doesn't do anything of the sort, nor anyone else, for that matter. I can't remember ever feeling this lonely in my entire life before.