CHAPTER 8: Getting Up And Around

A little while later that afternoon, probably sometime after what the hospital calls shift change—when the day staff goes home, and the evening staff comes in—a nurse came in. She was an African-American woman with black ringlets, and her name tag read "Brenda".

"Time to get up and walk," she told me.

I glanced at Jason. He hadn't left his chair since I'd come back to my room. All four of my parents had gone home, but Daddy said he'd come back in the morning so he'd be there when the doctor said I could go home.

The nurse lowered the bedrail, and without being asked, Jason got up from his chair, and the two of them helped me to my feet. "Where would you like to go?" he asked.

"I thought maybe Karen could show you the playroom," Brenda suggested.

"Yeah!" I whispered happily. "You can see how we fixed it up!"

"Sure," Jason said. The three of us walked out of the room and into the hall.

Brenda led the way and when I opened the door, the first thing we saw was that it still looked great, just like the day we'd fixed it up. "You see," I explained, "this room was in horrible shape. The paint was peeling, and some of the toys were old and broken. When I got out of the hospital after having my spleen removed, Hannie, Nancy, Christina, and I organized a toy drive. We collected so many toys that we had to have Seth build these shelves for them."

"Wow, that was awfully nice of you," Jason said. I led him around the room and pointed out what we'd done. After a few minutes, he asked, "Would you like to go back to your room now?"

I nodded. "I think it's almost dinner time, anyway."

Jason led me back to my room and settled me into bed. That's when the nurse returned with dinner—which, of course, included a potato patty. If you ask me, I think all tonsillectomy patients should be required to eat one. I should write a letter to the Surgeon General, asking him or her about that.

I managed a few bites, then came the inevitable: "Jason?"

Jason very quickly opened the cabinet under the sink and got out a metal pan. "I remembered where it was from my own hospital stay," he said, handing it to me.

That's when everything came up: dinner, the potato patty, and the ice cream, then I started to cry. Okay, so maybe it wasn't as bad as the time I threw up on the school bus when I was in second grade, but I was still pretty upset.

Jason wrapped me in a hug and stroked my hair. "Shh," he whispered. "It'll be all right. No one expects you to keep your first meal down when you've had surgery. After my appendectomy, the only thing my stomach could handle was ice water."

While Jason held me, I couldn't help noticing that his muscles felt like two boulders. I decided that he must work out at least once a day. Still sobbing, I buried my face into his chest, just listening to his heartbeat. It felt so wonderful, I didn't want to let go.

A few minutes later, I released myself from Jason's grasp, and he handed me a tissue from the bedside table. Then he checked his watch and said, "Well, it's almost time for me to go. I promised Mum I'd call as soon as I was ready." He reached for the phone and called Diann, then down to the kitchen and asked them to bring another tray for his dinner.

While we waited, Jason handed me another tissue as the nurse came with his dinner. The only difference between our meals was that instead of soft foods, he had a piece of meatloaf with scalloped potatoes, cooked carrots, and tea. After that, another nurse came in to clean and empty out the metal pan. "Sorry," I whispered to her.

"No problem," she said as Jason patted my back.

After the nurse left, Jason said as he took a bite of meatloaf, "So, you're leaving tomorrow, huh?"

I nodded.

"I'll probably be at your dad's when you get home. I have my own doctor's appointment, too," he said as he finished the last sip of tea. "You see, when I had the check-up with the doctor in Washington, he told Mum to schedule an appointment for me with my own doctor here, and tomorrow's the earliest I could get in."

That's when Diann and Bebe came in, followed by the nurse, who took Jason's empty tray. "Hi, Karen," Bebe said. "How are you feeling?"

"Well, I'm doing much better than I was this afternoon, but now I can't talk above a whisper," I answered.

"Poor dear," Diann said sympathetically. "I know just how you feel. I had my tonsils out when I was six."

"And I had mine out the summer before we moved here to Stoneybrook," Bebe added. "Anyway, we can't stay long. We just came by to pick Jason up, and see how you were doing."

"Thanks for coming."

"No problem."

About an hour later, they left. I laid back against the pillow and closed my eyes. I just glad to be going home tomorrow.