Everyone else had gone home, tired from a long day, but Sal, Q, and Murr set waiting as patiently as they could.
"It's been four hours guy, does that mean something has gone wrong? Why don't they give us another update?".
Murr set wringing his hands nervously. He had paced a hole in the floor, looked out the fourth floor window aimlessly, counted the tiles on the ceiling.
"Just hang tight, Murr, last update they said they were closing him up and everything went ok. The Dr should be out here soon"
Before the words were out of Q's mouth, the Dr walked towards them.
The three men were on their feet and walking towards the white clad figure.
After shaking hands, the Dr looked from one anxiety ridden face to another, and smiled warmly.
"He is going to be okay."
The weigh of the world immediately lifted from three sets of shoulders.
"Oh thank God"
Sal sank slowly into the chair behind him, relief overwhelming him.
"He's lost a large amount of blood, which we are replacing. The surgery was more extensive than what I envisioned. Several screws and a plate are holding Joe's lower leg bone together. A small plate is also connecting the ankle to the leg bone. About 300 stitches were needed on the inside of his body, 100 stitches were used on the outside of the skin. A large dose of infection medication is being given through an IV. He will be in the hospital three to five days but the recovery proccess will be much longer. Learning to walk again will be a challenge, it will also be a very painful recovery. He will need his friends to lean on, in more ways than one. But, in short, he is a very lucky man. He could have very easily bled to death today. "
After taking this information in, Q was the first to speak.
"Thank you so much, Dr. We are forever grateful".
"Yes, sir, thank you"
Sal only nodded his thanks and smiled in appreciation, yet to find his voice.
"When can we see him?" Murr could not wait any longer to ask that question.
"Give it about an hour and then pick the telephone up at the door and ask, you should be able to see him then. The nurses are cleaning him up now and hooking his IVS up. He's also still out, he may still be asleep in an hour, but you can be with him for a few minutes anyhow".
"Thank You again. Maybe we'll go grab a bite to eat while we wait."
Smiling again, the Dr again shook all four men's hands and walked away.
"Thank you Jesus."
Q had sank to his knees in relief. He rose slowly and turned to his friends.
"Who is hungry besides me?"
Murr spoke up from the window he had walked to.
"I am, I didn't know it until now, but now that I can breathe, I am starving!".
Sal laughed nervously and agreed.
"Me too. I had no idea! Let's go eat real quick. Grab a burger or something"
*****************
An hour later, the three friends set around Joe's bed in the ICU, talking quietly to a nurse as they watched their friend sleep.
Sal could literally see the color returing to Joe's face. He could also see the peace in the soft features that stood in stark contrast to the pain and misery he saw in the same face only hours before.
"He looks great." He smiled at the older nurse checking Joe's vitals.
"He is doing very well" She smiled sweetly back. "He should be moved to a regular room within a few hours". A small grunt turned every head in the room, Sal's gaze went from the brown eyes of the kindly nurse to the sleepy blue eyes of his best friend.
He smiled reassuringly at the man in the bed, taking his hand, squeezing gently.
"Hey buddy"
The hand in his squeezed back weakly.
The tiny smile on Joe's face brightened the small room. It was such a relief to see the baby blue eyes focused and alert.