Chapter Twenty-Three
Stowe, Vermont
Lida headed for the bakery Monday morning with a new lease on life. The discussion and prayers with Father Brady had done wonders for her soul, and the tour of the county orphanage had humbled her. Lida now realized exactly what she had, two living parents that loved her and wanted the best for her. She was still angry, especially at her father, but she felt ready to at least try to discuss it.
Lida approached the front door of Rosamaria's and thought the area was pretty dead. There weren't any cars or wonderful smells coming from the ovens. When Lida approached the door, instead of the "open" sign, there was a handwritten note. "Closed for emergency in the family. We will reopen soon."
Family emergency? No one had called her or left messages with her landlady. What had happened that was bad enough for Rosamaria to close the bakery? Lida turned quickly and moved to head back up the path toward the center of town. The drugstore had a phone, she would call Uncle Max or Liesl and find out what was going on.
Lida couldn't reach Max, she couldn't reach Louisa, nor could she reach Liesl. Lida felt sick Had she really isolated herself so much that no one would contact her for a serious emergency?
Lida moved to the bus stop and before she knew it she was on the bus that led to the farm. She needed to know what was going on with her family.
Montpelier Hospital
Maria sat in an uncomfortable hospital chair holding Georg's hand. He was still feeling the effects of the morphine and was lethargic and confused when he was awake.
Marta and Louisa sat with her. The children and their spouses all had taken turns being near Maria.
They were still waiting for more tests. Curtis was certain by what he heard and saw that Georg had suffered a heart attack, but the physician that was officially treating him, a Dr. Cain wanted to wait for the lab work before doing any more procedures. Maria was overwhelmed, even with the entire family so close she needed Georg to be alright.
Georg stirred just as Curtis and Dr. Cain were making rounds. Maria smiled at him, "How are you feeling, Darling?"
Georg tried to speak but only a hoarse croak came out. Maria reached for the water on the bedside table and helped him take a drink. Georg sighed, "Thank you. That's better. How long have you been here?"
"Since last night," Maria replied gently. "Where else would I be? Marta is here and Louisa. Everyone else is outside."
"Glad you are awake, Father, " Louisal smiled. "You gave us quite a scare."
"How do you feel now, Father? Does your chest still feel tight?" Marta asked.
"No," Georg replied. "I'm tired and my legs feel very heavy. Very heavy."
"That's likely from the morphine," Marta explained. "I gave you some in the truck on the way here and you have been on a drip to help with the shortness of breath and the chest pain."
"I never had any chest pain," Georg replied. "It was my back and my shoulder."
Marta nodded, "That is probably why you ignored it for so long. You have to tell us if you feel sick, Papa. I'm going to get Dr. Cain."
"Louisa, will you excuse us, Darling? Tell the others that your father is awake and talking. We can switch out in a little while on visitors."
Louisa gave Georg a kiss on the cheek before taking her leave to give Maria and Georg some privacy. Maria lifted Georg's hand and kissed it. "I was scared to death. Don't ever do that again!"
"I won't if I can help it," Georg replied. "I'm sorry, my love. I haven't felt well for a couple months, back pain and headaches, but I thought it was everything that happened with Lida and I didn't want to upset you."
"Georg…" Maria sighed. "When are you going to learn balance, my love? When are you going to realize this is a partnership of equal proportion? You should have told me. I could have helped you."
"You did all you could," Georg replied. "I told you all I could. I….I'm sorry. I…"
"It's passed, " Maria soothed. "I am not going to let you get sick on me again."
Georg sighed, "How bad was it? The heart attack? I'm assuming that's what it was considering Marta's question and such serious faces."
"Curtis thinks so," Maria replied. "They are waiting on some laboratory tests to come back. The other doctor won't say anything for sure, he just talks in circles."
Georg closed his eyes. He was already exhausted from only talking with Maria a few minutes. "If Curtis says so…As much as I don't like him, he's a smart man."
"Well, I happen to love him," Maria replied. "He saved your life. He and Marta."
Georg nodded, "I remember Marta was there and you, all I could see was you."
Maria leaned down to let Georg kiss her but before their lips met the door opened and Marta reappeared with a tall grey haired doctor in a pressed white coat. "Mr. von Trapp, I see you are awake. How are you feeling?"
"All right," Georg replied. "Just very tired, I told my daughter my legs feel heavy. No pain though."
"That could change when we start to taper you off the morphine," Dr. Cain replied. "Your legs feel that way because of the medication, at least partly. If you had a heart attack, we should have definitive results later today, there could have been enough impairment to the circulation that caused some loss of sensation."
"And if that is the case?" Georg pressed. He was already getting frustrated with the lack of real answers he was getting. "Then what?"
"Then nothing," Dr. Cain replied. "If you had a cardiac event significant enough to cause you to have impaired circulation, there isn't anything to do. You will be under doctors orders to remain sedatory."
Maria let out an involuntary whimper. "Dr. Cain, is it? I suggest that you go now and get the results of those tests the turn them over to another doctor. You are upsetting my wife."
"I'm all right Darling," Maria soothed as Curtis walked into the room with a piece of paper in his hand and an unreadable expression on his, unreadable to anyone but Marta.
Marta moved closer to her parents, she knew that look far too well.
von Trapp Home
Lida rushed up the long path to her family home, her heart pounding so fast she was out of breath. She looked at the end of the road and saw her father's car parked in its usual space. That was good, they were home. Liesl's car was also parked across the front of the house.
Lida pushed the front door, it was open. They hardly ever locked it. "Mama?!" Lida called out. "Pa…Mama?!"
Liesl was in the master bedroom packing a bag of Georg and Maria's things to bring to the hospital. Curtis told them the night before that until they knew the extent of the damage to Georg's heart they wouldn't know how long he would have to be in the hospital. Depending on what they found and did to treat him, it could be a month or more. Liesl couldn't think about that. Georg's brush with mortality had shaken her much more than she wanted to admit.
Georg would want his own hygiene items; his comb, razor, toothbrush and Maria would need her own items as well. She was never going to go home without Georg. Liesl heard Lida's call when she was searching for Georg's reading glasses. He never kept them in the same place, they were always searching for them.
Liesl shut her eyes for a minute. How was she going to explain this to Lida? Liesl was only sure of one thing as she went down the stairs, she was not going to allow Lida to visit unless she was sure that she would not add any strain to either of their parents.
Lida called out again for Maria and Georg. Liesl turned and headed down the steps to talk to her sister. "Lida," Liesl greeted. "I didn't know you were back yet."
"Yeah," Lida replied. "It was just for the weekend, to see Father Brady. I went to work, Rosa's is closed for an emergency. Papa and Mama's car is here, but they aren't home. What happened?"
Liesl looked at Lida and smiled softly. "Father had a heart attack, Lida. He's in the hospital. Mother is with him."
Lida's own heart dropped into her stomach, and she covered her mouth. "Oh my God! Is he going to be all right? What are you doing here?"
"Let's sit down," Liesl replied. "Before we do anything we need to talk about all this."
"Shouldn't we get to the hospital?" Lida asked.
"You want to go?" Liels clarified.
"Of course, I want to go! Our Father had a heart attack! Is he even alive or…?"
"Lida, sit down," Liesl said again, guiding Lida to a chair. "First, Father is going to make it, Curtis and Marta were here thankfully, and they took good care of him. Curtis says there could be damage to the heart, but they don't know how much."
Lida took that in, "And I suppose Curtis is the one calling the shots on this then? Or Friedrich?"
Liesl shook her head, "So far, that's been Mother. I know she is taking Curtis' advice but she is calling the shots. She has been there all night and she really needs to rest herself. I'll let her explain that to you, but Lida, what you just presumed is one of the reasons I'm nervous about having you at the hospital. Father and Mother need support and peace right now. Father is exhausted, he is in and out as of when I left. They need us to be supportive."
Lida nodded and covered her face. "I am so…This is my fault. I was cruel and mean and bratty. I was damn lucky in my life, I know that now and I was going to talk to Papa and Mama tonight about what I spoke to Father Brady about."
Liesl softened her expression. "This isn't your fault, Lida. Father is 70 years old, he is a very intense man, this might have happened any time. Maybe the family being at odds pushed it up, maybe not. What we do know is that at least this time, Father is going to make it. We are all going to have another chance to show him how much he means to us. If you can do that, I think that Father and Mother will be so glad to see you, but if you can't, don't come."
Montpelier, Vermont
"By the sound of your heart, Georg," Curtis explained. "And these labs results, it is very clear that this heart attack was not the first attack you've had. These have all likely been minor events, but it is a significant finding."
Maria raised her eyebrows, "More than one heart attack? But he was never like he was yesterday before!"
"Yesterday was probably the last of the warnings we are going to get," Curtis explained. "We need to treat the high blood pressure more effectively and we need to start you on medication for the abnormal rhythms."
Georg looked at Maria then Dr. Cain. " So, what does this mean exactly? I take a couple pills?"
"Pills won't work," Dr. Cain replied. "You'll need to be kept on bedrest indefinitely "
Georg looked at Curtis. "What do you think?"
"I think," Curtis began. "That you need to take it easy and that we need more information. There is a procedure we can do that will let us look at the heart muscle more closely and see if your attacks are coming from poor blood flow or arrhythmia or both. That depends on how we treat you."
Maria and Georg had iron grips on each other's hands and sat as Curtis argued for the procedure in addition to medication to determine what to do. Dr. Cain was old school, heart patients were bedridden after a heart attack to prevent another one from happening. Georg was getting tired, his head was spinning and Maria sensed it.
Maria knew Georg, spending a couple of weeks in bed with the flu drove him insane, spending his life there perhaps unnecessarily was not something he would agree to do willingly.
"We would take you to Boston," Curtis explained. "The procedure is called cardiac catheterization. We thread a catheter into an artery in your leg and follow the path to the heart. We will be able to see if there is muscle atrophy, one or more blockages, or other abnormalities and then we decide if this can be managed with diuretics and digoxin or if it requires immobility to sustain your life."
"Curtis, Georg is very tired, can we discuss this and let you know after he has slept?"
Curtis nodded, "I have other to check on a couple other patients, but I'll be around until tonight. I canceled office hours for a couple days. Rest well Georg. Maria, take it easy okay? For Georg and the baby. Best thing you can do right now to help care for Georg is to take care of his wife and child. Okay."
Maria agreed. "I'll close my eyes while he naps."
Georg was already asleep.
A/N: So, Lida is back and she has had her eyes open a little bit. This story is taking on it's own life so to speak, and as I was working on the next chapter, I had another idea. I'm hoping you guys will stick it out with me as I continue to weave our characters paths up and down and around, trust me of course to give my usual happy or happier ending. On His Own Terms was exception to the rule of course because a Character Death is never happy, but considering Georg died in his wife's arms…well maybe.
Let me know how much more you would like in the comments. I am at kind of a crossroads here.
Thanks again for continue support. I have two other ideas brewing and a one shot, but that will have to wait until after final presentations at the end of the month.
