of Moby’s clients.”
“You need to get here. They’re transferring Moby to MUSC, and they’re leaving in fifteen minutes by ambulance.”
“What? Why?” My face turns bright red. This is not a decision Moby would have made on his own. I’d bet money his parents had something to do with it.
“He needs to have the stent done, Piper. He can’t have that here.”
“That decision hasn’t been made.”
“Actually, honey, it has. If you want to go with him, you need to be here in the next ten minutes.”
“I can’t get there that fast, Patty. It’s a twenty-minute drive from here.”
“I don’t know what to tell you. They’re transporting him by ambulance, and they’re getting him ready now.”
“Ugh. I’ll get there as quickly as I can. I need to go.” I disconnect without waiting for a response.
Turning back to Curtis, I say, “I’m sorry I have to rush out.” I scribble my number on a piece of paper on the desk and hand it to him. “Please call me and let me know if I need to do anything to help you out with rescheduling. I’m so sorry. I hadn’t intended to rush in and out of here.”
“No worries, Piper. Do what you need to do to take care of Moby. Keep me updated.”
“I will. Thanks again!”
* * *
R ipping the door open to my car, I plop down in the seat to Google the phone number for the hospital.
“Moby Cooper’s room, please.”
“One moment please.” The sound of fingers on a keyboard fills the silence. “I’m sorry ma’am, there are no phones in the ICU rooms.”
“Okay, how about the nurses’ station, it’s right outside his room.”
“We aren’t allowed to connect people to the ICU nursing station.”
The bitch in me erupts. “Look, I appreciate you’re doing your job, and I hope you can appreciate I’m simply doing mine. My husband is on that floor, and his mother just called me to tell me they’re moving him to MUSC in roughly twelve minutes, and I’m not there. Now, you can either connect me to a nurse on that floor or when I get there and my husband has left, I will personally come find you and show you just how unhappy I really am.”
“Let me put you on hold and see what I can do.” She remains calm, but I can hear the unsettled tone in her voice.
“Thank you.”
As I wait, I start driving, listening to the horrid music they’ve chosen to occupy the silence for the caller. “Ma’am, I have Dr. Sandhar on the line, I will connect you.” After a couple clicks, she goes silent, and the doctor is on the other end.
“Mrs. Cooper?” Her foreign accent is much heavier on the phone than in person.
“Yes! God, I’m so glad I got you on the phone. What’s going on? When I left last night, we were just considering the brain stent and now my mother-in-law tells me it’s imminent. Did something happen?”
“We did another MRI last night to see if the aneurysm was leaking blood into the brain tissue and the vessel has coiled.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It could rupture, Mrs. Cooper. We can’t help him here. He needs to be in a facility that has the equipment to deal with this. Regional is not that place. MUSC is the nearest hospital equipped to do so.”
I don’t need to ask any further questions. I know what she’s implying, and it’s a reality I’m unwilling to face.
“Can you hold the ambulance until I can get there? I’m fifteen minutes from the hospital.”
“Of course. We’ll see you shortly.”
Driving as fast as possible without getting a ticket or killing an innocent bystander, I make it to the hospital in record time. Running to the elevators, then down the hall my footsteps echo with a hallow thud on the floor. When I reach the seventh floor, I find his parents standing outside his room talking to Dr. Sandhar.
I don’t stop to talk. Brushing by them, I close the door to his room behind me.
“Hey, baby. Why are you so out of breath?” he asks me, eyeing me closely.
“Were you really going to leave
“You need to get here. They’re transferring Moby to MUSC, and they’re leaving in fifteen minutes by ambulance.”
“What? Why?” My face turns bright red. This is not a decision Moby would have made on his own. I’d bet money his parents had something to do with it.
“He needs to have the stent done, Piper. He can’t have that here.”
“That decision hasn’t been made.”
“Actually, honey, it has. If you want to go with him, you need to be here in the next ten minutes.”
“I can’t get there that fast, Patty. It’s a twenty-minute drive from here.”
“I don’t know what to tell you. They’re transporting him by ambulance, and they’re getting him ready now.”
“Ugh. I’ll get there as quickly as I can. I need to go.” I disconnect without waiting for a response.
Turning back to Curtis, I say, “I’m sorry I have to rush out.” I scribble my number on a piece of paper on the desk and hand it to him. “Please call me and let me know if I need to do anything to help you out with rescheduling. I’m so sorry. I hadn’t intended to rush in and out of here.”
“No worries, Piper. Do what you need to do to take care of Moby. Keep me updated.”
“I will. Thanks again!”
* * *
R ipping the door open to my car, I plop down in the seat to Google the phone number for the hospital.
“Moby Cooper’s room, please.”
“One moment please.” The sound of fingers on a keyboard fills the silence. “I’m sorry ma’am, there are no phones in the ICU rooms.”
“Okay, how about the nurses’ station, it’s right outside his room.”
“We aren’t allowed to connect people to the ICU nursing station.”
The bitch in me erupts. “Look, I appreciate you’re doing your job, and I hope you can appreciate I’m simply doing mine. My husband is on that floor, and his mother just called me to tell me they’re moving him to MUSC in roughly twelve minutes, and I’m not there. Now, you can either connect me to a nurse on that floor or when I get there and my husband has left, I will personally come find you and show you just how unhappy I really am.”
“Let me put you on hold and see what I can do.” She remains calm, but I can hear the unsettled tone in her voice.
“Thank you.”
As I wait, I start driving, listening to the horrid music they’ve chosen to occupy the silence for the caller. “Ma’am, I have Dr. Sandhar on the line, I will connect you.” After a couple clicks, she goes silent, and the doctor is on the other end.
“Mrs. Cooper?” Her foreign accent is much heavier on the phone than in person.
“Yes! God, I’m so glad I got you on the phone. What’s going on? When I left last night, we were just considering the brain stent and now my mother-in-law tells me it’s imminent. Did something happen?”
“We did another MRI last night to see if the aneurysm was leaking blood into the brain tissue and the vessel has coiled.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It could rupture, Mrs. Cooper. We can’t help him here. He needs to be in a facility that has the equipment to deal with this. Regional is not that place. MUSC is the nearest hospital equipped to do so.”
I don’t need to ask any further questions. I know what she’s implying, and it’s a reality I’m unwilling to face.
“Can you hold the ambulance until I can get there? I’m fifteen minutes from the hospital.”
“Of course. We’ll see you shortly.”
Driving as fast as possible without getting a ticket or killing an innocent bystander, I make it to the hospital in record time. Running to the elevators, then down the hall my footsteps echo with a hallow thud on the floor. When I reach the seventh floor, I find his parents standing outside his room talking to Dr. Sandhar.
I don’t stop to talk. Brushing by them, I close the door to his room behind me.
“Hey, baby. Why are you so out of breath?” he asks me, eyeing me closely.
“Were you really going to leave
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