⇦Previous Event
After we were home from the drive, I approached my dad, who was quietly sitting in the living room.
“Dad, I’m going to die, aren’t I?”
My dad sat up in his chair, leaning forward toward me. “What makes you say that, Brian?”
“Because Mommy keeps crying.”
My dad’s shoulders slumped slightly, but his face remained concentrated on me. “I don’t think that is why Mommy was crying. Let’s talk with her about this, OK?”
I nodded in silent agreement.
“You wait here and I’ll go get her.”
My dad walked out of the room, and I sat down on the couch to wait. Before returning to talk with me, my dad filled my mother in on the conversation he had just had with me. Although my parents had agreed to keep me ignorant of any details concerning my care, there had been an obvious change in my mother after the trip to University Hospital. Coming into the living room and sitting next to me on the sofa, my mother said, “Brian, remember how we saw Mrs. Winters at the hospital on Friday?”
“Uh huh,” I answered, remembering running into my Sunday School chorister at the University Hospital.
“I’ve been crying so much because I am sad that Mrs. Winters is feeling so sick.”
Buying her explanation, I relaxed a little.
“Now let’s get ready to go back to the hospital. Say goodbye to your brothers and sisters, and grab anything you want to bring with you.”
I had enjoyed the weekend, especially the Sunday drive and the absence of tests and examinations. But Sunday evening when I was once again alone in the hospital, my aloneness needled me. Why am I alone? Why can’t I be home reading a book, getting ready for school tomorrow? What is wrong with my body?
After leaving me in my hospital room, my parents spoke with Dr. Middleton’s brother, George, who was doing rounds that evening, who informed them it had been decided to surgically remove my right kidney and that the surgery had been scheduled for the following Wednesday. H