A Change In The Status Quo Revisit

"I'll wait until you see them then."

We just chatted for a few minutes more and I started feeling pain in my leg and in my chest. I told the nurse about it. Betty Jean had finished her shift and Julie was back, she put something into the IV and all went hazy and I slept.

Next time I woke up Julia was standing at the bottom of the bed, I turned and Mom was sitting in the chair beside the bed with her head back, fast asleep. I looked back to Julia and tried to smile.

"Julia smiled back, "Yes she's tired, she's spent almost as much time here as Rebecca, you're a lucky guy to have devoted women like that. The only times they have been away is to shower and get cleaned up, and if they could have done that here, I bet they would."

Just then Mom gave a snort and woke herself up. "Oh you should have woken me when Chuck woke up."

"He has only been awake a few minutes Pat, you have lots of time. If you need me I'll be over in the office for a while then I'll ask you to take a break for an hour while I wash this character and change his bed."

"OK. I'll come get you if Chuck needs anything. Chuck, how are you feeling?"

My voice was stronger now. "Mom, you won't believe this but while I was under, I heard a lot of what you and Rebecca were talking about. Why didn't you make me sit down and tell me the truth about Dad?"

"Chuck I haven't been able to make you sit down and listen to me since your dad started taking you out with him. I'm not surprised that you heard a lot of what we talked about, you're not the first patient to say that by a long way. I've even been told what music they were playing in the OR by a couple of patients, and comments made during the operation."

"Mom, please don't tell Rebecca that I heard I'll do that myself when I feel the time is right."

"Just as long as you do, I'll be waiting to hear that you have, I'll just tell you one thing it's good to have you back with us." Then she bent over me and for the first time in years kissed me on the cheek and I couldn't miss the tears in her eyes.

Rebecca walked into the room as she straightened up. "Hey what's this, are you trying to steal my husband." The grin on her face belied her words, "Chuck that's the first time I've seen your mother kiss you since our wedding, and even then the kiss for me was hotter than the one for you."

Mon asked, "How did you get on with the lawyer?"

"Well Sam had kind of briefed them so Mr. Wilson took some preparatory steps, he called Chuck's boss and he is on record as saying that if Chuck isn't fit to work then he is hiring someone else and Chuck is out. Then he called the insurance company involved and they are saying they won't pay the full cost of the treatment because they use County whose rates are lower and they figure Chucxk contributed to the attack himself by his diet. Now he knows what he is going to fight them on, apparently he has some kind of evidence that he thinks will make them fold, and as he put it, unless Chuck's boss changes his tune somewhat, the directors of the company are going to be pretty upset when they find out that Sam's company won't do another deal with their equipment, and we sell lots of it for them. We will just sit tight and see what the lawyer can come up with." Then she laughed, "Luckily Sam retains a bigger shark than Chuck's company does, and believe me that is right out of his own mouth, he just about floored me."

We chatted for a bit longer until I started to fall asleep again and Mom decided to take off. Rebecca settled beside me as if she was in for the long haul. As it was I woke during the early hours and when I looked to my side, she was laid back in a convertible chair, fast asleep with her hand on mine. Betty Jean was back on duty and she saw my movement. She whispered "Yes, except for the things she had to do, that's where she has been for as long as she has been allowed to be, right beside you just willing you to wake up. Now just go back to sleep, and just maybe later on today we will be moving you on to the floor."

Betty Jeans's word was gold, at about 10 am Dr James and Julia ran an ECG then after checking it they started unhooking me from all the machines, leaving a transmitter on me with contacts on my chest to be monitored in the unit. What a job it was. You know those TV scenes you see with the patients hooked up to the monitors. Well they only tell half the story, they removed wires, tubes, BP cuffs and even then they left me hooked up with a catheter and bag so they could measure my fluid input and output, (I just hope I don't get an erection ) then they hauled the bed and me down the hall to a private room. Then it was getting all hooked up again, with oxygen just in case.

Rebecca, Mom and Doctor James were there in the room with me, and Dr James started to talk, "Chuck." I held up my hand and began to say what I had been thinking.

"Doc, Rebecca, Mom. Chuck died early last Saturday morning, I'd like you to call me by my given name, Charles or if you want, Charlie. If I'm starting over, then let's start with that."

Mom burst into to tears. "Ken, you didn't win, I just hope you can hear this."

Doctor James began again. "Okay Charles that sounds like a great beginning, now here is what is going to happen from here on in. You are going to be in here for probably 3 or four days while the nutritionist and physiotherapist work with you, getting your diet under control and getting you mobile again. The diet has to change, if it doesn't you will be back here again and we can't promise as good a result the next time. I am going to put you on a blood thinner for the rest of your life to reduce the chance of clotting, just a baby aspirin for the present time and we will be getting your blood tested fairly often. Some of those tests will check cholesterol and we will try and keep that in check by diet and exercise for a start. I'm not like a whole lot of doctors who think that the cholesterol lowering drugs are like manna from heaven. Like all drugs they can cause other problems while stopping one so if you don't need them I won't prescribe them.

You can go home once you are fully mobile but you are not to do anything strenuous like gardening, work, sex or anything like that. Reading, fly tying, puzzles, anything like that are okay. After 6 weeks you come back here and I will stress test you on the treadmill and likely put you in the cardiac rehab program we have here at the hospital, where your capacity for exercise will be assessed. Once you complete that course, then there are gyms in town that continue that training. It's a fresh start, please take it and extend your life as much as possible."

I asked her. "How can a heart attack sneak up on you like that without warning? I had no idea I was in any danger."

"Charles, didn't you have a lot of stomach problems during the year?"

"Yes I did."

"A lot of that was your heart telling you there was a problem. Symptoms of heart disease and of stomach problems can be much the same and the difference can only be found by tests. I'm also going to give you a Nitro spray, if you are at home and have any pain in your chest, use it to spray under your tongue and repeat after 5 minutes, if you don't have any relief after three sprays, call 911 and get in to the ER, it is that important. If it is digestive, then that's fine at least you are not at home having a heart attack and praying that it is indigestion."

She left after that, Rebecca said, Chu.. Er Charles, Oh this is going to be tough, I've always called you Chuck. You surprise me, Dr James has just laid out that your life has to completely change yet you made hardly a comment. Why?"

"Becca, I don't want to be a fool like Dad was denying that he was any the weaker, I don't want to leave you alone or for some other guy, I want to live and to live with you if you want me.

Rebecca leant over and put her arms around my neck, nuzzling into the side of my neck and kissing me. I couldn't help it I had to say,"Hey careful Becca, if you get me excited while that tube is in my penis that could cause a real injury."

She giggled and sat back in the chair. "I better not do that then, I don't want to break it, we need it."

Mom came back in, and we just chatted for a time then they both decided to let me get some rest, and I really felt like it. They went off to lunch and Rebecca told me she would be in later.

I was finally allowed food, of course it was a fluid diet, and the best tasting thing I had was Jell-O. The coffee wasn't bad, but non fat creamer was bit of a shock, as was no sugar. Just as I was finishing who should walk in but Jerry, my colleague from the plant. He grinned at me, "Well I don't know if you'll be doing much fishing for a while, can I have your rod and borrow your flies?"

"Buddy, I'm sick not dead, I'm planning on using them soon, once the Doc will let me start practice casting. How is the plant doing without me?"

A serious look came over his face. "Chuck, I am sorry to bring bad news but it looks as if they are going to try and can you and hire someone else, You know how this outfit works, You're Just a number to them, they don't care if you get well or not, all they want is to get out from under any liability or increase in the insurance premiums. I was given time off to come visit, but the first thing I was supposed to ask was how long you would be off?"

"I won't know for about six weeks, hell they cut my chest down the middle so that will be a while healing. Who can tell, I sure can't neither can the doctor, then she is talking about cardio rehab after that; I guess it could be around 3 months anyway. Don't tell anyone there but right now I'm not so sure that I want to go back because the tension was getting to me, and right now the thought of another attack scares the hell out of me."

"Don't worry, I won't and I'll let the guys on the shop floor know that you are ok. They may not have been your best buddies but they have a lot of respect for what you know and did, and if the company follows through the way they seem to be going, they could run into trouble on the shop floor. If they do something to cheat you, then it could happen to anybody on the floor."

After Jerry left, I went back to sleep. I needed it after the constant noise of the machines in the ICU, It was a good job they knocked me out, or I wouldn't have slept at all. The private room was great and I felt fairly comfortable, though my chest felt as if there was no strength there. At least I slept most of the night except when those nurses insisted on doing things that absolutely had to be done in the middle of the night or the hospital would have ground to a standstill. I guess I was still a bit of a hardass but at least I tried to be pleasant about it. Morning came early, medications, blood being taken for tests then finally more Jell-O but at least I got some decaffeinated coffee.

I wasn't expecting Rebecca back until the afternoon so I was looking for something to read. I asked the day nurse Evelyn if there was anything around that I could get to read. She came back after a half hour with a book that looked like a romance, apologizing that there wasn't anything more slanted to male tastes. I told her, "Don't worry, if the toilet paper had writing on it, I would read that. She left laughing and I lay back and started the battered and well worn paperback. It was called Three Little Ships, written by an English lady whose name I don't remember, I guess you could call it a woman's book but It taught me a couple of things, one was that just because it was a woman's book didn't mean that the story was couldn't be exciting, and it also taught me that little people working together can accomplish big things. It was the story of the miracle of Dunkirk in the Second World War, how most of half a million British soldiers trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk were rescued by a fleet of hundreds of boats ranging from naval vessels to small boats towed in groups and how they were crewed mainly by civilian crews who faced bombing, shelling and strafing just to rescue the soldiers. It was something that I had never heard of, it wasn't American history it was British but it taught me a lesson about what the people I had thought of as little and unimportant people could do when it needed to be done.

After a lunch of beef broth, a thin soup and more Jell-O Sam popped his head in my door. "Hi Chuck, how is it going?"

"Come in Sam. I'd rather be fishing but hey, considering the alternative I had I'll take this. Sorry I couldn't make the appointment. I hear that I have you to thank for all the excellent treatment I have been getting, I owe you big time and you've earned the right to know all my good fishing spots."

Sam smiled, "That's why I am here, actually a couple of things, as Lilia gave me something to talk with you about. Both things are kind of personal so if you don't want to talk you can always tell me to shut up and we'll talk fishing. As far as the treatment goes you are entitled to it as Rebecca's spouse, and what is the use of being a major donor if you can't get a favor for a friend."

"Sam I don't have anything else to do but talk, fire away."

"After I told Lila that you wouldn't be with us on the company weekend, she sat me down and told me about a talk she had had with Rebecca. Just in case you don't know it the two of them are as thick as thieves, have been for a long time, they usually lunch together two or three times a week, and if Rebecca isn't back at her desk by 1 30, I start to worry because it is going to cost me money. Lila likes to take her when she goes dress shopping as she values Rebecca's advice. it is almost like she thinks of Rebecca as the daughter she has never been able to have, even with all the tests and modern techniques. I guess one of the last times they were out together, Rebecca was really quiet and when Lila bugged her into talking, she said that she had probably done the wrong thing in putting her career first, that she thought she was losing you and maybe you didn't trust her anymore. Lila being Lila I was told to ask you if that was so. Whether you want to answer or tell me to mind my own damn business is up to you."

"Well I must admit, I was beginning to wonder, especially when she got the promotion yet seemed to be working more hours, especially Saturdays, then I began to wonder about when she had been travelling for those years. You know all it takes is one little bit of suspicion and it all begins to get magnified out of all proportion, then when she wore that necklace the other night, I just couldn't see her buying it herself, she never spends that kind of money on herself without telling me first."

"That's because she didn't buy it for herself and you would have known that if you had come to the company functions. Actually Lila bought it, but it was paid for by the company. It only cost a fraction of what her care reading over sales contracts saved the company. A rep had made a mistake that could have cost the company a lot of money over time, and she caught it. As for the Saturdays, I keep telling her to quit working them, but she says that she would rather come in and help her reps than be on her own all day, not knowing when you will be home."

"I thought maybe she was meeting someone, using the reps as an excuse."

"Charlie, maybe you don't know, but our company has a strict morality clause in everybody's contract. We don't care what people do in their own time provided it isn't with another employee. If two single employees are dating, they have to tell us, and they will be put into different departments. Married employees are prohibited from getting involved with other employees; it is grounds for termination of their contract. Sales employees while on sales trips are expected to be on their best behavior as what they do reflects on the company. Again getting involved with someone else is grounds for termination and you would be surprised how fast things can get back to us, as we use the same chain of hotels and they know that if any of our employees creates a problem we are to be advised immediately.

Rebecca I know is one that won't cross the line. Early in her employment she came to me and asked if it was okay to get her evening meals through room service as she had been hit on a few times when on her own in the dining room. That was fine with me, there have been times that I have had to get hold of her at night, and I have called her room, she was right there, with no background noises other than TV shows, her completed orders usually came through at around 9 pm so she was working in the room. More than one manager has commented on why she is so welcome in the hotel as she is so quiet and polite. The only thing they say is that she watches a lot of movies but she pays for them separately, never on the hotel bill, Charlie, let me tell you, I wish all my employees were as well regarded. Anyway, I have something to show you."

He opened his brief case and pulled out a laptop computer, and set it up on my bedside table. He went on to explain what he was doing. "All our employees are aware that all operations in our headquarters are taped. The only places that are not equipped for video and sound are the washrooms and lunchroom. All offices are monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all employees are aware of this, though sometimes they forget it includes weekends. This is part of their contract and many times they are glad of it because it provides backup for them if any customers start trying to get out of contracts etc. What a lot of people don't know is that once in a while Lila and I will go in on a Sunday and view the videos. I would like you to watch this one."

He started the DVD, and I recognized it as Rebecca's office. She was at her desk talking to one of her sales staff I had been introduced to as Tom Jacobs. She went over his sales report and asked him some questions about it. He answered the questions, then said, "Rebecca, why don't we drop the pretence, we both know what you want, you want a taste of Tom, I'll do a much better job than that jerk of a husband of yours of giving you what you want and satisfying you."

Her face changed in a hurry, obviously he had never seen her mad, Me I would have just turned and walked right out of there before the fireworks. He just made it worse; he got up, walked around her desk and put his hand on her shoulder. She just stood up as if she was going to let him hold her, but then stood back and he never saw her right hand coming up, Slap, the sound just seemed to reverberate round the room.

"You detestable son of a bitch, you are so low you could walk under a snake's belly, wearing a top hat. You're a married man with three children, your wife is a friend of mine, you know the company's regulations regarding sexual harassment and you still try to pull a stunt like that. Well on Monday morning I will be submitting a complaint about your conduct to the HR department. The only regret I will have doing it, is that it will hurt Joanne and your kids, which is the only reason I'm not on the phone to Sam right now."

I would have laughed if it hadn't hurt too much. "That's my Rebecca, I wouldn't expect any less from her though I didn't know she could hit that hard, maybe she should have got my attention that way sometimes." The video continued, "Just get out of the office and I never want to see your face here again."

I noticed the date and time on the video, it was dated June 5^th, then the light went on in my brain, no wonder she was so mad when I tried to suggest some fooling around that Sunday, it was Sunday June 6^th, (What soldier ever forgets the anniversary of D Day) the day after the altercation, no wonder she was mad, especially if the wife was a friend of hers, I guess I was lucky she didn't slap me.