Mary and Alvin Ch. 36

Bogart and Bacall

It was still dark in the room when Alvin got out of bed. Looking out the window, he saw a magenta glow on the horizon. He went to the bathroom, then pulled on his robe and made his way slowly down the stairs. One step at a time, he thought, ain't that a pisser?

He started the coffee maker, although he didn't enjoy his morning cup as much as he once had. Decaf was better than it used to be, but it still wasn't the real thing. As he waited for the coffee to brew he heard a rooster crow and looked out the window. A tall shadowy figure moved across the dooryard. It was Omar, out to gather the morning's eggs. He thought about how much he'd love a big plate of bacon and eggs, but Mary would give him hell for that too.

When the coffee was done, he poured a cup and took it out to the front porch. Omar came out of the chicken coop, waved to him and crossed the yard.

"Good morning," he said in a hushed voice, "You are up early."

"I didn't sleep well," Alvin replied, "Don't know why, just didn't."

Omar nodded sympathetically. "So what do think? Rain will come today?" he asked. He had an almost superstitious faith in Alvin's ability to predict the weather.

Alvin raised his face and breathed in deeply. "I expect so. Probably not till later, though."

"Good, I am worried for the tomatoes if they do not get a good soak."

"Oh, there'll be fat and red soon," Alvin said.

Omar waved and went back to his work. Alvin stood on the porch a few minutes longer, enjoying the quietude of the morning, until the rooster disturbed it again.

"Sun won't come up if you don't crow, will it?" he muttered, and turned to go inside. As he went through the door, he bumped his shoulder against the jamb, sloshing some of his coffee on the floor. What happened there, he thought, feeling suddenly light headed. He went toward the sink, thinking he would get a towel to clean up the spilled coffee, but before he got there, he began to have trouble breathing. He tried to set his cup down on the counter, but he missed and it clattered into the sink.

"Mary," he called, but all that came out was a weak wheeze. He staggered toward the stairs, but realized he did not have the strength to climb them, so he turned into the living room and fell on the couch, knocking the lamp off the end table and sending it to the floor, where it shattered with a loud crash.

Mary sat upright at the sound of the lamp breaking. "Alvin!" she shouted as she threw back the covers. Hearing no answer, she rushed to the stairway. Pieces of ceramic littered the floor at the bottom of the steps. She called for Alvin again as she rushed downstairs, but there was still no answer.

She saw him slumped on the couch. A memory flashed through her mind, of Alvin's description of finding Bonnie lying in her garden. She rushed to him, kneeling on the floor before the couch.

"Wake up, baby," she said, her voice on the verge of cracking. She took him by his hands and attempted to pull him upright, but he slid further down on the couch cushions.

CPR, she thought, you have to do CPR. She had taken a course years before, but she could not focus on remembering what to do. Danni will know, she thought. She shouted for help.

Another memory came to her. She was in the hospital, looking up at him.

"Alvin did you save my life?"

"I don't think so."

"I think you did."

She raised her arm and brought her fist down hard on the center of his chest. He may have stirred, but she could not be sure. She did it again, hitting him harder, and he drew in a great, gasping breath.

Alvin opened his eyes and saw Mary looking down him, tears streaking her cheeks.

He took another deep breath, then on the exhale, said, in a barely audible voice, "Baby, don't cry."

Mary heard a voice behind her, and turned to see Omar standing in the entrance to the hall. He had a phone in his hand and was speaking with the 911 operator.

"Help me sit up," Alvin said, raising his arms. Omar stepped around Mary and pulled him into a sitting position.

"That's better," Alvin said, "Easier to breathe."

"Help is on the way," Omar said. "I will call Jennifer and Hannah."

Mary climbed on to the couch and knelt beside Alvin, cradling his head in her arms.

"Jeezum, I broke the lamp," he said.

"I don't care about the lamp."

"Gotta clean it up."

"You don't have to do it."

Danni burst through the door, with Jennifer close behind her.

"Daddy, what happened?" Jennifer panted.

Danni leaned down in front of Alvin, took his chin in her hand and looked into his eyes.

"Jen," she said, "Go to the bathroom and bring back aspirin and a glass of water." Turning back to Alvin she asked "Are you in any pain? Pressure in your chest?"

"Feels like someone punched me," he said, rubbing his solar plexus.

"That was me," Mary said softly.

Alvin looked at her. "Jeezum, Mary, you pack a wallop."

"Are you having trouble breathing?" Danni asked.

"No, I just feel sort of weak."

Jennifer returned from the bathroom. Danni shook three aspirins out of the bottle and gave them to Alvin, "Chew these, don't just swallow," she instructed him. When he had done so, she gave him the water.

Omar tapped Danni on the shoulder. "Where did the blood come from?"

She glanced around and saw smears of blood on the hallway floor and the living room rug. She looked at Alvin and frowned, then looked at Mary.

"Sweetie, your feet are cut."

Jennifer sat down on the coffee table and lifted Mary's feet into her lap. Omar went to the kitchen and returned with a damp towel.

"It's from the lamp, I guess," Mary said, "I didn't even notice."

"It's just a few cuts," Jennifer said, washing away the blood. There was still a shard of ceramic in Mary's heel and she deftly plucked it out. Omar went upstairs and fetched the first aid kit from the bathroom, then handed it to Jennifer, who bandaged Mary's feet.

Omar got a broom and dust pan from the closet and cleaned up the broken lamp. As he was dumping it in the track can under the sink, he looked out the kitchen window. "They are here," he said.

The ambulance pulled near the house. Jennifer met the paramedics on the porch and let them into the house. Danni knew both of them from her duties with the sheriff's department. She greeted them and explained the situation.

"He passed out at some point. We don't know how long he wasn't breathing. His wife pounded on him and he came around. Says he's not in any pain."

One of the paramedics knelt in front of Alvin. "How are you feeling, sir?" he asked. "Can you tell me what happened?"

Alvin shrugged. "I got up, made some coffee. Spoke a moment with Omar there, then come back in the house and couldn't breath. Then, it all went to black."

"Did you have any pain?"

"No, just felt woozy."

"Okay. Well, we are going to take you to the hospital and have them check you out."

"Well, alright then." Alvin tried to stand.

"Let's get you on a gurney, sir, just to be on the safe side."

"I can walk," Alvin insisted. "Danni can help me. And Omar."

Danni nodded to the paramedic and he stepped back. She took Alvins right arm, and Omar took his left. They carefully walked out to the porch. The gurney had been set up at the bottom of the steps, set at knee level.

Hannah drove into the yard as Alvin was lowering himself on to the gurney. She parked her car, then ran to him.

"Papa, are you alright?" she called as she approached. Alvin reached out toward her.

"No, honey, let them get him in the ambulance," Danni said.

Hannah stopped and watched helplessly as the paramedics raised the gurney and pushed it to the ambulance.

"Mary, come with me," Alvin called.

"I'm sorry, sir, that's not a good idea," the paramedic said.

"I wasn't asking, bub," Alvin said.

Mary touched the paramedic's arm. In a low voice, she told him, "His mother died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital, so..."

The paramedic looked at her, then slowly nodded. "You ride up in the front, in case, you know, if I have to work on him."

"Thank you."

As they loaded Alvin on the ambulance, Omar helped Mary up into the front seat. When she was seated, he closed the door and turned to Jennifer.

"There is still work to do," he said, I "have not fed all the animals. I will stay and take care of things."

"Okay," she said, "Thanks."

Hannah hugged him. "I left the kids with Jessica," she said, "I'll call you later." She turned to Jennifer. "Jen, you want to ride to the hospital with me?"

"Okay."

"I'll meet you guys there," Danni said.

The ambulance pulled out of the yard, and Hannah and Jennifer followed it.

"Why did you not go with them?" Omar asked Danni.

"Because I have the tough job," she said, shrugging, "I've got to go tell Bonita."

***

The ambulance arrived at the hospital without incident, and Mary followed Alvin into the emergency room, where he was scanned, x-rayed, hooked to monitors and oxygen and IV lines. They checked his pulse and drew his blood and handed him clipboard after clipboard of forms to sign, all of which Mary took from him and signed herself.

Finally, the cardiologist came around. Mary held Alvin's hand while the doctor flipped through a stack of charts.

"Well," he said, finally looking up at them, "It seems you had a heart attack this morning, Mr. Faulkner."

"Jeezum crow," Alvin muttered. Mary squeezed his hand tighter.

"We have you stabilized for now, but we are going to send you up to Bangor. Likely, they will be inserting a stent."

He looked through the charts again. "You had no pain in your chest? Maybe in your shoulders or your jaw? Your back?"

"As I think about it," Alvin said, "My back was bothering me all night."

The doctor nodded. "Well, the Life Flight helicopter will be here soon. I'll check in again when they arrive."

When he had left, Alvin looked up at Mary. "I drank the decaf, honey," he said.

"I know, baby. There's no fault to it. It runs in your family."

He nodded. "True, my Mom. Her dad. Harry."

"It's a miracle Harry lived as long as he did."

"That's so." He looked around the room. "Did the girls come with us?"

"I rode up with Jen and Hannah. Danni went to pick up Nita."

"Go tell them I'm just fine."

She smiled at him and went to the waiting room. Jennifer and Hannah were sitting side by side, holding hands. They both jumped up when they saw her approach, and bombarded her with questions.

Mary held up her hands and hushed them. Trying to speak calmly and sound reassuring, she told them that Alvin had suffered a heart attack, was stable and would be transported to Bangor.

"They are going to probably put in a stent," she explained.

"So, that's heart surgery?" Jennifer asked.

"No, not really," Hannah told her, "They go in through a tube, they don't have to cut him open."

"I guess that's good."

The emergency room door burst open and Bonita charged in. "Where's Papa?" she shouted, "I want to see him."

Danni followed her in, helplessly raising her hands.

"They are getting him ready to go to Bangor, sweetie," Mary said, "You can't see him now."

"Okay,"Bonita said, sighing deeply, "I get it, I'm sorry, it's just..."

"I know, Nita. You love him so much."

Hannah hugged Bonita. "We all do," she said.

"So, what should we do?" Jennifer asked, "Go up to Bangor?"

Everyone looked at Danni.

"What? I'm the expert?" she asked.

"Well, you probably know what people do," Bonita said.

"I need to stay here until they take him," Mary said.

"Okay, then," Danni said, "I'll stay here and come up with Mary, you guys go ahead and we will meet you there."

"Sounds like a plan," Jennifer said.

Mary realized they had forgotten something. "Did anyone call Charlotte?" she asked.

"Oh shit," Jennifer said, "I'll call her on the way to Bangor."

After a round of hugs and kisses, Mary returned to Alvin's bedside.

"Nurse said the chopper would be here in a few minutes," he said.

"Chopper?" Mary couldn't help grinning. "You sound like you're having a good time."

"Might as well make the most of it. Never rode in a helicopter."

"You get freaked out in airplanes."

Alvin chuckled. "I'd never have gotten in one if I hadn't fallen for a California girl."

The Life Flight crew arrived. Mary had to step away while they pushed a gurney next to the bed and transferred Alvin to it.

"I'll see you in Bangor," Alvin said as they maneuvered out of the room.

"Yes, you will my love," Mary replied, holding her hands over her heart.

No matter what, Alvin thought as he was wheeled into the corridor, I will see you again.

He squinted in the bright sunlight as they passed through the hospital doors to the helipad. He sniffed the air and thought it still seemed likely that it would rain later.

The crew loaded the gurney into the helicopter and fastened it down. One of the paramedics handed Alvin a buzzer.

"Any pain, any shortness of breath, any problems at all, press this. I won't be able to hear you speak once we are in the air."

Alvin nodded his understanding, and the man fitted him with a pair of heavy ear protectors. The helicopter door slammed shut, the rotors began to whirr, and in another minute, he felt his weight shift as they rose from the ground.

Turning his head, he could see out the side window, but the ear protectors prevented him from looking down. He watched the tree tops slip from view, then a sudden lurch as the helicopter turned and set off toward its destination.

He looked out at the blue sky and thought about his first time on an airplane, flying to California to meet Mary's family, and remembered looking out at a blue sky then, and imagining himself soaring through the air, holding Mary in his arms. He wasn't afraid of flying, although he didn't like it much. But he let Mary go on thinking he was, because it gave her a chance to coddle him. Jeezum, he thought, if I'm laid up long, she might be coddling me for a good while.

The helicopter bounced and shook, but it felt no rougher than sailing choppy seas on a windy day. As they descended into Bangor, Alvin saw church steeples and then green hills in the distance. The walls of the hospital rose and blocked his view, and then they were on the ground.

Things seemed to happen so fast that they were a blur to Alvin. He was unloaded from the helicopter, wheeled into the hospital, rushed down a corridor into the catheter lab and hoisted on to the table in what seemed like a minute.

A bearded face loomed above his. "Hello, I am Dr. Patel," it said. "How are you feeling, Mr. Faulkner?"

"Been better," Alvin said.

"I would imagine so. Are you in any pain?"

Alvin shook his head.

"Good. Well, I will tell you what we are going to do. Nurse Chau, here," he gestured to a young nurse at his side, "is going to prep you for the procedure..."

"You going to cut me open?"

"Oh no, Mr. Faulkner. We are going to poke a hole in your groin and insert a tube into your aorta and take a look around your heart. You will feel no pain, just a bit of pressure where we make the insertion."

"So, you aren't knocking me out?"

"No need for it." He patted Alvin's shoulder and turned away. Alvin looked down and watched, feeling a bit embarrassed, as Nurse Chau raised his gown above his waist.

She saw him watching and said, "I've seen hundreds of them, Mr. Faulkner." With quick efficiency, she shaved the right side of his groin, then painted it with a bright red liquid.

"What's that?" he asked.

"It's a topical anesthetic, so you won't feel the insertion."

She was right. When Dr. Patel made the insertion all Alvin felt was a few seconds of pressure. He did not know what to expect next, and was surprised when the doctor stepped behind a bank of computer monitors.

"Just relax and breathe normally," he said.

Alvin thought it was silly to tell him to relax. What else could he do? He laid on the table, expectantly. Every now and then Patel and his assistant would say something to each other in low voices. He was just about to ask them when they were going to get going on whatever it was they were doing, when Dr. Patel came around and patted his shoulder again.

"You're all set, Mr. Faulkner. We found the blockage and put in a stent. We are going to want to keep you here for a few days to assess what damage there is to your heart muscle, but you are stable and can go to the recovery room."

"Jeezum," Alvin said, "That was quick."

The nurses moved him back to the gurney, and within minutes, he was in the recovery room.

"You have to lay still for the next couple of hours," one of them told him. "If there is anything you need, just ring us."

He thanked them, and they left him to rest. He closed his eyes, thinking that all he needed was to see Mary's face when he opened them.

***

"Do you want to grab a coffee or something on the way?" Danni asked Mary as they got into the car.

"Not unless you do."

"No, I'm good."

They rode in silence until they had crossed the bridge out of Londonderry, and were on their way to Bangor.

After they had driven a few miles, Mary turned to Danni and asked, "Is there something you want to say to me?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Seems like there is. You've been sort of hovering, looking like you are holding something back."

"I'm just concerned, that's all."

"About Alvin, or about me?"

Danni was silent for a moment.

"Both."

Mary looked out the window. "You think that if...when...he goes, I'm going to lose it."

"No, I just..."

"Like when I miscarried. You're afraid that I'm going to sink into depression."

Danni hesitated, then said, "Yeah."

Several miles rolled by before Mary spoke. "Once, before we were married, we talked about our age difference. It was the day I told my mother about it, and she was not happy. So, I asked him if it bothered him at all. And he said that age didn't matter, whether we were Romeo and Juliet or Bogart and Bacall."

Danni chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds like him."

"I said that Romeo and Juliet died at the end of the story. I have never forgotten what he said then."

"What?"

"He said, so did Bogart and Bacall, and so will we."

"So, you're saying you're prepared for it?"

"No," Mary shook her head, "I am saying that I always knew it was likely that I'd lose him, and I married him knowing that the time we would have together would be worth the heartbreak."

They held hands and rode in silence the rest of the way to Bangor.

Danni knew her way around the hospital, and led Mary to the Intensive Care Unit. As they entered, they saw Bonita in the family lounge, slouched in a seat with her feet up on the coffee table. She was staring up at a wall mounted television, absentmindedly flipping the channels on a remote control.

"You're sitting here alone?" Danni asked as they entered the lounge.

"There was some dubber in here, but he got pissed because I turned off his shitty news show," she said with a shrug.

"I meant, where are Jen and Hannah?"

"In with Papa. They said only two at a time."

"So, you haven't seen him?" Mary asked.

"Nope. I figured, you know, they outrank me."

Mary kissed the top of Bonita's head, "Baby, nobody outranks you with your Papa."

"You do."

"Well, okay, but no one else."

Danni texted Jennifer. "They'll be out in a minute. Honey, you can go in with Mama Mary."

Bonita's face brightened. "You sure?"

"I can wait, honey."

Hannah and Jennifer came into the lounge.

"How's he look?" Danni asked.

Jennifer shrugged. "Not bad,I guess," Hannah said, "He sure liked his helicopter ride."

Bonita tugged on Mary's hand.

Mary looked at her and thought her face looked the same as it had when she was a little girl and her grandfather had gone off on a sail without her. "Okay, sweetheart, we'll go see Papa," she said, squeezing Bonita's hand.