Four Hours Later

The surgeon comes to see me 4 hours later. We are in a waiting room, with all the families, waiting for news about their loved ones after bypass, aortic valve replacement, even a tumor being cut out of the heart.
He brings me good news, "Clark is doing well, we did 4 bypasses, we used the Lima artery, and 3 sections of the Saphenous vein, from his left leg. He came off the heart, lung machine very easily. There was no heart damage." While, I waited for a couple hours, to go see him. I watched and heard doctors talking to other families. Everyone reacted differently, yet the same. Tears, stoic, nervous laughter, questions, quiet.
Anyway, it was so good to see Clark, even though he was still intubated, and was puffy and pale. He looked so good, he even tried to talk, I told him " You did it honey, you did it"! He gave me a little smile, then closed his eyes. I ended up spending the night, and Phil the nurse, came and got me around 11:00 PM and let me sneak in to see him. He wasn't intubated anymore, but was in a lot of pain. I barely touched his arm, he opened his eyes and told me "Get off me"! Oh,the pain he was in, he also couldn't communicate very well. The aphasia was worse again, the nurse was having trouble understanding him. Clark tried to respond correctly to "What's your name, when were you born, squeeze my hand, are you in pain"? But, it seemed to be true, all his deficits from the previous strokes were more pronounced. I left the room, he needed his rest, Thank God, he made it.....