I left Bill as they finished drawing his blood. I gave him a quick, awkward hug and left before he would notice that I had eyes full of tears. I thanked Dr. Holmes for his help and then quickly made my way towards the parking lot. 

I sat in the driver’s seat and rested my head in my hands. Jesus, Mary and Joseph that was horrible! I tried to imagine Barb’s reaction to the call. Well…looks like we were gonna be down one camp director for a few days at least! I teared up again. A nice guy like Bill didn’t deserve such circumstances. I shook my head as I stared off into the distance and then I finally put the keys into the ignition, turned on the van and started out of the parking lot.

The drive back was a quiet one and slower…definitely slower. I didn’t even bother with the radio. I was deep in my thoughts and reciting some serious Hail Mary’s for Bill.

Source

By the time I got back to camp, it was just before lunch time. I pulled onto the dirt road and as I drove by the water front, I saw my husband sitting on the beach, in a lawn chair, head bent over a book. Just as I had predicted! I had to smile. I pulled the van into the parking adjacent the beach and headed straight towards the beach hut. I found another lawn chair in the hut and swung it over my shoulder. I tromped down beside my husband, dropped my backpack down beside him and unfolded the chair and plunked down in it as I kicked off my shoes. 

Himself put a bookmark in his book and put it down. He folded his hands in his lap and turned to me as I looked at him.

“How is he?”

“Not sure.” I said sadly and quietly as I turned to stare out towards the water. The deep end was full of kids practicing their front crawl as the counselors supervised.

“Barb is headed into town, so I kinda figured it was bad. During breakfast there was a lot of rescheduling to allow for 24 hour child care coverage of their children. Is he going to be OK do you think?”

“I really have no idea. They were doing some blood work and have plans for an echocardiogram this morning to take a closer look at his heart. We might have a better idea later today.”

“Oh man!” Himself whistled. “The guy isn’t very old, is he?” 

“Nope. He’s just a few years older than us.”

“You just never know…do you?” Himself said as he looked out towards the water and gently took my hand in his and gave it a little squeeze. 

Ya never know!

“I should go and get the medications ready for after lunch, I guess.” I sighed. “…but first…I’m just gonna chill here and enjoy this for a few moments.”