Nicole moving out so abruptly and under such angry terms between her twin brother, Nick, put the whole family in a very uneasy place, especially Ruby. They all wished Nicole would just tell them where she was. Not knowing was causing Ruby a lot of sleepless nights.
She'd gone through this exact same scenario when Nicole was a teenager and it brought back a lot of that sorrow for her.
Her back surgery was pending and when she got a nasty case of the flu, it had to be postponed. Of course Ruby was stubborn as heck about doing things she shouldn't be doing, like baking up goodies for the family.
You know how mom's can be -
when times are troubled nothing makes things as better as a big slice of yummy home made cake!
But Ruby was doing way too much.
And she wasn't letting on that the flu, along with her troubled back, was taking a HUGE toll on her.
Sammy and Nick would find her on the couch totally exhausted and out for the count, (after finally giving in and taking the pain medicine that she so desperately hated).
Finally her doctor gave the go-ahead for the surgery.
And thank goodness for that, Ruby could barely walk her back had gotten so bad. Of course Nick wanted to put her in a wheelchair and ride her up to her hospital room but Ruby would have NONE of that - she walked herself!
Entering that sterile, all-white hospital room was very hard for Ruby.
Like a lot of us, she hated hospitals!
For the longest time she refused to even get into the bed.
She just sat there thinking -
Nero and Nesnia had gifted her with some of their artwork to have on the walls to remind her of them and cheer up her room. They wanted to go with her to the hospital but Ruby was adamant they not, assuring them that she'd be home very soon.
Finally she did what she had to do -
she got into bed.
Linnie took a day off from her college classes and came to the house to stay with the twins. Of course Nick and Sammy were at the hospital throughout everything.
The surgery was much longer than they had anticipated.
It was very late that night when they finally put her back in her room.
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Nick and Sammy weren't satisfied with the report Ruby's doctor's gave them.
It seemed too vague and general. Nick wanted answers to all his questions and being all Ruby's doctor's had left for the night, he turned to the nurse assigned to watch over her.
His name is Malcolm O'Shannon and Malcolm delivered what Nick was hoping for, some solid answers in regard to how Ruby was doing.
Of course not being a doctor, Malcolm couldn't answer every question Nick had but he was able to explain what was taking place with her now and how things had gone in surgery.
Truth was, Ruby was having difficulties and the surgery had run into more than one complication. She was combating a dangerously high fever and there was fluid in her lungs.
Of course these things can and do happen in cases like this and usually in 24 hours they see a marked improvement.
Malcolm was urging Nick and Sammy to think positive and not jump to any negative conclusions.
It was near impossible for Nick to not lose it -
he was consumed with worry for his mother.
And after waiting all day while she was under the knife, he DID lose it and began ranting and raving about how the doctors should have taken more time to spend with him and Sammy explaining a lot more than they did!!
It was obvious that Nick wasn't the first emotional and excitable relative of a patient that Malcolm's had to deal with.
He was calm, supportive and was able to get Nick to settle down a bit.
Ruby needed him to hold it all together, not fall apart.
Nick knew Malcolm was right.
Now was NOT the time to lash out in frustration at anyone.
Malcolm assured him that even though he had to go out of the room at times it wouldn't be for long. He would be there tending to Ruby for the next 24 hours and she was his top priority.
All they could do at this point was wait and pray.
He urged Nick and Sammy to get a bite to each, they needed to keep their strength up. But Nick wouldn't hear of it.
He wasn't about to leave Ruby's side.
They got through the night but by morning Ruby was still fighting the fever.
Her lungs weren't quite as filled with as much fluid as they were after surgery but the doctor's had been hoping for much more of the fluid to be gone, along with the fever.
Once again, the doctor's didn't stay long enough to appease Nick and Sammy.
In their worry and desperation they had to rely on Malcolm to not only be their adviser in it all, but also their major source of strength and support.
Malcolm told them what he could but it wasn't much.
He begged them to go get some breakfast but also told him if there were other relatives close to Ruby, it would be a good idea to call them and urge them to come see her.
But only immediate family would be allowed into the room -
Ruby's condition was just too serious to allow a lot of outside family and friends.
This was NOT the news they were hoping for.
Nick asked Sammy to get a hold of Dominic right away -
he needed to be there to see his grandmother!
Sammy got right on that.
Nick wasn't able to talk to anyone after getting such miserable news about Ruby. She'd never seen her husband so distraught and she was bound and determined to get Dominic there, (come hell or high water!)
She also made sure to leave as many messages for Nicole with anyone she could think of that might be able to contact her.
If Nicole could come see Ruby that would make such a difference!!
She did get a hold of Dominic over at his dad's, (Darren), but he refused to come to the hospital.
Sammy couldn't believe her ears!!
Her conversation caught Nick's ears but Sammy didn't want to tell him the truth -
that his own nephew was refusing to come see his very sick grandmother.
She just couldn't bring herself to tell him that.
So she lied -
telling Nick that she didn't get a hold of Dominic, but left him a message.
Totally exhausted and distracted by everything happening, Nick believed her.
It was the first time Sammy ever lied to Nick.
And it made her feel sick inside.
It took a LOT of doing from Sammy and Malcolm but they were finally able to talk Nick into leaving Ruby's room and getting some nourishment.
What really worked is suggesting they go to the house and spend a little time with the twins and Linnie.
They couldn't come to the hospital and were worried sick at the house -
they needed to see Nick and Sammy and get a little reassurance.
Sammy promised Malcolm they'd eat something at home.
They live just minutes away from the hospital and Malcolm assured them they had time to go there for a bit.
He also promised to call instantly if Ruby's condition changed in even the tiniest way.
And so that's what Nick and Sammy did.
They went home, spent some time with Linnie and the twins and then jetted back to be with Ruby. Sammy couldn't get Nick to have anything to eat, he gulped down 2 cups of black coffee and that's it.
They were gone from Ruby's side less than an hour.
Her condition hadn't changed.
But there was something that Malcolm wanted to tell them about.
When they were gone something happened.
He told Nick and Sammy that he had just gotten done taking Ruby's vitals,
had documented her chart and took a seat next to her bed to wait there until they got back.
When he looked up someone had entered her room.
It was a woman with black pig-tails.
Before he had a chance to ask her who she was she spoke first -
asking Malcolm if it was okay for her to sit for a couple minutes with her mother.
He was aware that Ruby had a daughter so he asked no more questions and told Nicole she could sit with her mother as long as she wanted.
He then left to go to the nurse's station and make a call to Ruby's doctor who wanted an update on Ruby before noon.
Her condition hadn't changed since the doctor saw her that morning, but it was a call that had to be made.
He excused himself, telling Nicole to push the alert button if anything seemed amiss with Ruby.
She told Malcolm she would.
When he came back to the room he found Nicole sitting next to Ruby in tears.
He decided to give them a few more moments of privacy and hung back from entering. It was time for Ruby's medication anyway so he went to get it and log it in her chart.
When he came back, just a few short minutes later, Nicole was gone.
As a matter of fact, Nick and Sammy had missed meeting up with her in Ruby's room by a mere five minutes.
Nick was stunned.
As furious as he was with Nicole for moving out like she did and causing so much stress for Ruby he was very relieved that she'd come to see her.
He wondered too how it might have been if he and Sammy had returned to Ruby's room to find Nicole there.
Deep down, he was relieved that didn't happen.
It was Sammy who noticed them first -
behind Nick, next to the tulips that they'd placed there for Ruby, were some new flowers.
It was a blue vase holding some white daisies -
blue was Ruby's favorite color and white daisies, her favorite flower.
Silence over-came them.
Feelings of sadness, worry, regret, fear and desperate hope spilled out into the room. There are no words to describe how it feels to sit next to a loved one who is so gravely ill, hanging in such a delicate balance.
The unknown becomes the dreaded beast.
And then, before anyone could utter one word, that delicate balance shifted and all that Nick and Sammy feared the most began to scream out loud, breaking that fragile bondage of silence between life and death.
Ruby was called Home.
In another post,....