Day Seven - Tested

The next morning, Raya was up and ready to go long before she heard Micah start the shower in the guest bathroom down the hall. She wanted to make sure she was ready when he decided it was time to leave. He wasn’t allowed to eat or drink before the bloodwork, but she had a nice cold water bottle ready for him. He took it without looking at her and headed for the car. She followed him in silence and they started the drive to the hospital. Raya asked him if he had slept well, and he responded with an ‘mmm’ sound. A few minutes later she asked if he was nervous. He didn’t respond and looked annoyed, so she gave up trying to initiate conversation and watched the world go by beside the vehicle.

When they got to the hospital, they learned that Eddie had gone into the hospital the night before with difficulty breathing, and he was admitted for some more tests. The doctor sent the younger men over to complete their blood work, and shared more about Eddie’s condition, stating that it didn’t look good and was worsening more quickly than they had anticipated. Raya instinctively went to Nell and put an arm around her shoulders. Nell leaned on her a bit, but didn’t cry. She just seemed very sad and maybe a bit afraid.

When the boys returned, Micah scowled at Raya for being with his mother and jerked his head in a motion that communicated to her that he felt her place was beside him. Raya sighed. Micah didn’t want her help anyway, and how was it more fair that Nell had to stand alone? But it seemed like the right thing to do to listen to her husband, so she gave Nell’s shoulder a squeeze and headed over to stand by Micah.

As they waited for the doctor and watched their sleeping father, each member of the family seemed lost in their own thoughts. Raya kept thinking about heaven. She had heard some pretty strange stories about heaven, all of which seemed incredibly unrealistic to her. Angels flying around, and golden streets. She shook her head, knowing she didn’t believe in something like that. But what actually did happen after a person died? She had avoided that question for her whole life, but sitting here watching someone she had come to love literally fading away brought the question to the front and center of her mind. What happened when a person died? The best she could figure was that it was just over. You just are...buried. Maybe your spirit or essence flies free around the universe? She almost smiled at herself with that thought, but didn’t want Micah to think she was making light of the moment, so she kept her face serene.  

The doctor gave them grave news. Eddie’s condition had worsened quickly, and he expected a few days to a week to be the time Eddie had left on this earth. The boys had both tested positive for the condition and they weren’t entirely sure what that meant for the boys, so the team was planning to contact some professionals in other countries and see what they could discover. The doctor wanted them back in his office in a week to discuss the protocol moving forward.

Nell sat by Eddie, stroking his hair and watching his chest move up and down as he breathed. Raya felt in shock about how quickly everything had happened in the last day, and just couldn’t believe that they were sitting there in this scenario.  Micah abruptly got up and said he was leaving.

“Want me to come with you?” Raya timidly asked. He shrugged and she decided to stay with the others and give him a little space. Nell agreed to give her a ride home in a bit. Micah went to his dad and laid his hand on Eddie’s chest for a moment, looking at his face as if to will his eyes to open. Nothing happened, and Micah turned to leave, without a glance at the rest of them. Raya’s decision to stay was something she would question for years to come.