part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5
i think i'll just wrap it up with this part. everyone is probably bored with the details.
you got it. sunday. i couldn't sleep late. i work early on weekdays, so i usually have a hard time sleeping later than eight. my eyes popped open about six-thirty. oh well. figured i'd go to the restaurant next door for breakfast, then go back and try to sleep some more.
no one on the street, except a few slow moving vagrants, and a couple of joggers. everyone still holed up, nursing hangovers, if they're even awake.
well, the restaurant was closed. was kind of resigned to walking a few blocks to find the ihop, or anything open. then i spied a twenty-four hour subway sandwich shop. only problem was the slow moving meth addict walking up and down the street, like a duck hunting game target.
waited until he moved to the far end of the block, and headed over. ordered a sandwich, a couple of cookies, and a coke. they had one of those small, multi-drink coke machines. hate those things...all drinks have a root beer aftertaste. well, for all of that, the coke was empty. and the worker bee didn't have the key to the machine. so, i took a bottle of coke instead.
sat in the corner, away from the window, ate my food, and watched the door. paranoid, right? well, it got busier, people heading to work, so back to the room i went.
i had the ticket for my return trip set for one in the afternoon. turned out, train service was down all weekend between san diego and irvine, due to construction or maintenance or whatever. so a bus ride was what i was waiting for. figured i'd enjoy the room until checkout.
couldn't sleep, so sat in the tub one more time, enjoyed the quiet.
heard from my daughter that my parents had gone to the emergency room late the day before, and my mom had come home around four in the morning, and straight to bed. my dad has been there several times in the last couple of months, so not that surprising.
same old thing, and it had gotten so late (early) they'd kept in as a patient again. i chatted with my daughter, got the details, and then let my brothers and sister know he was back in (again).
got to thinking that maybe i'd just go to the train depot and see if i could catch an earlier bus, since i had nothing better to do. checked out, caught the two red trains back to the station, and noticed there was a long line waiting for several buses already.
didn't think there was a chance in hell, but went to the ticket window anyway. splained that my dad was in the hospital, and the lady said no problem, prayers for him.
about that time, the announcement to board was broadcast. end of the line, but i still got on the third bus. sat in the back row, middle seat, lots of leg room. turns out they were only filling those buses half full, so plenty of room...i should have carried my bags in, instead of stashing it in the under the bus compartment.
i thought they were going to be stopping at every usual train stop, but no, was a direct drive to irvine. still took and hour and a half.
when i finally got to my car, it was after one. called the hospital to see if dad was still there. yes, he was, so headed directly down to the hospital. found his room, where they were busy doing stuff to him behind curtain number one.
my mom had returned by then, so we chatted while they finished up. i'd insert a few jokes here, but i'll keep the details on his treatment to myself for a change, humorous as i could go with it...so tempting.
anyway, stayed for about an hour, then had to head back to whittier, to relieve my better half from mom duty, so he could hit the markets and have a bit of free time out and about.
