MAKING PROGRESS… of sorts (Part 172hh)
As we left the track the
plan for the upcoming week was to go over everything in and about the motor.
Everybody else said they’d be at the shop by 7:30pm Monday night but I told
them I couldn’t as I’d be bringing Elle home. Cliffy grumbled a bit but
that was all. He said he’d try to find someone to loan us a bigger
carburetor as CJ had told him that when they’d changed from their Ford
motor they had to change to one with a larger cfm (cubic feet per minute
of air going into the carburetor). It was something about how the Chevy
intake manifold spread the gas and air to the cylinders. When it came
to that stuff, it was beyond me. All in all, it was a good night. We
learned a little and had no damage to the car.
The official
season opening event at the sailing club was also on that same night.
There were races scheduled for Sunday but there was no way I could do
that with Elle in the hospital. However, I did want to make an
appearance. It was a mistake as most of the time I was there was telling
people about Elle and the loss of the baby. Actually, since most of the
people were “Summer people”, they didn’t even know Elle was pregnant so
most of my time was spent explaining. Even though Rex, the
property manager, had been injured at work he still managed to get
everything done on time. The only ’news’ I was able to glean was
registration for sailing lessons would be Tuesday and Wednesday. Not
knowing how mobile Elle would be during the week I managed to make sure
the older girls would get registered for their lessons even if she
didn’t get there. That was some good news to bring to Elle when I came
to visit.
When I arrived I was hoping to find Elle looking better
than the day before and also hoping to see her in a positive state of
mind. It wasn’t to be. I’d had a premonition about my mother’s visit and
it wasn’t a positive one. As Elle explained it, all she wanted to do
was “sooth” Elle about the loss of the baby… and that left her feeling
sad again. I sat there listening and wanting to kick myself for not
staying and being there to shut my mother up. Soooo… I had a job to do
to turn Elle’s thinking around and get her back thinking about her
health. She did admit that she was feeling a bit stronger. The nurses
had had her up and walking twice before I got there and the good news
was that she wasn’t complaining about being tired. About mid afternoon
her doctor showed up. She allowed me to stay when she talked with Elle
and I was glad she did as I learned a lot about what the thyroid gland
did. The increase in her medication was key in the improvement in her
energy level but she was told that she’d have to have her blood checked
at least once a week. Too much of it was not good for her and they would
have to find a proper level. I asked if she would have any limits on
activity and the doctor said she should be able to do pretty much of anything
she wanted to do… after a about a week of taking it easy. Then she said
she’d be able to go home in the morning. When the doctor left we talked
about it and I got her to think about some of the things she’d be able
to do… things that the pregnancy would have caused her to give up. By
the time visiting hours were over Elle seemed to be close to where she
was when I’d left the previous afternoon. When I left I headed to
Elle’s mother’s to visit with the kids and to give them the good news
about Elle coming home… and to, hopefully, get invited to dinner. I did
and while I was there got a call from Elle. She had no clothes to wear
and wanted me to stop at home and pick some out for her. When I was doing it I
also realized she’d need a ’package’ so gathered up some of her Carter’s
Spanky Pants, sanitary napkins and a pair of plastic panties. I knew
she’d not like my choice of clothes but she had no choice.
By the
time I left the hospital that night I’d been given Elle’s discharged
time, 11:30 am. With the bank in the ‘busy period’ and it being a Monday
I made the decision to go in to work for the opening. To be at the
hospital by 11:30am I had to leave the bank by 10:30am. Even though I’d
only be there an hour and a half I felt it was worth the effort. It
turned out to be a good thing that I did as there was problem opening
the vault. With a lobby full of people and the tellers without cash it
made for a potential publicity nightmare. Bret’s father was the manager
of one of the regional commercial banks and we had established an emergency
plan for just such a situation. I had the job of placating the
customers while Bret and Mike (the messenger/custodian) went to get the
cash. It took about 20 minutes with just a little ‘muttering’ from the
customers who actually wanted cash. The company who serviced the vault
showed up just as I was leaving to get Elle. I’d almost talked myself
into staying home but on my way to the hospital knew I’d done the right
thing by going in.
Elle was ready and waiting for me and she
looked the best I’d seen her in quite a while. She had color in her
cheeks and her eyes had a sparkle to them that had been missing.
However, she’d thought that I’d bring the girls. I’d never given it a
thought but told her that they’d be waiting at home for her and that her
mother had made up one of her favorite lunches. That seem to satisfy
her. It was when she was being helped into the car by the nurse that I wondered what she thought of her ‘package’. What triggered the thought was that
as the nurse was bending over to help get Elle’s legs in the car I not
only saw a VPL but, unless my eyes were deceiving me, thought there were
two crotch lines. The view lasted for about 10 seconds so I was pretty
sure I was right.
I reminded Elle that the bank was in the busy
period and that after eating lunch with her and the kids I’d be off and back to
work. She made a bit of a ‘face’ but didn’t say anything. I seldom ate a
big lunch but when Elle’s mother made her potato salad, it was to die
for. I got to work a little after 2pm only to find the locking mechanism for
the vault door all over the floor and two men working on it. Bret
brought me up to speed but with some potential bad news. We’d be able to
close the vault door but wouldn’t be able to lock it. We’d had a
somewhat similar situation when the big brass front door went off it’s
rails and couldn’t lock it. At that time we got the police department to assign a
patrolman to monitor the door so I knew what I had to do… go across the
street to visit the police station and, hopefully meet with the Chief of
police. He wasn’t there so all I could do was tell the desk sergeant
about my problem. He couldn’t make a commitment but said if he couldn’t
get in touch with the Chief he thought he could get a couple of off duty
cops to do it. I wasn’t too happy with that idea but it was better than
nothing. About the last thing I wanted to do was to call home and say
I’d be late… but I did. Elle’s mother had already volunteered to cook
supper so it wasn’t like I’d abandoned Elle. I made a call to the Police
station at 5pm but they still hadn’t contacted the Chief. I had talked
with Hobie and Bert (the president) about the off duty cops taking on
the monitoring duties. They agreed but they would have to do it from
outside the bank. By 6:30pm I’d met with them and agreed on an hourly
fee. They would do their surveillance from their cars and once every
half hour would get out and take a look through the windows inside the building. It wasn’t
that I didn’t trust them but, as the security officer, I wasn’t
comfortable… but had no choice. I’d been looking forward to being home
with Elle and focusing all my attention on her. Unfortunately, it wasn’t
to be.
To be continued…
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