Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world.

Special Treat ??“ Sharon Bryant

Feb 20, 2006

? 

THE WAITING ROOM

? Sharon Bryant

? 

I sat in the waiting room.?  I took a book not knowing how many hours I would be there.?  I tired of reading after an hour, my eyes growing tired from the small print.

I began to look around at the others in the room.?  I tried to read their faces.?  Some wore worried looks, some seemed anxious, some were tired.?  Every time the phone rang, someone would pick it up and say, "Waiting Room."?  They then would call out a family name.? 

? 

The phone rang and a woman older than I answered it.?  "Bryant family," she said.?  I stood up and walked over to the phone.

"Is this Mrs. Bryant?", the voice asked.?  "Yes" I answered.?  "Your husband's surgery is going well, he's doing fine, we will let you know when the surgery is over and he's place in the recovery room."?  "Thank you," I answered.

I sat back down, my mind drifting to all that had occurred in my life in the past three weeks.

A vacation to visit my dad, my return trip, half way home, the call to turn around and go back, he had passed away.?  The funeral, the decisions, the stress, and most of all the pain.

One week home and my husband was in the hospital having surgery.

? 

I watched as people walked past the large glass doors of the surgery waiting room.?  A little boy was wheeled by and our eyes locked.?  I smiled at him as the nurse pushed his wheelchair past the doors.?  It was obvious the little guy had severe problems and swelling in the neck and head area.?  My heart went out to him and his family.

? 

An elderly man was pushed past the doors in a wheelchair.?  I saw the cast on his right arm and leg.?  He must have been in his late 70's.?  I wondered if he had fallen.?  It was obvious from the look on his face he was in pain.

Suddenly a deputy ran by and a nurse and doctor was running with him.?  I wondered what was wrong.?  A child??  A shooting??  My mind thought of many things.

? 

Someone's name was called in the waiting room.?  I saw the parents stand up and the father took the phone.?  I watched as the nurse led them both behind the closed wooden doors that entered the surgery section of the hospital.?  Minutes later I saw the mother run out, crying.?  She ran for the restroom and I watched her when she came back into the waiting room, wiping her eyes, trying to compose herself.?  I knew whatever her loved one was in there for, the news must not have been good.

For more than eight hours I watched people and saw every kind of emotion on those faces.?  Some carried smiles.?  Some had tears, and some carried faces worn with worry.

? 

My name was finally called.?  "Your husband is in the recovery room and he's doing well.?  We'll be taking you back in just a few minutes," the nurse said.?  "Thank you," I answered.?  Finally I was taken through the wooden doors and led to a recovery room.

I looked at the large surgical wrappings on? his right arm.?  I then saw the right foot bandaged.?  He looked at me and I said, "You came through well."?  He tried to smile through a dazed look on his face.?  "It hurts," was all he said.?  I knew it would hurt for a few days.?  The doctor had talked to me and told me he'd be swollen and the pain would be there for? several days.

? 

We left the hospital almost ten hours after we arrived.?  We were told there had been a delay in surgery due to a little five-year-old who had broken his leg and our doctor was the one who had to operate and put the little guy in a body cast.? 

Though, sitting in a waiting room in a hospital for a whole day is not my favorite place to be, I couldn't help but think of the little guy.?  Had it been my child, I would hope others whose surgery was delayed would understand emergencies.

? 

As I lay in bed last night, the images kept going through my mind of all the people I had watched all day long.?  I knew some had wonderful news.?  I knew some had been given bad news.?  I said a special prayer last night for all.?  I asked God to think of them, the suffering, the pain.

? 

? 

Sharon Bryant

? 

1946 @bellsouth.net

? 

About Me:

? 

I am Sharon Bryant,? 59 years old and reside in Alabama. I lost my child in 1977 when he was five and I write articles on bereavement often. I am a chocolate/candy maker and also a wood crafter and knitter. I am married to a wonderful man, and have two remaining children, a daughter 26,
Amy, and a second son, Randy, age 24.

My main goal in life is to help those who
have lost a child. My website is: www.angelsremembered.tk