The big surprise
It was a night like any other. I came home to my one-room apartment, fried up a couple of steak and onion sandwiches, watched a story on TV, then took my shower and went to bed.
Sometime in the middle of the night, I was ripped from sleep by harsh flashlights piercing my eyes, voices calling my name. By the time they got me on the gurney and loaded me into the ambulance, I started to come around. That’s when I realized the worst: a stroke.
God damn it! Just as things were finally going right for me. Bills all paid. A nice new Honda. My head spun, but not from the stroke. It was the thought that everything I’d worked for, everything I’d built, might be slipping through my fingers.
The EMT wheeled me into the hospital, and as the doors slid open, I caught a faint whiff in the air. The triage nurse was the first to speak.
“What’s that smell?” she asked, wrinkling her nose.
“Urine,” the EMT replied, as if it was the most mundane thing in the world.
I could feel the heat creeping up my neck. The kind of heat that comes with embarrasment!Jack’s eyes flickered open, his mind groggy and unfocused. The dull hum of hospital machinery buzzed in the background. As his vision cleared, a familiar face appeared — Tina, his sister-in-law, perched on the edge of a stiff plastic chair. Her face lit up the moment she saw him blink.
“There you are,” she said with a smile, her voice calm but edged with relief. “Took you long enough.”
Jack tried to speak, but his throat was dry, and his words came out as a rasp. Tina was already on her feet, pouring water into a cup.
“Don’t try too hard,” she said, placing the cup in his shaky hand. “Just sip.”
As Jack drank, Tina grabbed a small notebook from her bag, flipping it open like a seasoned manager about to run a board meeting.
“I’ve got it all under control,” she announced. “The doctors, the insurance… I just need your card or account number. Oh, and your cell bill — I’ll take care of that too.”
Jack managed a weak smile. Classic Tina. Always practical, always prepared — and always worried about something. He didn’t have to ask if she’d been sitting there all night; he knew she had.
“You sure know how to make a guy feel important,” Jack croaked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Tina snorted. “Don’t get used to it.”
But her hand stayed on his for a moment longer than necessary. It wasn’t just business — she cared deeply, and Jack knew it. In that moment, surrounded by wires and sterile hospital walls, Tina’s presence was the strongest comfort he could have asked for.
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