Longest day ever

Nick crashed at around 10am, and Kristin called me at 1:40pm, as soon as she had news. Cayenne (9) and I were heading out the door to go roller blading along the river trail, but I completely forgot about that once I hung up the phone. I had trouble dialing the hospital's number because I was shaking so badly, and it was difficult to talk with my heart pounding in my throat, but the case manager spoke to me immediately, told me Nick was heading into a CAT scan and they'd call with the results within 45 minutes, which they did.

Cayenne quietly put away her roller blades and made me a cup of tea, bless her heart.

"That boy needs to buy a lottery ticket," was the first thing the doctor said to me. "There's no brain injury, no spinal, no internal injuries. He's beat up, but he's going to be okay." He told me Nick had broken a hand, his jaw, his cheekbone, some teeth, had fractured his sternum, nearly severed his tongue, and had lacerations mostly on his face, including one that had punctured his eye. He went into surgery to get sewn back up at around 4pm and I got the next call as soon as it was done, at 8:30pm, saying that it had gone well.

In the meantime our neighbor, Don Bader, brought over dinner for the three of us. Making food was the last thing on my mind, and this way the girls received a much better meal - orange-glazed pork roast, broccoli, roasted potatoes and a spinach salad - than the leftovers I would have pulled out of the freezer.

Scott and Kristin had been standing by with their plane (TBM) to come get me whenever I was ready. I decided to go up Tuesday morning because Acacia (8) had been in Pagosa Springs all day with a friend and it would have been too traumatic if I'd told her that her Papa had been in a plane crash, and then left. If Nick's injuries had been life threatening I would've headed straight out, but as it was he was in surgery all evening anyway and wouldn't even have known I was there. I was needed at home, where Acacia curled up with me on her Papa's side of the bed.

It was a busy night! Organised to have the girls stay with our wonderful neighbors, the Thomases, who have two girls in the same school, and Satcho to stay with Jeanette (aka Old Faithful), packed a few days' worth of clothes, snacks, library books, gym shoes, swim team gear - and all those other things that seem so meaningless  when mortality has shaken its fist at you. Spent most of the evening on the phone with family, and didn't sleep at all. Loved having Acacia in my arms... Maybe it was me who needed to be with them that night.