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We were there for a good two hours, waiting while Josh had a couple tests done.
"I'm hungry!" Michael said. That was when I came out of the trance that I'd been in, and realized it was nearly two o'clock.
I was reluctant to leave the waiting room, like something would happen if I wasn't there, or I wouldn't find out what was so wrong with Josh, and I headed to the cafeteria, where I bought a couple sandwiches, a water bottle and an orange juice, and returned as fast as I could to the waiting room.
Michael enjoyed his juice and sandwich, I think, but then he was just three, not really old enough to understand what was happening.
I ate my sandwich like a robot, not really tasting it, and now even if I think really hard I can't remember what type of sandwich it was.
"I'm bored!" Michael announced, and I tiredly told him he could turn on the TV set.
I didn't bother to watch along with him, instead, my eyes were fixed on the doorway, hoping that someone would appear there in just a moment to explain to me just what was going on, anything! The wait was killing me.
'Ring, ring...' It was my cell phone. I took it feeling a little cross, but then I realized that whoever it was didn't have any idea what was happening, so it wasn't really his fault.
I took a look at the caller ID, but I didn't recognize the number.
"Hello?" I said cautiously. Who could it be?
"Hello, Mr. Carter, it's Mrs. Gardner from the Elementary School."
Uh-oh. Why did this sound to me like it wasn't good?
"It seems like you forgot that, being the first day, class was only until one o' clock.
"Oh, my, Mrs. Gardner, I'm so sorry. I'm having some problems with another of my sons and somehow that just flew right out of my mind...."
"Jamie is kind of upset, would you please talk to her for a minute?"
"Of course." I said.
"Daddy?" She'd been crying. "Did you forget about me?"
"I'm sorry, honey, I didn't forget, okay? There's just a problem with Josh."
"Did he get lost?"
"No."
"Is he sick?"
"Yes, very sick, honey. I'll go get you as soon as I can, okay?"
"Yeah."
"In the meantime, do me a favour and cheer up, okay?" I said, trying to sound calm and even. "I don't want to see sad Jamie, who's been crying, when I get there, all right? I want to see happy Jamie, who's just had her first day in the big kids' school."
"Okay, daddy."
"See you later, sweetie.
"Bye, daddy."
I hung up. I felt so bad about forgetting about Jamie, and I would feel so bad if I left Josh here by himself. I felt torn between my two children, and didn't really know what to do.
"Michael, we're going to go get Jamie, okay?"
"Yeah." Michael said while staring at the TV.
I talked to one of the nurses, who assured me that she would tell Josh we would be right back, and that it was all right to go, then we left again.
So much for a restful day.