When your child is in the hospital

When one of your children is sick the world fades away. When one of your children is in a hospital, life trembles and revolves around visits to the confined sterile room, medical updates, and our uneducated speculations. The house was emptier without my wife and Emma Tess. The child was suffering with some sort of virus, couldn’t keep anything in and even drinking a teaspoon of water brought intense pain, which lasted almost three weeks. It’s been less than a week since had her gall bladder removed. She's only fourteen. Wednesday will be a week since I picked them up at Stony Brook University Hospital. Finally the doctors came to an agreement. Tests were indicating the gall bladder was failing, and thank God her symptoms were not caused by something more serious. Watching her pale face, the sad eyes and listening to the demure voice was upsetting; her voice was hoarse when she came out of surgery. Drug induced stupor; she looked too distant from the world. My Emma Tess is back home. Thank God.