Timing Is Everything

The silence is unbearable, as the clock hanging from the wall ticks as every minute goes by, there’s more anxiety released in the air. Hospitals can be considered symbolic in a way; lives begin or end in one building. The most chaotic environment would have to be a hospital, as doctors run to save patients, knowing their lives are in their hands must be exhausting and mentally tasking, but how would I know? I’m just a man who works at a bank waiting for my daughter to be born, I arrived too late, so they made me stay in the waiting room as my wife gives birth all alone in a cold room with strangers, if only I arrived five minutes earlier, then I would be there holding her hand and comforting her, telling her everything will be ok, I’d be able to show my enthusiasm for being able to meet the newest addition to our family. The three other people waiting here with me seem to be having a crazy day too, the guy in front of me has half his face covered in paper towels as blood drips down from his hands, all the way to the floor, nosebleeds can be messy. The man to my right seems to be having a psychotic breakdown, leaning back and forth with his hands wrapped around his stomach, he seems worried, really worried. As for the parents to the left of me, they seem to be having the same conundrum as the guy on my right. Four different people, with four different stories, some could be having the best days of their lives, others could be having the worst. In order to ease the astronomical amount of stress I’m feeling for my poor wife, I decided I wanted to get to know these people, starting with the guy in front of me, he seems to be in his late teen years, due to the fact he has his school backpack plopped on the floor next to him and the student ID sitting on his lap, “Mallbory High School”, considering he’s alone, he probably drove himself here, as I examined him, he asks me, with a bit of a rude tone in his voice, “What are you looking at?”, “Nothing, I was just wondering how you got that bad of a nosebleed”, I said. He proceeds to tell me how he was at baseball practice, where he was taking a water break and was too distracted by a beautiful girl walking by, since his focus was so shifted on her, he failed to notice the baseball that was flying straight at him and, unfortunately, smacked him straight in the nose, so it may not be a nosebleed after all, it could be even worse, a broken nose. Poor kid. My attention drifts to the dazed man to my right, he was the one I was most intrigued by, so, I was itching to know what HIS situation was. I turned his way and carefully analyzed him, he was a middle-aged man with dark hair, that was all ruffled up, but, the part that caught my eye was that he seemed to have bruises and scratches all over his arms, my curiosity turned into worry, what happened to this guy? After my brief observations were made, I leaned in and asked, “Are you alright sir?”, he somehow took my worry for disgust and started screaming at me saying how it’s all his fault, I tried to calm him by saying, “Sir, I was just worried about your wellbeing due to the amount of bruising on your arms, that’s all, but I’m certain whatever happened was not your fault”. He breathed a long sigh and apologized for his erratic behavior and said he was just shaken up, I asked, “How come?” and he told me all about how him and his wife were driving back home after he picked her up from work, but, on the drive back they got into a heated argument about him not attending his son’s talent show and being there to support him while he performed, his wife was upset about him not being there enough for his son’s biggest accomplishments so as the intensity of the fight grew, the less he started to focus on the road and his surroundings, he was too invested in the argument to notice the car that quickly passed in front of him, which he ended up crashing into with great force, he was fine but with minor injuries, hence the bruising, since he had his airbag to protect him but, the passenger’s seat’s airbag didn’t work, leaving his wife in critical condition, this provides an explanation for his behavior because he blames his wife’s state on his irresponsible driving, I truly hope his wife ends up recovering, his guilt could really take a toll on his mental state, more than it already has. Now, the parents on my left, I know how I said they were in the same crazed state as the guy who got in the car accident but, they just seemed to be filled with sorrow now, I wonder what happened to THEM? When I looked their way, their heads seemed to bow down in defeat, I asked them, “What’s wrong?”, in the most genuine tone I could so I don’t end up in another situation like the last guy, luckily, this experience went much more smoothly, they told me how their daughter has a severe peanut allergy and they were at a restaurant but failed to notice that her meal contained peanuts, she immediately started gasping for air as soon as she took the first bite and so her parents, inevitably, rushed her to the hospital, the doctors have yet to tell them their daughter’s current condition, and all they can feel now is regret and guilt, “if only we payed more attention”, they said. They felt beat, as if they lost in a way, but I told them to just hang in there and hope for the best, I started telling them how I have a daughter on the way too and how I regret not being there in time to officially meet her, I continued telling them how all I want is for my little girl to have the best life possible, deprived of worry and despair. They started crying and nodding their heads in agreement, immediately after, the doctor called their names and told them that their little girl was going to be ok, they managed to bring her in on time and save her, a sense of relief washed not only over them, but, over me too, I couldn’t imagine having to be in their shoes, I went up to them and told them how this is a blessing and how they truly are amazing parents, we embraced and right after, the doctor called MY name and told me my daughter has arrived. I went into my wife’s hospital room expecting her to scold me and tell me how I shouldn’t have been late but she didn’t, she just gave me a hug and told me she was happy I was here, as I finally got the chance to hold my little girl in my arms, I started thinking about how timing is everything, if those parents were five minutes late in bringing their daughter to the hospital, she wouldn’t have made it and if I arrived five minutes earlier, I would’ve been here with my wife and child but, I wouldn’t have been able to hear the stories I heard today, every single one of those stories have helped shaped my mindset into appreciating the little moments because you never know when your life could change in a split second.