Hiding in Plain Sight

Before Albert opened his eyes, he could feel a rhythmic, hot, sticky breeze assaulting his face. Duncan stopped his panicked panting and began licking Albert’s cheek and then ears and forehead until Albert woke up and swatted him away with his hands. “I’m alright, you buffoon! Leave me alone!” He slowly reached his hands to his sides, felt the ground beneath him, and pushed himself to a sitting position.

Filled with joy that Albert was ok, Duncan could hardly contain his excitement and went to lick Albert’s face again. This time, Albert smiled and reached out his hand to caress his old friend. “Yes, I’m ok,” he reassured his four-legged companion, a Boxer, who was almost as old as he was. “Thanks for making sure.”

Duncan got in one last lick to Albert’s face before he got himself off the kitchen floor and to his feet, with Duncan observing attentively.

Duncan and Albert had been together for a long time. Elizabeth, Albert’s wife, loved dogs. About ten years ago, she brought out this young boxer on a Sunday morning as they were having their donuts. Albert is convinced Elizabeth knew she was sick and got the dog for him, but he never got the opportunity to make that accusation. She’s been gone already nine years, and Duncan’s companionship brought Albert through some of his darkest times. It appears she knew what she was doing.

“What were we doing again, Duncan? He had to think for a second. Right, breakfast!” He took a coffee mug from the cabinet and poured himself a cup of coffee from yesterday’s cold pot to heat up in the microwave. He put the mug on the dining room table next to his things and turned to put a couple scoops of kibble in Duncan’s bowl. “There you go, buddy. Eat up.” While Duncan ate breakfast,

Albert grabbed the last donut from a Dunkin Donuts box and sat at the table. It was the same as the day before and the day before that. Coffee and donut on the left, appointment book on the right with a notepad and pencil, and newspaper in the center. As he read the paper, he dunked the donut into the coffee before he ate it. The last one wasn’t as fresh as the first one in the box. Nevertheless, it was breakfast.

He pushed the newspaper aside and pulled his date book to the center. He glanced at the corner of the newspaper for the date, March 7, and then took a pencil and crossed out the listing for March 6. It was the 7^th.  Three appointments were listed: 10 am Doug Newmann/Radiology, 11:30 Dave Cartman MD/Cardiology, and 2pm Rachel Weiss/CEO.  Dinner with Kim was also listed. 5pm Omega Restaurant. Albert met his daughter for dinner once a week. He picked up the phone, called into the bank’s automated line to check his balance, and wrote the number under March 7^th. He began a list on the notepad. "Buy donuts". He tore the sheet off and put the note into his pocket. He said so long to Duncan and went to work.

Albert worked in human resources at Ingleside Hospital for more than 25 years. Changes at the hospital seemed to be happening at a frightening pace, but Albert knew how to get things done. Powerpoints and emails are one thing, but Albert was a people person. Albert connected with everyone he met, and people were often surprised not only by his acumen but by their response to him. In an environment shifting focus to profits over people, Albert was steadfast in his belief that the people who provided care were the hospital, and without them, there would be no profits. The human resources should be the most valued, according to Albert. But his was often not the most popular opinion.

After work, he picked up the donuts and drove over to the restaurant. He saw Kim in the parking lot. She noticed that he parked some distance from the door, by some open spots that were all together. She locked her car and approached him as he was getting out.

“Hi, Dad.” She hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. His hugs always felt so reassuring and could make you feel better if you were having a tough day or a rough time with something.

“How are ya?” he responded as he hugged her more tightly than usual.

“I’m starved! Let’s go inside.” But Kim noticed some scratches as they walked past the back of his car. “Ooh, what happened here (she pointed out) to your car?”

“Oh, uh, somebody must have hit me in the parking lot at the hospital,” he stuttered. “I didn’t notice it until you pointed it out just now.”

“You should report it or ask to have them check the cameras in the parking garage. They can do that, you know.”

“OK, I’ll take care of it tomorrow. Let’s go inside.”

After dinner, Albert waited for Kim to pull out and then started his car. He carefully backed out of his spot, but the restaurant was more crowded now than before, and the parking lot was full. He was careful to leave enough space as he backed out, but the front of his car lightly scratched the vehicle to his right as he turned the wheel. When he was far enough out of the space, he put the car in drive and drove home.

Duncan was sitting at the door when he came in, looking at him expectantly with his black eyes and grayed muzzle.

“Yes, I know you’re hungry,” he said. After Duncan went out to do his business and returned, Albert put down his bowl of kibble, which had the leftovers from a steak dinner strewn across the top. “Got a special treat for you in there, my friend.”

Before he sat down to some TV for the evening, Albert placed his pad of paper, pencil, and appointment book, open to March 7^th, on the dining room table.  He also placed an envelope marked “Albert Kowolski: Retirement” and a greeting card on the table. He picked up the card and read it aloud, “Thank you for all of your years of service, Albert! Congratulations on your retirement. All the best, Rachel Weiss”. He looked over at Duncan, who was watching him. “Humpf!” he snorted. “The nerve of her. I didn’t say I was retiring! They retired ME today, Duncan! Whattdya think about that?” Duncan acknowledged the insult by cocking his head to one side.

Months went by. The days began the same as they always had. Coffee and donut at the dining room table. Check the calendar against the date on the newspaper. Call the bank. No appointments. Dinner with Kim, 5pm at Omega on Thursdays, or was it Fridays? Check last week. No, check the bank. Did I pay last week or Kim? Duncan barked and startled him.

“Breakfast. That’s right. Here you go.” Duncan was the reassurance Albert needed to stay on schedule and keep him on his toes.

“Is this Kim Kowolski?” the voice on the phone asked.

“Yes, this is she,” she said between bites of her lunch. May I ask who is calling?”

“This is Dr. Renolds from Sherman Hospital. Your father gave us your number to call.”

Kim interrupted in a panic, “Oh my God, is he ok? What’s going on?”

“Yes, he’s ok. He was involved in a car accident and brought to the emergency room here at Sherman. We’ve checked him out, and he doesn’t appear to have any physical injuries...”

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” Kim interrupted him mid-sentence.

As she approached the entrance of the ER, she passed two EMTs in conversation.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” one said. “A one-car accident where we need to use the jaws of life to extract the driver, and the guy walks away with no injuries. How does that happen?”

“I guess it’s just his lucky day,” the other one said.

When Kim saw her father, she ran to him. “What happened, Dad?”

“It was just a stupid accident,” he said. “Something jumped out in front of the car.”

“What? What jumped in front of the car?” she wanted to know. “Why are you at Sherman instead of Ingleside Hospital? Were you off today?”

Albert hesitated. “Yes, I was off today, running some errands near the house. They said I’m fine. I want to go home, but my car was towed.”

“How did you get here?” Kim asked as the doctor walked into the room.

“He came on the VIP bus. Hi. I’m Dr. Renolds. I believe we spoke on the phone. Kim?”

“Yes, hello. Can you fill me in on what happened, please?” her tone began to get more demanding than inquisitive.

“Your dad is a lucky guy,” he started to explain. “I don’t have details about the accident, but the fire department had to use the jaws of life to get him out of the car because it flipped over.” Kim turned white. Dr. Renolds continued, “But all of your father’s X-rays and EKG are normal, and he doesn’t seem to have any injuries, except for minor cuts and the bruising from the car’s airbags that were deployed.”

“And I broke my glasses,” Albert added, irritated.

“What about the other person? Were they injured?” she asked but began to fear she already knew the answer.

“That’s just it. There was no other car involved in the accident.”

Kim suddenly knew that the EMTs’ conversation was about her father. “But my father’s car FLIPPED OVER?” she repeated incredulously.

“Yes. I was coming in to let you know we’ve called in the neurologist to do an evaluation. We want to be thorough before we let him go. He should be here shortly.” And he began walking out of the room.

“Wait!” Kim called out after him and stopped him in the hallway outside the room. She lowered her voice. “Doctor, I know you said he had no major injuries, so why call the neurologist?”  

“We found no signs of stroke, but your father was a bit confused and didn’t do well answering our cognitive series of questions. It might just be the trauma of the accident, but better to be sure.”

She went back into the room.

“I know what they’re doing,” Albert said accusingly. “I’ve seen this many times. The doctor comes in and says they’re crazy because they’re old or that they don’t know what’s going on around them.”

“Dad, how did the accident happen?”

“It’s just like Ingleside. They just don’t care about people, no matter how long they..”

“Dad, we’re at Sherman,” she interrupted.

“I know that! They’re all the same.”

“Dad. How did the accident happen?” she asked again.

Albert paused, looked at her with a great sadness in his eyes, and said, “I don’t know.”