The morning sun poured into my room; casting light onto every dark corner there was. I looked over where Derek was sleeping but he wasn’t in the chair anymore. I reached over to press the call button on my remote when my mother walked into the room with my son. I sat up and stretched my arms out waiting for my son to run into my arms. “Did you get your heart, Mommy?” I shook my head. “Not yet, baby. I’ll be going in just a little bit.” He wrapped his arms around my neck and hugged me; very tight. I hugged him back as I smiled at my mother. She sat down in the chair next to me. “Are you ready for today?” I nodded my head and looked out the window. “I’m so excited but I’m terrified.” My mother placed her hand on my knee and replied, “Everything will be OK. You’ll do great. You will make it through this, Kate. We’ll be here when you wake up. I love you.” I smiled. “Love you too Mom.” My son started jumping on the bed singing his ‘hungry’ song so my mother kissed the top of my head and left. Nurses came in, drawing blood, giving me papers to sign, instructions to follow and what the doctor was going to be doing. Dr. Byers came in and explained to me what he was going to do. He was pretty much repeating what the nurses already told me. Talking to the doctor made me feel at ease with the transplant. After they left, I wanted to take one more walk before my surgery. I had two hours to kill before I got my new heart. The floor I’ve been staying on was very different during the day than at night. At night, it’s quiet and peaceful. During the day, you have visitors arguing with the nurse at the main desk, the CNA’s running around tending to their patients, and doctors talking amongst each other about God knows what. I walked past the nurses station and down the hall. There was a cleaning cart by Bill’s room so I decided to stop by and see how his surgery went. I knocked on the door and poked my head into the room. There was an older woman sweeping the floor. I looked over and saw that the sheets had been changed and the bed was made. I walked to the table by the bed and all of Bill’s stuff was gone. The happy photos, his glasses, his newspaper; all of it was… gone. “Where is Bill? Did he get discharged after his surgery?” The woman turned around and shrugged her shoulders. “Sorry dear, I just clean the rooms.” I left Bill’s room and walked to the nurses station. The night nurse was still doing paperwork. You could tell she was trying to clock out already. “Where is Bill? They cleaned his room and all of his personal belongings are gone. Did he check out?” The nurse glanced up but didn’t say a word. She turned her head and picked up the station phone. “Paging Dr. Byers. Please report to the nurses station on the cardio floor. Dr. Byers, report to the cardio floor.” She hung up the phone and told me to wait for him in my room. I nodded and walked back to my room. Before I could open my door, I felt a hand wrap around my waist. I was halfway turned around when Derek greeted me with a kiss on the cheek. I giggled and hugged him. “I know you can’t eat or drink anything because of you getting a new heart and all but I was allowed to bring you this.” He pulled a white cup out from behind his back. I looked in the cup and laughed. “Ice chips. You shouldn’t have.” I laughed as I popped an ice chip into my mouth. “I know it’s not coffee and donuts, Kate, but we can pretend. Like this chocolate one right here.” He picked a piece of ice from the cup and ate it. We walked into my room and sat down. I told Derek everything that happened this morning. I told him about Bill and his wife Beverly. Even their daughter Jane that passed away. I told him about all the pieces of advice he gave me. When I was finishing telling Derek about finding the room erased of Bill, Dr. Byers walked into the room and closed the door behind him. “Kate, I hear you have a question about one of our other patients.” He sat down on a stool at the foot of the bed. I swallowed and said, “I met Bill last night. He said he was having surgery this morning. I went by his room to see how he was doing and all of his stuff was gone.” Derek grabbed my hand and held it. Dr. Byers let out a deep exhale. “Kate, I really hate to say this but Bill passed this morning. He didn’t even make it to surgery. He died in his sleep. The night nurse went to check on him because his monitors were going off and it was too late. He slipped away peacefully. I’m so sorry Kate.”
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