"You could have been a doctor; you could have saved lives!" the young woman in the doorway had angry tears streaming down her face. "But instead, you chose this!" She regretted the words as soon as she said them, but her brother looked at her with a silly smile and the same mischievous twinkle in his eyes that had caused her to blow up irrationally on many occasions during her teen years. She thought she had matured. She thought she could come here and be sane and reasonable. She had come to listen, yet here she was lecturing!
"Yes." he answered softly- barely audible over the sounds of the hospital room "I chose."
Mabel collapsed in the chair next to the bed. She had rushed here as soon as she heard. She pushed back thoughts wondering how she would ever pay for the last-minute motel room, food and gas. Or, how she would ever find her way around Seattle. Gerald had a way of stretching her beyond her comfort zone.
"You know I'm not a city girl."
He laughed. "You'll be okay."
"How long can you stay?"
"Two weeks. Do you think you'll be okay by then."
Gerald stopped smiling and closed his eyes. "I don't know."
Somehow, she doubted that. If there was one thing she knew about her brother, he knew a lot more than he ever admitted. Which is EXACTLY why she had tried so hard to encourage him to use the inheritance from their grandparents to go to medical school. The deal was, they would each receive $21,000 when they turned 21 years old. There were ten grandchildren. Some bought land, one started a business and several got degrees. Mabel had used hers to put a nice downpayment on a beautiful farm in the Multnomah valley, near where they grew up.
"We bought sheep last year." she randomly said- changing the subject to something more pleasant.
"So, now you're a shepherdess?!" Gerald said it as if it was a joke, but she didn't get it. She never got his jokes. He laughed. She glared at him. They would forever be four and eight-year-old siblings.
The doctor came in, glad to see a family member had shown up. Gerald suddenly became 32 and politely introduced his sister. He didn't even stick his tongue out when he said her name.
"Gerald, did you tell your sister anything yet?"
"No. Go ahead and tell her..."
"Oh sure, make me be the bad guy." the doctor teased, lightening the mood.
"Gerald has sepsis. We plan to keep him on IV antibiotics for 5-7 days and then he can return home. He will need someone to care for him for another 1-2 weeks."
Mabel appreciated him getting straight to the facts.
"I guess that'll be me."
"Thanks." Gerald mumbled.
"Be nice to your sister!" the doctor teased on the way out. You're going to need her the next few weeks.
Mabel sat still -suddenly exhausted.
"Are you going to be okay?"
"Of course."
"So, what happened?"
"Didn't they tell you? "
"No. That's YOUR job! They just said you were at the hospital in critical condition. No one else could get time off work. It's a good thing it isn't lambing season and the kids are home," she was rambling again. Her thoughts were all a jumbled mess. Somehow, as a grown adult she SHOULD know what to do- what to say -how to act. But suddenly she felt like this was her first day on earth and she needed her little brother to hold her hand.
"Well, I was hooking a car up to my truck after a fender bender. I guess there was a piece of metal sticking out because when I got home, I noticed my pant leg was torn, and my leg was all bloody."
"What?! You didn't know you had gouged your leg?"
"No, but it was fine. I wiped it with a paper towel and put a bandage on it."
"Gerald! What part of all this looks like it was "fine?!"
She could see his dimples even in the dim lighting of the hospital room. "Well, it WAS fine for the rest of that week."
"So, you walked around on it for a whole week?"
"Almost. On Friday, when I got to work, I fell getting into my truck. Then, I was talking funny and the guys drove me to the hospital. I guess that's when they called you. They thought I was having a stroke at first."
"I'm so glad it didn't happen when you were at your apartment." Mabel said.
"Ya. I was thinking. Tomorrow, I want you to help me write my will. I have a guy coming over and I want you to be here too. -just in case. You know."
"Sure, little brother. I can do that. IF I can find my way to the motel and back."
"You'll be fine. Seattle is a lot safer than most people think!"
She laughed. "Hey, I finally got one of your jokes, little brother!"
He grinned.
She wasn't sure if he was serious. She was never sure,
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