It was the intensity of the bright light that woke him. He could not see anything, because of the light. Was he in heaven now? Wait – he tried to cover his eyes with his left hand but it would not move. Just as he was about to scream, he heard noises, people talking – in the hallway? There were carts making a lot of noise as they rolled on wheels.
So that was it, he was in the hospital. He vaguely remembered being wheeled in. Weakly now, he managed to say, “Too bright!” as he stirred, trying to sit up. “Dad??” “Are you awake now?” He caught himself in mid-curse word, and stopped. “Can you turn of that darn light!?”
It was Madison, looking exhausted. “You gave us a real scare Dad, and you had seizures….that’s why they tied your wrists to the bed.” He motioned for her to undo his arms. As Bob sat up, he realized he had been there at least several days, and he guessed his daughter had been there the whole time.
“Dad, from here they are going to take you to rehab, probably tomorrow.” Bob harrumphed but said nothing else. He was suddenly keenly aware of his daughter……his only daughter now, suffering because of him……would this never end?
There was rehab, and something Bob had never had before – grief counseling. In fact, there was two weeks of it and he thought he would die from simply reliving the past. But he let it all go, and not only that – they taught him something there. They taught him how to live, to accept himself and to move on.
He only saw Henry Vu once in a while, usually Bob was outside walking when he noticed Henry in his priest outfit, giving Bob a small wave and smiling.
Madison was there every day and they talked about what Bob was learning about himself. She mostly just listened, but one day she mentioned, “Dad I wonder if you’d consider coming out to California.” “I sure wish you lived closer…..”
Bob did move out that way, and yes he still struggles. But you know what? He feels really good about life again, in fact he is back to selling pianos……like he used to do so many years ago.
He’s hoping too for the music to be reborn, inside himself.
Writing and Image
Copyright 2017, The Mystical Forest
A Brighter Sun 