Uncertainty

"Dad ... RUH ... stroke"

There were more words in the actual text, but those were the ones that mattered. My parents were up in Saskatoon visiting my sister. There wasn't anything to suggest I'd need to drive up right away, but probably best to get myself dressed. Besides, I needed to keep busy and waiting for the bread to rise wasn't going to cut it.

"... doing better ..."

That's something, but not really comforting. While I'm sure my mother believes he's doing better, I don't know if I believe it yet.

While my parents were up in Saskatoon, my brother had come down to Regina for the weekend, so he came over and the waiting turned into watching Die Hard on AMC. He had had lunch, so I eat pancakes and then we go to visit friends.

"... CAT scan ..."

It's the night of the Oscars and my brother is heading to a concert later, so we head to Leopold's for supper. He has fish and chips with salad instead of chips and I have a chicken burger with fries even though the frigid weather made me want soup. There's a read-headed woman at the table next to us and she ends up with a drink that seems to consist of whipped cream to hide a shot glass full of something. It seems designed to make a horrible mess. She doesn't really want it, but I'm finding it entertaining.

"... released ... coming home ... going straight to the General ..."

My brother goes off to his concert before heading back to Saskatoon and I go back to distracting myself with baking and TV.

"Ward, Room, Bed... Talk tomorrow."

Somehow I manage to sleep and work without falling apart.

"Doing better... Love you... Dad"

Just months ago my dad had never sent a text message and now he's sending one from the hospital, so that's pretty good. 5pm arrives and I head straight to the hospital and my own eyes finally confirm that he's actually doing okay. Before I go home for dinner, the doctor comes to visit and his assessment is also encouraging.

Two days later and he's home and looking at income tax information and complaining about how his writing is messy now - although it is still neater than mine.