The Fall

I was awakened yesterday morning by the sound of my cell phone ringing.  The boys were in bed with us and Jude was reading to them.  I looked at my phone and saw that my sister was calling.  It was an odd time for her to call, so I answered the phone with a sense of dread.

"Maristone called," Tracy said.  "When mom didn't come down for breakfast, they checked her room and found her on the floor in the bedroom."  I fought back a sense of panic, as Tracy continued.  "They're taking her to the emergency room and I'm going to meet them there."

Just like that, our spring break trip to Atlanta with the boys was off, at least for the time being.  I took a quick shower and drove to Williamson County Medical Center.  My mom was in triage when I arrived and, fortunately, x-rays taken of her hip, elbow and shoulder were all negative.  No broken bones.  A CT scan confirmed she hadn't sustained a head injury.  Other than some bruising around her right eye and being a little shaken up, she was okay.

A nurse helped her into a wheelchair and we rolled her out to the emergency room entrance, where Tracy was waiting in her minivan.  After the short drive to Maristone, my mom was back in her apartment sitting in her chair.  I hung around for a two or three hours, while my mom dozed on and off in her chair.  She was exhausted, clearly, which lead me to believe she might have been on the floor of her bedroom for most of the night.

I had talked to her at 9 p.m. the night before and she was awake and fine.  There's just no way to know if she fell trying to get ready for bed or getting into bed, or if she fell getting out of bed the morning the staff found her.  And, of course, my mom had no recollection of falling which, in retrospect, might be a good thing.

I went into the office for a couple of hours, then stopped back by Maristone to relieve Tracy.  She went home for a bit, then came back to wait on Alice, who was going to spend the night.  After I got home, Jude, the boys and I watched the NCAA tourney and Predators-Flames (huge 3-1 Preds' win), then put the boys to bed.  I walked down to Edley's and had a couple of beers.  Afterwards, I walked the neighborhood for close to an hour, listening to music and lost myself in a swirl of memories, regret and sorrow.  I shed more than a few tears as I walked down Belmont Boulevard and across Belmont University's campus.

While on a rational level, I knew we had dodged a bullet.  Yes, my mom had fallen.  But she hadn't broken and bones and it sure as hell could have been a lot worse.  Still, the thought of my mom laying on the floor of her bedroom, unable to get up or to press the button on her pendant to call for help was devastating.  Also, I realized there are more falls to come, most likely.  And that's the saddest thing of all.