Afterwards, Marilyn and I talked some more, for the rest of the day. She had a very good idea, too. "Maybe we can call Suzie and see if she can visit?"
I blinked at that. "It's the end of November. She's in school. You'll have to call her and ask. Maybe she can take a bus? Or she can wait until Christmas, I'll probably still be here then."
"She needs a car.", Marilyn remarked in passing.
That got me to thinking. So did Marilyn and I! "You know, hold that thought. I need to dump the Impala, and you need something bigger for you and Buster. How about a station wagon for you?" Chrysler had not reinvented the minivan yet, not for a few more years.
Marilyn's lips flapped for a moment. "Really? I can get a new car!?"
"Whatever you want, honey. Well, within reason. I don't think Rolls Royce makes station wagons."
"Very funny! What about you?"
I shrugged. "I'll trade the Impala in on a Caddy or a Lincoln. Something nice and big. We can have a car, and a wagon."
"What about my little Toyota?"
"Probably won't get much for it. Why don't we just give it to Suzie? It'd be perfect for a college kid. She could pay the gas and Dad would pay the insurance.", I said.
"What would your parents say if they knew where it came from?"
I shrugged again. "Suzie can lie to them. That would be her problem, not mine."
"We should call Tusker and Tessa as well, invite them down. We haven't seen them since last year!", she said.
That was true. We had kept in touch with Tusker and Tessa since that oh so memorable wedding! They were married now (grandchildren will melt a grandparent's heart!) and were doing well. They had both graduated, Tessa with her Bachelors and Tusker with his Associates in Business, and last year, on schedule, he had opened a small motorcycle repair and sales shop in Timonium. "That's a very good idea! Give them a call and ask them to come down. We can get them a room for the night. When Suzie comes, she can stay in the suite with you, I guess."
She nodded, but then gave me a worried look. "Do you have their phone numbers? I left my address book at home!"
"And that is why the good Lord gave us telephone operators. When you get back to the hotel, get an outside line and call the operator. You can probably get a number for Tusker's business, and if you call the University of Delaware, they can at least find a way to get a message to Suzie. It's too late for either of them to come here this weekend."
Like my last trip through time and space, Suzie had applied to the University of Delaware's nursing school. She was just now starting her junior year. In a couple of years she would have both her BS in nursing and her RN credentials. She was about an hour's drive from Lutherville. "Maybe Suzie can take a bus from Dover to Washington, and you can get her or she can take a cab.", I said.
We talked about future plans, now that I was no longer going to be going career in the Army. Wherever we ended up, I would buy or build Marilyn a house, and we'd get some new cars, and as soon as I could get loose from the hospital, we were going on a nice and long vacation! Beyond that, we didn't make too many plans. We couldn't agree on where we wanted to live. Marilyn wanted to leave the Fayetteville area (too hot, too muggy, too southern) and I refused to move to upstate New York (I spent fifty-plus years shoveling snow up there; screw that idea!)
A lot of time was simply spent getting acquainted with my son. Charlie was only about ten weeks old, but he certainly seemed to have a healthy curiosity about everything. He looked at everything! He couldn't sit up by himself yet, but that little head and those little eyes kept turning around to watch everybody! Otherwise he was nothing but a food processing machine. Mom's milk went in one end, and toxic chemical waste came out the other end. What that child produced was a violation of the Geneva Conventions against gas and germ warfare! Oh, and keep your fingers and car keys out of his reach, since it all went into his mouth!
Monday was not enjoyable. Since I was going to be under anesthesia most of the day, they cut my meals off the afternoon before. Marilyn kept Charlie at the hotel. I signed papers and listened to warnings and then I was asked to count back from 100. I got to 99 and was out like a light. By the time I woke up, it was almost dinner time, and Marilyn was sitting there with Charlie by the bed. I stayed awake long enough to say, "Hello.", and then fell back asleep. By the time I woke up again, it was the middle of the night and they were gone.
They came back first thing Tuesday morning, and we all met the surgeon. The good news was actually more than I could hope for. While there had been extensive damage to the joint and the ligaments, they decided to do the repairs in a single seven hour session rather than two or three smaller sessions. That meant less time in the body shop and more time on the highway, so to speak. The bad news was that there had been extensive damage. I was going to need a couple of weeks before I could try walking on it, and a full recovery was very doubtful. My career was shot.
Two more weeks like this was going to drive me batty. We could still make future plans, though. Marilyn decided to switch Charlie over to formula, and she spent a morning that week talking to a staff gynecologist about going on the Pill. Fortunately, although all of her medical records were still at the Fort Bragg clinic, Marilyn still qualified to see a doctor here. When I was able to get out of here, we'd both be able to do something about the horniness that had been attacking the both of us. We started planning my escape.
That weekend I had visitors. Suzie caught a bus back to Baltimore, but then Tusker and Tessa and little Bucky went down to pick her up, and they all drove down to Silver Springs to see us. Marilyn and I had been joking about Tusker and his family driving down on his bike, with Bucky in a sidecar, but they came down in an old Ford he owned.
That Saturday was the day my catheter came out. Suzie was there when the nurse came in. "Cool! Can I watch?"
I spluttered something incoherent. "Suzie! No!"
"Carl, don't be so uptight. I'm a nursing student. I've seen penises before.", she replied.
"I don't care how many penises you've seen! You're not going to see mine!"
"You're no fun at all."
I shook a finger at her. "Why don't you go home and tell Dad about all the penises you've seen? I'll bet that will be a fun conversation!" She had the good grace to blush at that.
Tusker and Tessa were looking a little frazzled, but otherwise happy. Tessa was doing some part-time work at the biker bar, as well as doing the books for the bike shop and taking care of Bucky. Tusker was working all hours at the shop, and only had Sunday off. On the other hand, they seemed to be treading water with the money, and their little business was growing. They already had two full time employees, and were looking for a third. Bucky had his mother's build and features, but his father's bright red hair, and was a good kid. He was three now, and got into everything.
Suzie told us some unhappy news, also. Daisy had gone to the big puppy playpen in the sky. She had passed away in her sleep a couple of weeks before she had gone back to school. "I'm sorry, Suzie. She was a good dog."