“We have the lung reinflated, and he has some assistance breathing. But I want to run some tests and see what brought this on. But first we’ve got to get his oxygen count up and see an improvement in his overall condition. After that, I think Mr. Martin will begin to feel a lot better.”

“Can I see him, Doctor?” Fran asked.

“Sure, but let’s keep it short for the time being. We don’t want to fatigue him,” the doctor replied.

“Fran, I’ll wait out here for you,” I said.

“Don’t leave me, Kennesaw,” Fran said in a pleading voice.

“I won’t, sweetheart. I’ll be right out here.” I gave her hand a squeeze.

“’Kay,” she said, her eyes large with concern. “I won’t be long.”

Fran went in to see her husband. I went to the ICU waiting area and took a chair.

Bob will be mad as hell when he wakes up, I thought.

The last thing he would have wanted was to be carried to the hospital. I imagine, when he collapsed, he fully intended to die right there on the floor. It was only a fluke that Fran had found him when she did and called for an ambulance in time. I didn’t know who I felt most sorry for—Bob, because he couldn’t die the way he wanted to—or Fran, because he might.

Fran came out a few minutes later and sat next to me. She was quiet for a few minutes, and that is very uncharacteristic of Fran.

“He looks like hell, Kennesaw. I’ve never seen him look so bad,” she said in a hollow voice.

I put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her over to me. She buried her face in my chest and began to weep silently—her chest and shoulders heaving with muffled sobs.

“It ain’t fair, it ain’t fair,” she said over and over again. “It just ain’t fair.”

After a while, she sat up and wiped her face.

“Damn that man!” she said with vehemence. “You just shouldn’t love somebody as much as I love him. I don’t know what I would do if I lost him. I think I’d just lose my mind.”

There was nothing I could say, and I don’t think she wanted me to. I sat and held her hand and listened. After a while I went to the cafeteria and brought us back some lunch. While out, I called Amber to set up a time to see her and then called Patricia. After that, Fran and I sat and waited. Periodically a nurse would stick her head in and give us an update. The television set on the wall in the corner contributed its inanities as the afternoon dragged on. Then, looking at my watch, I realized I had to leave if I were to meet Patricia on time.