Can't Wait to Get to Heaven

The Doctor’s Report

10:20 AM

Norma and Macky had been in the hospital waiting room for over twenty minutes, and they had been told nothing yet. Three other people, two women and a man, were there in the waiting room as well, waiting to hear news of their mother’s hip replacement. Norma informed them in great detail who she and Macky were, where they were from, why they were there, and how she had warned her aunt over and over again to be careful on that ladder, a fact Macky was sure the hip-replacement family couldn’t have cared less about. And that may have been the reason all three decided to go to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee. After another anxious ten minutes a young doctor walked in with a chart and looked around the room. “Is there a Mrs. Norma Warren here?” Norma jumped up. “Yes, that’s me.”

“Are you Mrs. Shimfissle’s next of kin?”

Norma was a complete wreck by this time and began to babble uncontrollably. “Yes…she’s my aunt, my mother’s sister, is she badly hurt, Doctor? I’ve told her a hundred times not to get on that ladder, but she won’t listen to me, I said, ‘Aunt Elner, wait until Macky gets off from work.’”

Macky knew she was never going to shut up, and cut her off. “How is she, Doctor? Is she conscious yet?”

Norma, who still didn’t know that Aunt Elner had been knocked out cold, turned and looked at Macky. “What do you mean, is she conscious yet?”

The young doctor sized up the situation and said, “Let’s go sit down.”

“What do you mean, is she conscious yet?” asked Norma again.

When they were seated, the doctor looked first at Macky, then at Norma. “Mrs. Warren, I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but your aunt”—he glanced down at his chart—“uh, Mrs. Shimfissle, died at 9:47 AM. We tried our best to revive her, but by the time she got here, she was already in bad shape, and considering her age and the circumstances, there was nothing we could do. I’m sorry.”

Norma collapsed and slowly slid off the chair, and Macky and the doctor were just barely able to catch her, a second before the back of her head hit the floor.