Be Careful What You Wish For....

Several years ago, when my children and I were living in Riverdale, the weather was cold and rainy for about two weeks. Hey, it’s pretty much the same as it has been these last two weeks, except we did get snow yesterday!!!!

Anyway, my boyfriend, Sonny, told me that he would cut my lawn after work. Sonny was a cement finisher and no stranger to physical work. The day was overcast, with an unsteady drizzle, like today.

I was in the house doing a chart when I heard the lawnmower start up. I completed the chart and my client left. I went outside to see whether Sonny would like a cup of herbal tea or something to eat. No, he said, he would wait until the lawn was done.
I made lasagne for supper and had a little tomato sauce splashed on my yellow t-shirt. Stacking the dishes in the sink, I put on the kettle for tea. Once the tea was steeped, I poured some into a mug, added a dollop of honey and walked through the kitchen down the steps to the back door. I saw Sonny at the back door and as I opened the door, he said rather quietly “I just cut off my toes.” I stared at him, thinking he was joking. Sonny was quite the teaser. Then Sonny yelled, “Move!” I jumped, startled. He headed around the outside of the house and I raced to the bedroom, grabbed my purse with my wallet and thrust my feet into loafers at the front door. Then I ran down the front steps to Sonny’s car. He was seated on the passenger side.
I always put a white light around me when I drive and I needed to since I had never driven Sonny’s car before. I guess I was taking too long, because Sonny urged me, ‘Hurry up. I thought you liked to drive fast.”
“I don’t know your car,” I responded. Well, the steering wheel was loose and I turned the corner carefully as I slid onto a busy road. I was cautious and Sonny kept telling me to go faster. Sonny gripped the door handle, rocked himself a little and tucked his lips between his teeth as I drove.

The car felt so loose, but we finally arrived at the Royal Alex hospital. I drove right into the emergency entrance where the ambulances parked. Two attendants walked toward the car, one of the men shaking his head, disapprovingly. When they reached the driver’s window, I didn’t give them a chance to talk, and burst out with, “He just cut his toes off.” Both medics hurried around to passenger door, one reached for a folded up wheelchair and Sonny was whisked into the chair. As they pushed Sonny around the car toward the emergency door, I pulled out of the enclosed exit and looked for a parking spot outside.
Once out of the car, I straightened my top with the tomato stain, smoothed my shorts, with a small tear and noticed I had two different shoes on, one white and the other tan. My white shoe had a hole near the big toe. I laughed, shook my head and walked toward the emergency entrance.
The same two medics stood at the entrance, one of them laughed as he stared at my shoes. I laughed and said, ”I’ve got two more at home just like these.”
When I went inside, Sonny was sitting in a wheelchair near the nurses’ desk. He had already been processed and was waiting, gripping the arms of the chair. Sonny asked me to do him a favour, would I check his foot to see how many toes he still had left. I crouched down beside him and peeled back the torn white leather of his right foot. Part of his large toe and the toe beside it were gone. I went to the reception desk and asked the nurses how long we had to wait. About half an hour, maybe more, I was told.
I went back to Sonny who said he really needed something for the pain.

Back to the reception desk, I asked the nurses where I could go to get something for the pain. I was told that Sonny could get nothing until a doctor looked at him. I told Sonny and waited a few minutes. I went back to the nurses and questioned them again about the wait. A nurse separated from the other nurses and came toward me. She said she would try and get him in soon and don’t get any meds, she cautioned.
Within five minutes, the same nurse catches my eye and tells me to follow her. I wheel Sonny into an emergency room. A nurse removes Sonny’s shoe and cleans his foot. I head to the pay phones and begin calling Sonny’s family. As I walk back and forth through the hospital, I see people staring at my mismatched shoes.

Then Sonny is taken to an emergency operating room. I walk around to the head of Sonny’s bed and begin reiking him. A female doctor comes in and unwraps his foot. Sonny makes a joke about the wrong foot being looked at. The doctor stares uncomprehendingly and then Sonny laughs. In walks the orthopaedic surgeon, he checks Sonny’s foot and the female doctor assists. I was still reiking Sonny as his foot was unwrapped and damage was being detailed.
I began to feel really hot and slightly sick. I kept my hands on Sonny’s head, concentrating on attempting to make Sonny feel better. The next thing I remember, I was on the floor and the woman doctor was asking if I was okay. Sonny was howling with laughter. Apparently, I passed out, slid down and caught my neck on the crossbars of the bed. The orthopaedic surgeon told the female doctor that I had fainted, she didn’t move because she thought we were joking again. By the time this woman got to me I was gurgling and gagging from lack of air. She put me on the floor. When I came to all I said was, “I never fainted before.”
“You did now,” stated the doctor.
Sonny said he felt my hands slide and heard me gagging. He said he never felt any pain for the whole time because he was laughing so hard. I hit a bunch of bed pans as I went down and was stuck under the bed. Sonny said the woman doctor was funny to watch as she struggled to stay where she was. She could not believe I had actually fainted.

Sonny’s toes were fixed. He came back to my house for a few days where I monitored his meds and took him for check-ups. One of my daughters told Sonny that she went into the backyard to look for his toes and could not find them.

Sonny used to complain about his toes, he always thought they were too long. After his accident and lots of discussions, Sonny began to croon to his existing toes. “I love you babies.” Be careful what you don’t like, throw enough negative energy at something and your wish will come true. It’s better to be grateful!!

I went out and bought a push mower. My oldest, at home was a teenager and since my children were young, I wanted them safe. Push mowers require a lot more energy and I am usually sweating and hot by the time I finish mowing even when the weather is cool, like today.