i clicked over to the Deputy Sheriff, my heart in my mouth. he spoke too slowly for my racing mind, as he introduced himself and confirmed that i was family. the trick question that he asked was - can you describe your cousin's (it was not the time to correct him on the relationship) son. "he has these big eyes and cute cheeks and he's three. he is so small." i write this down and i have no idea how the guy accepted this as a valid identification; i'm guessing that he heard something in my voice. then, relief. they had found my aunt and the wee one and both were safe. however, he continued, my aunt was doing so well and he was thinking they may have to send her to the hospital. he was just a policeman and so he was not going to make that decision but, he wanted to know, was there any family close by that the wee one could go to while his mother was being taken care of. i thought of a friend, but he was too far away. then i remembered another aunt (related on another side of the family) who had moved to virginia and, luckily for us all, she lived about an hour away from some spot in virginia. i hung up and called her, and caught her just as she was getting up. i hurriedly explained what was going on - could she take the wee one until i was able to show up and take over? of course, she said, without hesitation. she just had to find a friend to drive over with. there was a back and forth of calls - deputy sheriff, me, my virginia aunt, verifications of arrangements and identifications.
at the same time, hi def woke up and found me pacing around the apartment - well it was more walking in tight circles because i live in a new york apartment. but i was hectic. i was putting my work bags together and talking and thinking i was thinking. i got off a call and he asked what was going on. i tried to talk and my voice broke. ten seconds of tears later, i pulled myself together and told him what i knew so far. "so, what are you going to do?" "i told the policeman that i was coming to virginia to pick up the wee one." "so what are you doing now?" he was looking at me in my suit with my bags. "i don't know." i was in auto mode, doing what was familiar. "ok, let's talk about this and try to figure it out." you see, it would have been easier if some idiot in a van hadn't decided to mess up our car. the car was in the repair shop and everyone seemed to be taking their time about sorting that mess out. i had to find an alternative. i pulled out the computer to start looking for something. the phone rang again.
the hospital people had shown up and decided that my aunt needed treatment - they were not yet sure what was going on but they needed to help her. she was worried about the wee one, of course, so they needed to be sure i was coming - yes, i assured them, i was on my way. the deputy sheriff was calling with his updates. i was calling car rental spots to see if they had anything for me that i could use immediately. hi def was keeping me calm, helping find car rental prices and getting me to write lists (i am so bad at those).
finally i was on my way - it was an 8 hour drive, according to the gps, but it took over an hour to just get out of the city - rush hour. but, i had coffee and i was good to go. the woman from the hospital called to let me know that my aunt was at the hospital and being assessed. the deputy sheriff called to let me know the same. during my drive, my virginia aunt called to let me know that she had picked up the wee one, taken him out to lunch and they were headed home to wait for me. my aunt's friend called and i let her know that i was on my way out to virginia. i passed a huge fire that had shut down the highway; thankfully it was the other side of the highway. i drove on without delay.
it was close to midnight when i got to my virginia aunt's place. a day that seems so long sometimes can just rush by in an instant - dealing with the phone calls, the rentals, the rush hour traffic just swallowed up the day. oh and it started raining, which slowed me down a little. but i was there. i hugged my aunt and she took me into her bedroom - the wee one was asleep. so so cute. and so so tiny. it was time to go to bed - tomorrow promised to be a long day too.
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:-)
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