Mystery solved

Anna left the hospital today and saw Frankie for the first time since he was transferred to the NICU at Brackenridge on Thursday. At first glance, he looks a little worse for wear. He has a Broviac catheter in his chest, heplocks in his left foot and right arm, a breathing tube and a feeding tube down his throat, and a blindfold to shield his eyes from the thermal lamp they're using to treat his mild case of jaundice. They're keeping him sedated with morphine, so he's more or less unresponsive to touch, although his fingers close lightly around a finger placed in the palm of his hand. Anna was understandably upset, but once the initial shock wore off and the doctors and nurse answered her questions with overwhelmingly positive responses, she settled down. We spent several hours sitting beside our son, reassuring one another that everything is going to be alright. We both know we're not out of the woods yet, but having Anna home and Frankie stabilized is a damn good first step. She's asleep now, resting well in spite of the stress and pain, thanks in no small part to her new best friend, Darvocet. I'm about to crawl into bed next to her, happy to be back home but wishing Frankie was with us. I'll be counting the hours until he's discharged, which probably won't be until early September. Looks like we're both in for a crash course in the sublime art of patience. Wish us luck.

In other news, I've finally solved the mystery of this "Morris" character. Turns out my friend Yuri, and his wife Michelle and daughter Jordan, sent us an enormous Harry & David gift box (and by box, I mean crate). Apparently, some nurse by the name of Morris signed for it, and since Yuri hadn't heard from us, he was beginning to wonder if it hadn't been hijacked en route to Anna. I should've known.