Leaving Becky in Mom's capable hands, Maggie, Josh and I arrived at St. Francis Hospital an additional fifteen minutes earlier than the doctor had instructed. Even so, when we had Ozzie paged, he appeared immediately.

Greeting us all warmly, Ozzie suggested I head over to the admissions desk to fill out the necessary paperwork.

"Admissions?" Josh queried. "Does that mean I'm going to have to stay?"

"Not at all," Ozzie laughed. "It's just that there's always paperwork, even for an outpatient."

"Whew, that's a relief," Josh replied.

"Tell you what, Josh," Ozzie continued, "let's head over and see if we can get you in early so we can get it over with."

Sure enough, they found Dr. Goldstein had nothing scheduled before eleven and was delighted to take Josh right away. Josh was surprised to see the doctor was so young. He looked like he should just be starting med. school, not already practicing. But Dr. G. was gentle and friendly, putting both Maggie and Josh at ease.

Maggie was happy she'd be able to stay in the room with Josh during the test. It didn't take too long, and by the time I rejoined them, it was already over. However, Josh was required to remain on the table for half an hour with a sandbag on his hip where the needle had been inserted, just to make sure there was no bleeding.

"How was it, Josh?" I asked.

"Not bad, Dad. Actually, the needle with the Novocain was worse than the big needle he used for the test."

Maggie said, "That was the biggest darn needle I've ever seen. But Josh didn't even flinch. What a guy!"

Ozzie came into the room and stayed with us until the prescribed time elapsed. Then he said, "Okay, tell you what. Let's head over to the blood lab and get that done, then I'll treat you all to a 'gourmet' lunch in the coffee shop."

Once at the lab, Ozzie introduced us to Kim, referring to her as "our resident vampire".

"She's very slick with a needle, Josh, so I'm betting you won't feel a thing."

When Josh saw Kim, he was smitten. A petite, blue-eyed blonde, she reminded him of a pixie. But after they chatted a bit, Josh was disillusioned to learn she was twenty-three, not 18 as he'd guessed, and was already married with a baby boy.

As Ozzie predicted, Josh hardly felt the needle when Kim inserted it. But when she got to the fifth vial of blood, he quipped, "Hey, leave a little for me, huh?"

Kim laughed and as she proceeded to draw several more vials, assured Josh he'd have plenty left when she was done.

With that done, we headed to the coffee shop. Josh tried to talk Kim into joining us. She thanked him but said she only worked a half-day on Saturday, and her husband would be picking her up in a few minutes.

While it wasn't typical "gourmet" fare, the coffee shop did have some very tasty selections. During lunch, Josh tried to pump Ozzie as to what the problem might be. The doctor told him there were any number of things it could be and he didn't have a clue yet.

"That's why we do these tests, Josh. Some tests rule things out, while others can nail them down. I should have all the results in by Tuesday, and I'll give you a call then, okay?"

"Fair enough. Thanks, Doc," Josh replied.

The waitress brought the check, and Ozzie and I had a brief tug of war over it. Finally it ripped in half. The waitress rolled her eyes, and I declared since I had the bigger piece it should work like a wishbone--in other words, whoever gets the bigger piece wins. Ozzie finally gave up and let me have my way. After another round of coffee, I paid the check and Ozzie said he had to do the rest of his morning rounds.

"Morning rounds?" Maggie asked, pointing out it was almost two o'clock.

"Well, you know how it is. Sometimes I re-arrange my schedule if there's something special going on," Ozzie said, winking at Josh.

We parted company and I went to retrieve the van. On the way home, I took a detour, surprising both Maggie and Josh.

"I've got a surprise for you, Josh. I got a call yesterday that our softball uniforms came in, and thought this would be a good time to pick them up."

Josh's face lit up. "That's great, Dad. I didn't think they'd get them this soon. Our first game's not 'til a week from tomorrow. We're gonna whip those guys from the Fairfax Squad!"

"We sure are. You know, I'm so glad someone came up with the idea of these inter-squad softball games. It should be lots of fun."

The uniforms were quite eye-catching--blue with white trim, our official squad colors. Each had the player's name and number on the back. There were two Madisons, of course--number 7 and 13.

Maggie said, "Hmmm, let me guess . . . 13 is Joe's and 7 is Josh's."

"Did I marry a brilliant woman or what," I replied.

"Oh, Joe, that's a no-brainer. You've both made no secret of your favorite numbers."

When we got home, we filled Mom in on the day's events. Becky was napping so we all decided to take advantage of the quiet time and take a short nap. Josh was especially tired after giving up so much of his blood.








Continue to Chapter 11


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