Have you seen these?
A Year in Books - 2009-12-27
Skip Tracer, Loan Detective - 2009-11-22
New Job - 2009-11-03
The coleslaw got served. - 2009-10-21
Probably a new job. But maybe not. - 2009-10-08

Jack
2001-11-04 2:49 p.m.

It just didn't feel right, doing that upbeat entry and then tacking on The Jack Issue as part of the same entry. He's worth more than an afterthought.

Friday, (yes, the same Friday mentioned in the last entry) was D's birthday. That's important, somehow. (As an aside, he's probably not going to be one of those people who claim they're 29 for the next 12 years. Look how it went, the first time around.) I was at work. D. and Dante and Maria came in. Something wasn't right.

"Jack's not good. Anne called, and wants us all to get down there tonight."

I couldn't leave. I work in a restaurant. It was Friday night. The best I could do was try to get out early. BT and Dante and D. drove down within the hour. Jake and Vincent and Maria waited for me.

When we got there, we learned that he had stabilized. His spleen had been what they wanted to operate on this time, but then they couldn't, but it somehow wasn't as necessary anymore. Really. He's a lot better now.

He sure as fuck didn't look a lot better. He was so thin. There were tubes everywhere. For a minute I wished he was awake, but then I had a mental picture of him all full of drugs with his eyes all glazed and uncomprehending and that would have been even worse.

I knew I was supposed to be talking to him. That's what you're supposed to do. But I couldn't think of anything worth saying. So Anne and I sat there and held his hand while I hugged her as tightly as I could. If I couldn't help him, at least I could help her.

Then, all of us sat in the visiting room with Anne while his dad stayed with Jack. Someone stays with him all the time. You never know what those interns will do, if the family isn't right there.

She told us many hospital horror stories. She said talking to the staff with Jack's dad was just like dealing with an irate Jack. "He'd start out raving, and I'd let him go for a little while, and then I'd say 'Ok, shut up now. Let me handle this,' and I'd explain it more calmly, and then he'd jump right back in, and I'd let him vent a little, and then I'd be 'Ok, my turn again'. And it worked, just like it always does with Jack."

She also told us of Jack dealing with the staff. (That made me feel a lot better. He's not always like he was when I went in. It's 11:30 at night, you moron. Of course he's unconscious.) He had one nurse who called him "sweetie." All of us burst out laughing. If there's one thing you never ever do with Jack, it's talk down to him.

***

We had planned on going drinkin last night for D's birthday. Jake and Vincent went back down to Milwaukee instead. I asked D. if maybe we should go too, but he said no. He pointed out that Jack would absolutely hate to think that everyone had put their normal lives on hold for him. Besides, the family was already doing the 24/7 watching him sleep routine. I hadn't thought of it that way, but it made sense.

We're going tonight, though. We'll probably stay through tomorrow. I really hope he's awake for some of it. I could talk to him if he was awake. I could tell him all about the five dollar shakes.

On the way back Friday, we passed a restaurant called "Paul's Omega." I asked if that was The Omega, that Jack always raves about. Dante said it was. So, we went in. They had milkshakes for $4.60. I pointed out that that was almost a five dollar milkshake, so D. ordered one, and we traded snatches of Pulp Fiction dialogue.

It reminded me of one time when Anne and Jack and I had gone to Bitchen late one night. The waiter did something to screw up right away, and before he was even out of earshot, Jack turned to me and said "I don't think Buddy is much of a waiter." Naturally, I shot back, "We shoulda sat in Marilyn Monroe's section." Anne chimed in, "Which one? There are two Marilyn Monroes." and so on.

The funny part was, the waiter kept srewing up. Like four times during the meal, one of us had justifiable cause to say, "I don't think Buddy is much of a waiter." And then we'd go through the whole scene all over again.

It cracked me up, anyway. And so now I'm wondering if Jack knows that his favorite restaurant in the world has the five dollar shakes. He must know. But it's still nifty.

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