Hope for Isaac

An alarm clock screeched on Andrew’s bedside table. Rudely awakened, he dragged himself towards the clock and lazily slammed it’s off-button. It was 6:00 a.m. He had managed two hours of sleep.

“Better than the previous night,” Andrew thought to himself. He lugged like a zombie into the bathroom and began to study himself in the mirror. The bags under his eyes were dark, almost as dark as the unruly hair that lay like a mop on his head. He took his electric razor, and idly slid it from one side of his face to the other. Andrew then put on his wooden crucifix necklace, and turned off the light in the bathroom. As he crept out of the bathroom, Andrew looked over to his wife, who had begun to stir from the noise of the clock. Then, he looked at his infant son, Isaac, who had oddly not been disturbed at all. Andrew stared at him for a moment, before quietly leaving the room. Andrew walked into the main part of his apartment. He strolled past the empty living room in three small steps, leading him into the kitchen. He made a small pot of coffee, and filled his thermos with it. Andrew did not care for cream or sugar, so he always left his coffee black.

It was a chilly morning in Janson, Pennsylvania. The sun was absent from the sky, as it usually was during the early mornings of December. But the automatic streetlights had turned off, so Andrew was in darkness. He let out a sigh, and trudged to his 1988 Toyota Corolla. It was eleven years old and starting to fail. Andrew tried to turn on the engine once. It sputtered. He tried again, to the same effect. Andrew laid his head on the steering wheel, and slammed the dashboard. Once more, he slowly turned the key, and the engine gasped to a start. Andrew made the sign of the cross across his chest, praying to the Lord for a safe day. Then, he pulled out of his apartment complex and started for the university.

Andrew was a graduate student at Pennsylvania State University. He was receiving his PhD in Human Development. He lived a fifteen-minute drive away from the university, with his wife, Miranda. The two had met at the University of California, Los Angeles, and married shortly after receiving their respective Bachelor’s degrees. After working two years, they had a decision to make: stay in California, or move to Pennsylvania so Andrew could pursue his PhD. They chose the latter and rolled the dice. They arrived in Janson, and within months, their son Isaac was born. He was a healthy, lively boy. Miranda dropped him off at day care every morning, and then promptly went to work.

Meanwhile, Andrew drove to the university. His graduate school experience revolved around a research project on child development. However, the past few months had been unforgiving to Andrew. Since Andrew and Miranda had decided to give up their lives in California, Miranda was the only member of the family with a job. And it was not high paying by any standard. So, the small family was forced to apply for welfare income checks. His pride shattered, set his focus on his studies. Unfortunately, after showing his initial months of research to a professor, the professor butchered it, pointing out its holes and countless improvements that were necessary to even interest other researchers. Andrew was crushed and spiraled down into depression. Nothing seemed to be going right for him.

Andrew pulled into the parking lot of the Thomas Howard Building. As he pulled in, the cross necklace hanging from his mirror swung like a pendulum. Andrew steadied it, and left his car.

Walking into his cluttered office, Andrew slumped down onto his chair and dropped his bag with a dull thud.

“Another day, ehh Andrew?” hollered another co-worker.
Andrew sighed and replied, “Yup.” Andrew turned on his computer monitor and logged into his computer. It was November 12th. He opened his dissertation and looked at the notes he had left for himself the previous day. Every day was the same for him. “Work’s dull, life’s s***, what’s new?” thought Andrew.
It was a typical day for Andrew. Like most days, he would sit at his desk for hours. Or if the office was too unbearable, Andrew would stretch his legs and walk to the library, where he would only continue research. Originally, he was fine with his work. It was tough, even boring at times, but child development was Andrew’s passion. However, the repeated cycle came with no results (in Andrew’s mind) and after months, his motivation slowly declined.
This day, Andrew worked until noon, and then went off to his lunch break. It was 12:13 pm, when someone called out, “Andrew, phone for you. It’s urgent.” Andrew looked up, with a quizzical expression on his face. He walked over to the phone, and put the receiver to his ear.
Andrew burst through the doors of Cross of Our Lord Hospital.
“Isaac, where’s Isaac?” he implored.
“Follow me, Mr. Alexis.” urged a nurse. The walk to the emergency room seemed to last for an eternity. When Andrew arrived at the room, Miranda sat on a folding chair outside the room in tears.
“He has an 104 degree fever, Andrew.” Miranda choked out. Andrew gripped his wife’s slender arms. As he held her, he recalled in his mind all the memorable moments they had spent together: their first meeting in college, their first date, their marriage, Isaac’s birth and now Isaac’s first, perhaps last time, in the emergency room. After a half an hour, Miranda whimpered that she wanted some time alone. She walked off to the bathroom, and left Andrew waiting outside the room. Suddenly, he got up and kicked a trash can and howled out in frustration. Andrew then sat back down and buried his face in his hands.
“Why, dammit, why? Why does this happen to me? I’ve worked my ass off my whole life. Some results would be hell-a nice!” From down the hall, two doctors glared at him, shaking their heads in disapproval. Miranda returned, mopping her bloodshot eyes. She sat down on her chair by the emergency room, while Andrew leaned against the wall, a couple yards away.
“Mr. and Mrs. Alexis?” Andrew and Miranda reared their heads toward a doctor. His expression was unreadable. They both walked towards the doctor, and held their breaths.
The doctor explained that Isaac’s fever had gone down and he was back to normal. But he added that it was quite unnatural for an infant to have such a high fever, so they wanted to run some tests on him. Miranda collapsed from relief into a chair, while Andrew wiped the sweat off his brow.
“We’ll need to keep him here for a day or two though,” informed the doctor. “You’re free to stay here at the hospital while we perform the tests.”
“That’s fine,” Miranda said, “Andrew and I can just split time here.” Andrew nodded.
Miranda turned to Andrew. “You should stay with him tonight, Andrew.”
“Yeah-yeah.” Andrew said. There was obvious annoyance in his voice
“Andrew! Jeez, this is our son we’re talking about!” scolded Miranda.
“Miranda, I actually have important things to do.”
“No! Andrew, you are in school. I am the primary-breadwinner in our household. No, it’s not even a household. It’s a trashy one-bedroom apartment. Andrew, you act like God is pelting every little hardship he can at you. All you do is skulk, and wait for things to get worse. And you use that as an excuse for your failure in schools, our financial situation, and now I bet you think the same thing about Isaac. You are staying with our son tonight. Makes sure he stays here doctor.” Miranda’s explosion took Andrew aback. As he was processing what happened, Miranda started to storm down the hall. Suddenly, she whipped back around.
“You’re lost Andrew.” She then turned the corner and was out of sight. Then, there was silence. Andrew stared blankly at the spot where Miranda stood.
“If you want to sleep Mr. Alexis, I can bring you a clean pillow or something for the waiting room.” offered the doctor, breaking the uneasy silence.
“Uhh, yeah that would be fine.” Andrew stammered.
Andrew walked over to the waiting room. The doctor handed him a pillow. As Andrew sat in the waiting room, he stared at the ceiling. He was relieved that Isaac had made it. But as Miranda had said, he was lost. He had no control of his life at all. As Andrew started to drift off to sleep, he wondered, “What are my priorities? Why am I alive? What did it all mean?”
***
Andrew began walking down the hall of the hospital. He had received a call from the doctor to come to the hospital immediately. He got into an elevator and pressed the button, taking him to floor six. As he rose, he began to get nervous. When the doors open, he sped down the empty corridors, twisting from one into the other, trying to reach Room 618. He turned the corner and found it. It was the sixth door on the left. His family was there: Miranda, her parents, his own parents and his younger brother. Each wore a blank expression on their face. Andrew walked towards them, and inquired what happened. They all just gestured towards the door. Nervously, Andrew opened the door.
Andrew awoke with beads of sweat rolling down his face. The doctor was grasping his shoulder. It was Isaac’s third day at the hospital. Both Miranda and Andrew were anxious to hear what was going on with Isaac.
“Any results doctor?”
“Yeah, we’ve run all the tests and we have the results. Do you want to call your wife?”
“Uhh, ok, yeah I’ll call Miranda.”
Andrew sat down anxiously tapping his foot while he waited for Miranda. When she arrived, the doctor began to speak.
“Well, we’ve run all the tests. And we have come to a conclusion.”
“Yes?” Andrew and Miranda both asked.
“Isaac tested positive for neutropenia. His white blood-cell count is extremely low. So basically, his immune system is effectively non-existent. What this means is that his body will not be able to stop any pathogens entering his body, or the growth of said pathogens.”
As the doctor continued, Andrew was unable to hear anything. He could not hear anything. All he could see were the lips of the doctor moving, speaking inaudible words. Miranda began speaking as well. A nurse arrived, and guided Miranda to another place in the hospital. Andrew and the doctor stood alone in the hall. The doctor began speaking again. Nothing.
“Mr. Alexis?”
Andrew snapped back into consciousness. “Yes?”
“Here sit down with me for a second.” The two sat down.

Andrew examined the doctor. He was middle-aged, perhaps in his early fifties. He looked good for his age, hair slowly graying and body still relatively well built. The doctor had an interesting aura about him.
“You know, Mr. Alexis? You seem awfully distracted or something of the sort. Is there anything that’s bothering you?”
Andrew sighed loudly. He was unsure whether to be quite honest with the doctor. He sat silently, avoiding eye contact with the doctor.
“Mr. Alexis, I’m a father of three: Two daughters, one son. All of them are adults now, and following their own careers, I’m extremely proud of them. I couldn’t imagine life without any one of them.” Andrew began to look out a window.
“ I almost lost my boy though. I remember those days more than any event in my life. He was six. At that time, I had my own practice. Unfortunately, we had just gone out of business, competition was too high. Anyway, I was unemployed at the time; it was May 1985 when I got a call from my wife. She said my son was in a car accident. He had broken so many bones on the right side of his body and his right lung was punctured. We had no idea if he was going to make it. All we had was faith.”
The doctor reached into his lab coat. He pulled out a coin, with a picture of the Virgin Mary. Below her, it read, “Our Lady of Good Health, Pray For Us”.
“Everyday we prayed, and just kept our hopes up. And he got better. Things got so much better. I got a job here at this hospital. And I made it a point to go to everyone of my son’s swim meets, my daughters dance recitals and volleyball games.”
Andrew was in awe. Here was a guy who had been in a position almost identical to his. And he had made it through.
“Wait, so what’s the secret to making it through?” Andrew blurted out.
“Well, like I said, unwavering faith and then one more thing: a good perspective on life. Things may get really bad, Mr. Alexis. That’s life. But think about all the blessings you have, all the people depending on you.”
Andrew thought about it. There was so much for which to be thankful. Plus, Miranda and Isaac were depending on him to make it through graduate school and find a solid job. There was no reason for Andrew to be pessimistic and give up on life.
“Well, I hope the best for you and your family, Mr. Alexis.” The doctor held out his hand to Andrew. Andrew grasped it and felt something in it. It was the coin that the doctor had previously shown him. The doctor smiled at Andrew, and began to walk away.
“Wait, what’s your name doctor?”
“Dr. Cross,” he said.
As Dr. Cross walked down the hall, Miranda came back carrying Isaac. Andrew walked up to his wife and kissed her. Then, Andrew looked at Isaac. Isaac smiled at him, staring back with big dark eyes. Andrew smiled back.