the day after Dad died

I was fetching something from the kitchen pantry. mysteriously a heavy meat platter & another outsize plate were dislodgd from the uppermost shelf & came crashing down on my head. I knew instantly that I was hurt & ran into the bathroom. seeing blood I washd it off but when I lookd back in the mirror I saw it was still gushing. I immediately felt as if I'd be joining my father. but somehow I remaind lucid enuf to press a towel against the rip in my scalp & instruct my frantic mother to call saintly neighbor Lenny D'Agostino. I sat calmly in a chair breathing deeply & keeping the towel tight against the wound. Lenny & his son Tony came in an instant & I was quickly at the same e.r. where Dad had just been.

I was able to "check in" before I lost consciousness. when I came to there was an IV in one arm & another scary tube in the other. someone probd the wound for pottery shards & I was wheeld into a cat scan. after it was determined there was no internal bleeding the wound had to be closd. a numbing lotion was applied to my pate. after a bit the chief e.r. doc instructd someone on where to staple the gash. I wasn't prepard for the pain of the staples going into my skull. after 5 were put in I saw the instrument used -- just like Dad's Black & Decker. finally I was releasd. I was in the hospital for 4 hours. we had to stop at Walgreen's for over-the-counter meds. the pharmacist instructd me -- who disdains pills -- to take 4 Motrin when I got home. "you'll thank me in the morning." he was right: I woke sans headache. but I had only one day to rest before the funeral.

staples in the head don't go all the way down to flesh. so I had a bit of a Frankenstein look. we only had one hour for visitation before going to the cemetery. there was a large crowd who came to pay respects & only one mentiond to me that there was blood on my head. "I know" I told the biddy. "it's nothing."