"Every Breath I Take" chapter 7

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone! :-)

Just got a new chapter from Cathy. Hope ya' enjoy. Her life is hectic right now, but she hopes to have a new chapter for us next weekend. 

As usual: I don't take any responsibility for medical accuracy in this story.

Chapter 7

The drive from LA and back home went smoothly and Josh pulled into his garage just before three o’clock in the afternoon. It didn’t take him long to get everything his suitcase, garment bag and his ventilator out of the car and into the bedroom where he unpacked. He started a load of laundry and after he’d sent texts to Andrew, Maggie and his boss, informing them he was back home, he decided to take an afternoon nap. He was tired from the drive and the past few days had drained him as well. 

Josh unhooked his portable ventilator from his tracheostomy tube and capped the tube. He plugged the portable ventilator into an outlet to charge the battery and after he’d pulled of his jeans and t-shirt he climbed into bed, dressed only in his black boxer briefs. He turned on his bedside ventilator, made sure the settings were correct and then he uncapped his tracheostomy tube and attached the ventilator tubes to it. As usual when he was going to sleep he attached a syringe to the inflation line and inflated the cuff of his tracheostomy tube. It was a relief to lay back against the pillows and the sheets felt cool and soft against his bare skin as he pulled the covers up to his chest.  It didn’t take Josh long to fall asleep in the comfort of his own bed.

When his alarm clock woke Josh up two hours later he felt better, but he was still not 100%. He sat up, leaning against the headboard, and grabbed his phone from the nightstand. There was a text from Andrew waiting for him. He was a little disappointed that there was no reply from Maggie, but he pushed those thoughts away for now. She had told him she had a busy week ahead with both school and work.

Hey buddy! How was your trip? Wanna come over to my place and watch the game tonight? It looks like it’s gonna be a good one!

Josh was tempted to accept Andrew’s invitation, but he didn’t feel like leaving his house. It had been a long few days and he had pushed himself more than usual to keep up while he was visiting his family. He’d wanted show them that he was in good shape and taking breaks and naps during the day was not a good way of doing that. “Ah, well…I’m back home now and I’ll just take it easy for a few days and I’ll be back to normal,” he thought as he typed a reply for Andrew.

Trip was good, but exhausting. I don’t feel like going anywhere tonight, I’ve done enough driving today. Would like to watch the game with you, how do you feel about coming here? I have beers in the fridge and I’m calling for a pizza for dinner. Company would be great.

Josh pushed ‘send’, put the phone back on the nightstand, he pulled the covers back and swung his long legs over the edge of the bed. Sitting on the edge of his bed Josh used the syringe that was still attached to the inflation line to deflate the cuff of his tracheostomy tube. Then he removed the syringe, detached the ventilator tube from his tracheostomy tube and capped it.

After a quick detour to the bathroom to relieve himself and brush his teeth Josh got dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. He finished getting dressed sitting down on the edge of his bed, pulling on a pair of thick woolen socks his grandmother had given him for Christmas.

He was about to get his portable ventilator when his iPhone vibrated with an incoming text. He grabbed it, disconnecting the charger in the process. As expected it was a text from Andrew.

Sure, I’ll be there! Game starts at 7, so I’ll be there a little before.

Josh replied quickly:

Great! See you soon! :-)

With that done Josh slid the phone into the pocket of his sweatpants and continued the procedure of turning on his portable ventilator and hooking the tubes up to his tracheostomy tube.

# - # - #

At 6:45 the doorbell chimed – it was Andrew with a six-pack of beers in tow.

“Hi Josh,” he greeted his friend as he walked into the house. “You do look tired.”

“Thanks man,” Josh replied wryly. “Just what I wanted to hear. I don’t feel too bad though, but I know I’ll need a few days to recharge my batteries and get back to normal. The trip was pretty hectic and I didn’t take the breaks I normally do during the day.”

“I know. Is it okay if I put this in your fridge?” Andrew asked as they walked into the kitchen, gesturing to the six-pack he was carrying.

“Of course. I haven’t ordered the pizza yet, I wasn’t sure what kind of toppings you prefer.”

“Steer clear of seafood toppings, apart from that I’m fine with anything. I’m not picky.”

“I know you’re not, I just figured that the one of us that will actually be able to taste the food should have a say in it. I’m too tired unhook the ventilator while I eat tonight, so the taste won’t matter to me.”

“Right, I didn’t think about that. Anything you hate and don’t want on your pizza, even if you can’t taste it?”

“Pineapple, I hate the consistency of it,” Josh said as he grabbed a couple of bottles of beer from the fridge and left ordering the pizza to Andrew.  A few minutes later they’d settled in on the couch.

“How was LA?” Andrew asked after he’d taken a swig of his beer.

“Good. Spent some time with my brother and parents, which was great. And Jeremy and I met up with a couple of my best friends from high school a couple of times.”

“Have you kept in touch with them?”

Josh shook his head. “No. We lost touch after we graduated; they moved away for college and I spent a lot of time going in and out of the hospital the first year after graduation. It was back then my lungs really took a turn for the worse and I got the trach and had to start using a ventilator at night.”

“I guess it’s easy to lose touch when everyone moves to different places to go to college and meet new people and you’re all caught up in classes and stuff… How’d you get back in touch with them?”

“They both moved back to LA recently and they and Jeremy have some mutual friends. It was great to see them again. I hope we manage to keep in touch now.”

“I haven’t kept in touch with my high school friends,” Andrew said. “But I guess part of that is because we moved around so much. I went to three different high schools, so…”

“Your dad was in the army, right?”

“Yep. We moved around a lot, depending on his deployments. My brother and I never really settled down anywhere.  We didn’t let ourselves get attached to people, since we knew we wouldn’t be there for long. It was easier to keep people at an arms length.”

“I totally get that. I think I would’ve done that too; it’s human nature I think. A way to protect yourself.”

“Yeah. College was the first time I stayed in one place for more than a couple of years.”

The doorbell ringing brought the conversation to a halt. Andrew stood up and Josh followed suit.

“I’ll get it,” Andrew said.

“What? No! I invited you over for pizza; it’s only fair that I buy. You brought beers. Here,” Josh pulled a couple of ten dollar bills out of his wallet and handed them to Andrew. He took them, realizing it was an argument he wouldn’t win.

When he returned to the living room, carrying the pizza, Josh had been to the kitchen to grab fresh beers for them both and he’d turned the TV on, since the game was about to start.

# - # - #

“So, have you heard from Maggie?” he asked Josh as he was putting his shoes on. Josh was leaning against the doorframe, watching him.

“No, I sent her a text to let her know I’m back, but she hasn’t replied. I dunno, I have a feeling I might not hear from her again.”

“I thought you said your date went well and you had already set up a second date. Why are you so negative now?”

Josh shrugged. “Just thinking she’s had some time to research and reconsider…”

“Don’t go down that road yet. Didn’t you say she’s busy this week, with work and school? Maybe she simply hasn’t seen your text because she’s busy? Give her a day or two.”

“I guess you have a point,” Josh agreed. “I’m just trying to be realistic and not set myself up for disappointment.”

“I get that, but don’t give up just yet, ok?”

Josh nodded. “I’ll try.”

# - # - #

The next day Josh was deeply immersed in a new project when the doorbell rang. He cursed out loud at the interruption; he was trying to get a grasp on the project and it was complicated with a detailed spec. He was tempted to just ignore whoever was at the door when he realized that it was probably the monthly delivery from the medical supply store. He got monthly deliveries of ventilator and trach supplies and it was the right time of the month for that to arrive. He headed for the front door with his ventilator in tow.

A few minutes later he was standing by his bed with a large cardboard box in front of him. He sorted through the contents and spread them on the bed. Everything had its place in his bathroom and he put things away carefully. When he reached a box labeled “Trach-Aide” he paused, frowning. It took him a second to remember he’d added them to his order the previous week.

He opened the box and got one out; it was basically a tiny white pillow with a strap attached to it. Josh carefully placed it under where his ventilator tubes connected to his tracheostomy tube and secured the strap around his neck. He liked it immediately; it supported the weight of the ventilator tubes much better than the trach ties he’d been wearing lately. When he looked into the mirror he was pleasantly surprised at how it looked. It blended with the white gauze dressing behind the neck plate of his tracheostomy tube and wasn’t very noticeable. “And comfort wins over vanity any day,” he thought.

# - # - #

“Can’t you get someone else to do it? I find it hard to believe that I’m the only one available,” Josh said with annoyance lacing his tone. He had just settled down behind his desk again when his boss had called him and asked him to go out to do a tech-support job immediately. One thing he had been adamant about when he was hired by his employer was that he was not doing on-site tech support for clients.

“We have three tech supports in the area. One is on vacation, the second is on sick leave after a car accident and this morning the third called me and said his wife is in labor. I wouldn’t ask you to do it if I had someone else available, Josh. You know that Chef Luigi’s is a very important client, they’re a big chain, and I need someone to get over there ASAP to fix the problem. At the moment you’re the only person in the area that’s got the skills and knowledge to do that.”

Josh remained silent and his boss continued his plea. “Please help me out, Josh. This is a major client and it’s important they get the issue fixed ASAP.”

The pleading tone of his boss’ voice finally won Josh over.

“Okay, I’ll do it. On one condition; you call and let them know about my condition and that I’ll show up with a ventilator attached to my tracheostomy tube.”

“No problem.  I’ll do that, Josh. And I owe you big time.”

“Yeah, you do,” Josh stated.

“I know. You’re a lifesaver.”

“Send me the address,” Josh said as he ended the call.

# - # - #

Josh stood by his car in the parking lot outside the restaurant; he was carrying his laptop and a few things he might need in a backpack and the wheelie bag with his ventilator was sitting next to his right leg.  He was dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a black shirt with his employer’s logo embroidered on the front. After standing there for a few moments Josh decided to get it over with and set off toward the entrance.

Once he stepped inside a smiling hostess greeted him.

“Mr. Langdon from Zinco Solutions I presume?” she asked. His boss had obviously made the promised call and if the company logo on his shirt didn’t give away his identity his ventilator sure did.

“That would be me. Josh Langdon,” he said with a smile, extending his right hand. She took it and shook it firmly.

“Thanks for coming out on such a short notice, Mr. Langdon. Janine Hadley, I’m the manager here.” Josh noticed she was staring at his ventilator tubes, but he decided to ignore it and get on with business.

“So, what can I do for you today?” Josh asked in a business-like tone.

“The system keeps freezing and some orders don’t get transferred from the iPads our waiters use to the printer in the kitchen. We’ve had to go back to the good old system with a notepad and paper for now, to make sure we don’t have customers waiting for food that haven’t even been ordered.”

“I see,” Josh said. “Where’s your main server?”

“In my office. Follow me.”

Josh followed her into the office and she left him to it, excusing herself to go back to the hostess stand. He unpacked his laptop and hooked it up to the main server.  It didn’t take him long to figure out what the problem was, but it would take a while to sort it out.  About an hour after she’d left him in her office Janine appeared in the doorway.

“Have you figured out what’s wrong, Mr. Langdon?” she asked.

“Yeah, I have. Unfortunately it’s going to take a couple of hours to sort it, there’s no quick fix I’m afraid.” Josh braced himself, fearing she might be unhappy that there was not five-minute-fix available.

“As long as it’s fixed and working when you’re done I’m happy. Can I get you anything? Coffee? Water? Soda?”

“A coffee would be great. Thanks,” Josh replied with a smile on his face. Things were going better than he’d feared and as he dove into the work he found he actually enjoyed it quite a lot. It was a surprisingly pleasant change from the routine of his usual work.

# - # - #

The rest of the week passed and Josh didn’t hear back from Maggie, which was a disappointment. As he ate his breakfast Monday morning Josh decided to send her another message.

Hi Maggie,
I’m back in town and I’m hoping we could get together sometime this week.  I owe you dinner, remember? My schedule is pretty open; so let me know what works for you. Have a great Monday. :-)
Josh

He felt like a nervous schoolboy when he pushed ‘send’, but figured he didn’t have anything to lose.


To be continued.