Chapter 1.Part 3:

Continued from part 2
We had fallen into a horrible pattern of accommodating our lives and actions around the pain; it had become an uninvited third party in our home and we seemed powerless to evict it.

Our fragile hold on the comfortable life we were used to finally come to a crashing halt early in July, two months after that emergency trip to the hospital. Waves of pain started ripping through Hal's body on a Friday night and continued off and on right through to Monday morning. He'd fall asleep for a while, then he'd waken and groan, "Oh no," as fresh waves tore through him. I held him and stroked him until he fell into an exhausted sleep.

Finally, finally, I faced up to the fact that this terrible thing was not going to go away and we had to stop waiting for the family doctor to make it right.

At dawn on Monday morning I crept down the hall to the study to find the name and phone number of the specialist he was to see in two months. I'd never noticed before how superbly organized Hal was; there were labels on everything and I quickly found the appointment calendar kept in a binder on his desk. Then I paced up and down the hall to wait for the doctor's office to open, which I hoped would be at nine o'clock.

Hal fell into a deep, quiet sleep around six o'clock. I dressed and tiptoed downstairs to continue pacing until I could try reaching the office secretary.
Exactly at nine, the phone rang and it was our accountant calling with a couple of questions. I remember calmly answering and chatting briefly without mentioning the hell we had gone through over the weekend

I was shaky with relief when the doctor's secretary answered on the first ring. Astonishingly the doctor was standing by the desk and took the phone from her. I told him what had happened, that Hal had been in violent pain since Friday night, no he hadn't vomited but he hadn't eaten anything either, but he couldn't go much longer without help. The doctor's office was located in a general hospital within walking distance from our house; he told me to bring Hal right over to the Emergency department where one of his residents would be alerted to see him immediately.

My relief was indescribable. At last we were going to get this straightened out. I raced upstairs and gently woke Hal.
"Honey, I just spoke to Doctor Kroll and he wants to see you at Wellesley emergency right away."

Hal was dazed from lack of sleep, but he pushed back the covers and unsteadily got to his feet.

"Should I take a shower first? What should I wear?"

I took over. "Just wash and brush your teeth and put on clothes that will be easy to remove."

This seemed to take forever and I paced back and forth, terrified he would have more violent pain before we reached the hospital.

We left the house perfectly calm and organized, but when I drove the car around the block near the hospital looking for a free parking spot, Hal jolted me back to reality by reminding me he wasn't capable of a stroll and why not live recklessly and pay at the nearby hospital parking lot.
Continued in part 4