Part 8 That Day

My brother in-law had spent the last 5 weeks in the hospital with us. Considering that things looked stable and the fact that he hadn't left the hospital for over a month, he chose to spend the weekend back in Miami. Things were looking good the night before. When I awoke, we noticed that the situation has declined since the previous night. I slept in the room overnight but the nurses seemed in control. However Saguite was extremely concerned and her internal instinct told her that something was very wrong. I had experienced so many ups and downs that I was somewhat less panicked. Over the next hour, things started to get worse and a crisis began..again. Fortunately, Nechama's doctor was close by and came up quickly. Doctors from the ICU started to pour into Nechama's room. I stood right outside the room. Saguite went into the visitor lounge to say tehillim. I called a close friend who started a tehillim chain call. There were close to 20 people in Nechama's room. It was not a pretty site and things were getting worse. The nurses were literally running in the hall, tripping over themselves and bumping into one another. This is just one display of their dedication to Nechama. In all my weeks there, I had never seen anything like this. There was a panic on the floor. And I had witnessed things and experienced things which no one should ever see. I called Dr. Zev, a close friend, who was in Israel. I told him that I did not need any medical any medical advice this time. I just needed him to daven. He said that he was in Sfat and just came back from Amuka where he and his family were davening for Nechama. As I stood there, Dr. K walked into the hall and shook her head back and forth. I said "Zev, she's dead."And part of me died with her that day.