Yesterday started typically, as one would expect a few days into a stint of comprehensive distance learning. My alarm went off at seven. I poured yesterday’s remaining coffee from the pot into a mug and put it into the microwave replacing an older mug—from when, I couldn’t say. I fed and dressed both girls and started Eliana on her chrome book. By nine, Eliana was well into her lessons and Ivy had changed into full princess gear while I was about halfway through folding a pile of clothes from the dryer. My cellphone buzzed from an unknown number. I answered half expecting a robocall regarding my autos extended warranty. It was not.

It was Rob from Tim’s work telling me my husband had hurt his back in a rollover at a worksite and was now in an ambulance headed for the Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital—wherever the heck that is. I kept it together while gathering the girls and dropping them off at my brother’s house in Portland. I tried to keep my mind from racing as I crossed over the Columbia River into Washington State heading towards Vancouver. Worst case scenarios auditioned in my mind. A wooden ramp coming into our house, Tim out of work, me applying for full-timed jobs. OMG did I leave the kettle on the stove on? I remember filling the kettle and selecting a tea flavor, but couldn’t picture myself turning off the stove.

I parked the car and found my way to reception. It took a while to locate Tim because he was in a back hallway of the ER. “Near room 22” was his official location. I put on a second mask as I headed past the lobby bursting with waiting patients (Covid?). Sure enough, at the end of a maze of halls, I found Tim chillaxing on a gurney parked in a red-tape rectangle outside of a room marked 22. He was awake and told me he had already cleared his CT scans and was waiting for his X-rays. Thankfully all his injuries were contusions rather than breaks or dislocations. The nurse applied a lidocaine patch to his back and sent us out with a packet of information.

The kettle, thankfully, never made it to the stove from the sink—of course it didn’t. My kids were bubbly and refreshed from spending the day with their cousins. We ate a Papa Murphy’s pizza and honestly the day ended as typically as any other. Tim went to sleep and I am sitting here wondering what the heck just happened.