a big fish slithers and lolls

she had been tossing and turning for a while. she knew it was too early to be awake. she felt it. so she tunneled back into the black-grey dimness of unconscious. until the car with an abrasive muffler drove by. an eye squinted open. she picked up her phone. ugh. only 1:47am. almost 6 hours of sleep. she was awake.

she arrived at work sometime before 4am, turned on a podcast and began immediately to lose herself in the work. hours flew by. the darkness faded slowly into light. around 6 her boss came in, surprised to see her but not shocked.

she left to get chicken mcgriddles and a mango smoothie at 8. 

at 11:30 she forced herself to leave her computer for lunch. pressure was mounting. would she really finish today? press on anyway, she resolved. by 2 she was correcting last minute edits and putting the last photos into place. by 2:45 she printed the first copy. relief. 

back home to take her dad to his 'jewish' cardiologist. "you don't have to say jewish, every time," she told her mom. "i want you to remember the story!" protested her mother, alluding to the time before when her dad had told the doctor that he was from one of the 10 lost tribes of Israel.

the appointment was at 3:30 and she got home by 3. her dad needed some bathroom time so she took the opportunity too.  her mom drove her car up beside the house and she loaded the wheelchair into the back, heading back to wheel her dad (in a different wheel chair) to the car. "i wonder if it will be easier for him to get into the back," she wondered. she asked her dad what he thought.  he thought it was a good idea.

but instead of standing up and turning around and sitting down, he tried climbing in head first. a big kerfuffle ensued. he was stuck in a horizontal position and could not right himself. he floundered like a big fish. she tried to help, moving his feet into better positions, hoisting up his hips by the pants trying to get him into a maneuverable position. sometimes it seemed like it would almost work. but the lolling fish could not be righted. he was quickly losing strength and at one point they had him pinned between the car and the wheel chair--couldn't go forward, couldn't go back. must slither to the ground. they edged the wheel chair away and lowered him down, leaning him against her own leg. but now his leg was bent painfully and lodged under the car and against the sidewalk. they hasted to free it, and somehow managed to at the same time telling the dr's office who were on speaker phone that they would be late. the receptionist didn't seem to notice his moans or their frantic words to each other.

sweat was dripping down her brow and her heart was beating like a hammer.  her dad was on the ground leaning against her leg. she shifted him to lean against the car so she could sit and catch her breath. her mother was at the road flagging down help. a man on a scooter stopped. "are you ok?" she heard him ask. he told them he lifts dead weights. he dead lifted the giant fish and flopped him into the car. still horizontal. she ran around the other side of the car, grabbed her dad's hands and heaved while the nice man ho'ed with her dad's feet. somehow he was in. he said his name was mark and that he lived just down the road.

at the dr's office he tried to get out of the car and onto the wheel chair but they were dangerously close to another flopping sliding fish scenario. they realized they were beat. but he was loathe to quit trying. somehow they got him back into the car. the receptionist, always calling at the most desperate of moments called to say they were 30 minutes late and would have to reschedule. her mom was quick to agree.

back at the house they faced another wheel chair transfer. her mom was quick to spot the construction guy across the street and recruited him to the cause. "i'm not an professional in getting people in and out of vehicles," the man was saying as he walked up. "oh that's not a thing in construction?" she asked with a smirk. construction man was quite good. he hook his arms under her dad's pits and in an embrace, they stood and edged to the wheel chair. success. her dad joked about the man having to hold his breath. they all felt relief.

after he was tucked into bed, totally exhausted they sat outside eating together and discussing the merits and disadvantages to the handy dart service.