When Duty Calls

All Rights Reserved © 2000 by Faith DeVeaux

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the publisher.

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ISBN: 0-595-15162-0

ISBN: 978-1-4697-0118-9 (ebook)

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1

Read me another letter, mommy. Tomorrow, honey. It’s time for bed now.

***

October 6th, 1997 was the worst, but ultimately, became one of the best days in Anita Anderson’s life. It was the day that spurred the greatest changes in her life. Though finally living back in North Carolina where she had always hoped, and having a pretty easy life after having raised three children, there was something missing from her life. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but deep down she started feeling the stirrings of discontent. She also didn’t know what she would have to do to quell those feelings and be happy again.

It had been another regular day in the lives of Anita and her husband of over 30 years, Tom. Anita had been at home all day, cleaning house and running errands. Tom arrived home just after

5:00 p.m. from his part-time job. They ate dinner, then afterwards, while Anita read a novel, Tom sat in his recliner perusing the newspaper.

Anita had just become engrossed by the story when all of a sudden, she heard Tom beginning to breathe heavily. Next, she heard the rustling of the newspaper. Immediately after, she saw Tom clutch his chest. Anita dropped her book and leapt to Tom’s side. Fog seemed to distort her vision. Tom began to lean to his side; his face became beet red. In hysterics, she scurried to the phone and dialed 911. Then she ran back to Tom until the ambulance came.

The next five to ten minutes were a blur, but she could sense certain events at several points during this time. She knows she began performing CPR on Tom with instructions from the operator given over the phone. She remembers the ambulance arriving….the EMT’s checking Tom’s pulse….the shock…Tom being put on the ambu-lance…Anita being told to follow them in her own car….

The hospital was a maze of lights and obstacles. Anita was confused by her emotions, as well as all of the noise that was going on around her. It was late, and she was tired. She could still hear a voice, her voice, frantically screaming and panting heavily with exhaustion. Reaching out and seeing her hands touch Tom, yet not feeling him. All of a sudden, everything looked bleak.

Tom was rushed directly into the emergency room. He received emergency bypass surgery. Due to complications following the surgery, Tom fell into a coma. The news was devastating to Anita.

When Tom’s condition was stabilized, he was brought into a hospital room for further tests and observation. Anita stood conferring with a doctor as Tom was transported by her. She wanted to rush toward him, but the doctor held her back.

Calm down, Mrs. Anderson, please, he said.

I’ve got to see him! Anita cried. It was all she could do to hold back her tears. Suddenly, she realized that she hadn’t told her children what was happening. She desperately wanted them with her. She asked the doctor, Where’s your nearest phone?

Anita realized she must be looking and sounding like a madwoman. The doctor pointed down the hall. She ran to the phone and immediately started dialing her daughter’s phone number.

In Texas, Kathryn, Tom and Anita’s daughter, lay sleeping, snuggled under floral sheets and a matching comforter. Though the phone was right next to her on the bed, she ignored it. Her answering machine picked up.

Kathryn, this is your mother. Something has happened to your father… Kathryn opened one eye and focused it on the phone, listening to the message.

Your father has had a heart…

Kathryn lunged at the phone. She spoke to Anita for a few frantic minutes, then immediately made arrangements to come home.

In Georgia, Tom Anderson III, Tom and Anita’s youngest son, was asleep on his couch, with the television on. Food wrappers were on the coffee table in front of him. Tommy didn’t hear the phone ring. He thought he was dreaming when he heard his mother’s voice. Then he suddenly realized he wasn’t dreaming.

Tommy, this is mom. Your dad is in the hospital…

Tommy immediately picked up the phone. He couldn’t believe his ears. He stammered a question, and Anita had to explain three times what had happened. The more she had to explain, the more upset she became. She finally just told him to come home and see for himself what happened.

The hardest call she had to make was to her oldest child, Randy. There had always been tension between Randy and Tom, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear his reaction. Nonetheless, she knew she had to call him. She took a deep breath and dialed his phone number.

In Illinois, Randy Anderson slept on a fold-out bed in a single apartment. When the phone rang, he rolled over and covered his ears. It continued to ring, then he heard his phone message begin

to play. Next, he heard his mother’s voice.

Randy, this is your mother. Your father, Tom, has—

Randy quickly rolled over and answered the phone. Anita started quickly telling him what was going on with Tom. He was shocked. To her surprise and relief, he was sorrowful, and promised to get home as soon as possible. She wanted to believe it, but wasn’t counting on it.

Anita’s mind raced during the drive home. Her nerves were frazzled. She searched for reasons why Tom would fall ill. Maybe it was his diet. Maybe it was the fact that he was a workaholic.

Anita returned home to find the atmosphere in the house the way she felt—cold and stale. Her home didn’t feel like itself anymore. It felt invaded. She could not understand how something like this could happen to them.

She needed to do something to make herself feel better. Food wouldn’t work. She had lost her appetite. Shopping was out of the question. This wasn’t something that could be relieved so easily. She wanted to maintain her connection with Tom. Her children would be with her by tomorrow afternoon, but she couldn’t wait until then.

A bit later, Anita went into Tom’s study. It was the only place in the house that was truly just his, and she could feel his presence there. She also knew that he was a pack rat, and would probably have his most precious possessions in there.

Sure enough, the first things she found were his old notebooks and manuals from when he fought in Vietnam. Flipping through the old olive green binder, she saw the paperwork that Tom referred to in his letters when he used to write home. She wasn’t surprised that he still had them. She was surprised that they just sat out on his bookshelf, among all of his other books. She kept flipping through them, looking at his handwriting, reading the headings of the memos, and looking at the maps.

She snapped back to reality when she heard the phone ring. Vera, Tom’s sister, was on the line. She was absolutely frantic. Anita pushed aside how good she was feeling and concentrated on calming Vera down. Anita explained what the doctor had told her thus far, and assured her that she would keep in contact and would notify her immediately should there be any changes. This succeeded in making Vera feel better. One last explanation to Vera about why she was at home and not at the hospital—to gather some personal effects for Tom—and she was able to hang up.

Anita was shaken up after speaking with Vera. Not that they didn’t get along; quite the contrary. It’s just that this was the first glimpse of what was to come as word spread through the family of Tom’s illness. Everyone would demand answers to question she wasn’t sure she could answer. She began to wonder if she really had the strength to deal with her own feelings, stay strong for Tom and her children, and support her extended family.

Next, she realized that she needed to call Michael, Tom’s younger brother. Besides Vera, he was Tom’s only living close relative. Tom would definitely want him to know if something had happened to him. The call went just as quickly and frantically as with all the rest. She could hear him talking to his wife, Laura, in the background. After a few minutes, she hung up.

Wrestling with all of these different tasks was already exhausting her. She wasn’t sure if she would continue to have the strength to hold everybody else up. She knew that she would have to find a way to do it. She also knew that she couldn’t do it alone. She also knew that she needed another resource upon which to draw.

2

Looking back, it always seemed to Anita that fate brought she and Tom together, the way everything fell into place. It was almost too easy. Events progressed so smoothly, that it almost seemed pointless to fight it. They were both singing in a choir, and at rehearsals Anita didn’t even notice Tom until he talked out of turn one too many times, irritating her so badly that she told him to shut up. Not long after that incident, he was taking her out to dinner, fixing her television set, making repairs around her apartment….

There was something special about this young man. He was insightful,