Children.....

I was suddenly yanked from slumber by the shrill of the telephone. Like all mothers, I was on my feet and in the next room before my eyes opened, multiple thoughts racing through my head one after another as if they were playing tag, "Where's the phone? I have to answer before the machine picks up. Follow-the-sound-follow-the-sound. Please don't let me collide with a chair," and the thoughts we keep shoving away, "Who?" and "Why?" Not complete thoughts because we don't want them answered.

I answer the phone. A voice so upset I can hardly recognize it says, "Mom, I'm all right."

I'm a bit rattled. That's what Nick said four years ago when he rolled his Bronco but nobody should be driving anywhere at 11pm. I mean, they should be in bed or at work. Mike's shift ends at 11:30, Cameron's ends at 2am and Nick's shift starts at 6:30am. Mike sometimes works later and occasionally comes home earlier but this is Cameron talking to me.

"You're all right where?" I wondered, fumbling for reality.
"At work." Again, a voice fighting for control.

It turns out that he was hit by a forklift and injured his arm. They got on the radio and called Mike who was there in a few short minutes and took him to the hospital. He called me because we have a deal. When he gets hurt, he calls me. That way, when he's not home when I wander the house in the wee sma's, I don't worry.

So now I'm waiting to hear what the extent is of his injury. I'm waiting up, of course, but this is one of the few times I can't seek oblivion in a book. I keep making stupid mistakes in my Sudoku book, and my stomach isn't feeling the best either. Mike called from the hospital a few minutes ago to find out when his last tetanus shot was and his uneducated diagnosis was either a bruised or broken arm. Let's hope for just a bruise!