You've cried. You've laughed. You've wondered. You've wanted more. We know that Dad's stay at the TraumaCondo has you thinking about all kinds of things. [... You can admit it ... some of you are dazed about what happens after your own race is over ... others of you are challenged to change your own daily routine to make a difference ... yet some of you are simply lost ... and that's okay, too ...]
This evening, we take a behind-the-scenes look at the TraumaCondo, a place where shattered lives are slowly put back together by "blessed hands." Come take a look ... and try to keep up.
Floor One = SafeHaven: You have seen Our Little Corner and the Rhea Chapel, both of which are located on the SafeHaven. On weekdays, it sounds like an airport hub or hotel lobby ... primarily due to the scheduled surgeries. On weekends, it sounds a little more eerie. The cries, sighs and good-byes make it very difficult to process your own reason for visiting this place. The SafeHaven Ladies greet every visitor with a smile ... no matter what your walk in life. One of the regulars, Ms. Scissors, had even heard about Dad before I shared our story. Whoa?!?!
Floor Two = CribColony: This place offers you a place to seek some refuge for your blistering eyes. I told you earlier that it's too hard to sleep on those red, stinky, three-seat couches on the SafeHaven. [The best explanation I have for the stench is that "those" couches have one purpose ... to sit on ... while the good-smelling couches in our homes do not get as much (or as diverse) "bottom" exposure. Make sense?] Well, CribColony offers nice, pleather, "can't seem to recline all the way back" chairs ( ... SleepKnots ... ) for your cribbing pleasure.
You can also find the doorway to the GoldenArchesCafe on this level. Tell me, does that make sense? The GoldenArchesCafe located in a TraumaCondo? It's a lot like having a state-of-art video gameroom built in the school library. Go figure.
Floor Ten = HurtUnits: Yep, this is where Dad (and us) have been hanging out since the first day of the ViolentSilence. First, the two waiting rooms. The ColdRoom is near the main entrance right off the elevators. Maximum temperature = 58 degrees. That's good for me, bad for Mom. There are only six SleepKnot chairs in this room. There are HUGE (sarcasm) lockers to make your extended stay feel welcome.
The StinkRoom is on the other side of the floor. It is closed off, no ventilation, minimum temperature = 100 degrees. There about 20 SleepKnot chairs in this room. Did I say that it smelled? [That's a good celebrity deathmatch ... the StinkRoom versus the First Floor Stinky Chairs ... ] "Family consult" -- where we first met Dr. Trauma -- is a place where the facts are delivered to the LeftOvers, the ones left behind to hurt and wonder why.
I have to tell you, there are some really, really broken people on this floor ... both patients and visitors. Of the patients we have seen, there are a lot of critical injuries caused by Donorcycles, those two-wheeled vehicles that some call motorcycles. Of the the visitors, I've met LortabLady (who needs medical assistance to get through the tragic shooting of her boyfriend), LightSheepGirl (who has been ostracized from her family because she found God), and LonelyGuy (who spends every minute possible by his dad's side ... a dad with whom he recently reconciled).
The signs throughout the HurtUnit tell you what you can and cannot do ... they tell you where to go ... and when to go ...
Next time, we look at more behind-the-scenes, including a close look at the parking lot, the elevators, and LifeMachines.
Short story is that GA1 was one of the first at the scene. He was gone by the time I got there. As I stood on my tiptoes, calves burning from their desire to lift me up to view my Dad, I was in my own world. The blaring red lights, the humming power generators, and the screaming JawMachine tried to interrupt my violent silence.
