"Ecstatic" was the best way to describe how I was feeling. I was standing rigidly at my front door waving goodbye to my grandparents, whom I live with, as they set off for their three weeks holiday in paradise. They were flying off from Glasgow airport in four hours time to board a ship and cruise the Caribbean. All week leading up to their holiday I couldn't wait until they were away. Perfect peace and quite, living in tranquillity, cooking my own meals, well if you call phoning for a pizza or a Chinese cooking then it was definitely looking up for me. I was also looking forward to the party that I was organising that evening for my friends and I. As they drove away up the street the grin on my face was definitely getting bigger. But I had no time to stand about and stare I had a party to prepare.
Matti
English: mounted Tourist-Police officers in Petra,...
A senior police officer of the Hamburg police on a...Blasting away in the background was the radio, while I was tidying up the house and setting up for the most outrageous party ever. The time was about two o'clock and I had just finished doing all the preparation for the party and just as I sat down to have my lunch, the news on the radio came on. The headline that caught my attention was "A major accident has occurred on one of the busiest roads in Glasgow." This made me stop and think. I then thought to myself I hope my gran and grandad are not late to the airport or they may miss their flight. About half an hour later my music was still blasting away but there was an outrageously sharp knock at the door and I thought to myself that it must be one of the old fuddy-duddy neighbours complaining about the brilliant music again. So I turned the music down and answered the door. As I opened the door there was two tall smartly dressed police officers. One of them in a low, quiet tone said, "Are You Master Christopher Mutter. The grandson of Catherine and Andrew Mutter". I tried to say yes but nothing came out, so I nodded slowly. I stumbled a little and my heart froze solid like a stone. I invited the two officers into the living room where they told me to sit down. They then said that my granparents had been in a major car accident where there was an eight car pile up. The other officer then said that they were in a serious condition and fire fighters were still working on trying to free them. I could not believe what I was hearing. It all seemed like a joke. Water was coming from my eyes, I was crying like a hose spraying water. I think I had an attack of anxiety. I felt as if someone had ripped my heart out of my chest.
Lights flashing wildly like a nightclub and the defining sound of the siren was blasting while I sat in the back of the police car as the officers took me to the Glasgow hospital where I would wait for my grandparents to be brought to. On the way to the hospital the police officers tried to make conversation but I was in no mood for chitchat. I thought my grandparents might possibly be dead. The two people in my life that meant the most to me could be dead and this thought just made my eyes flood with tears. The police officer put his hand round me but this just made me feel uncomfortable. My head was thumping like a hammer hitting a nail. I didn't know what to think as my feelings were all over the place.
Ten minutes had past and I was sitting in the hospital accident and emergency reception, half an hour had past, then an hour, and then two hours. It was completely ridiculous where were they? Just as I went up to the reception desk to speak to the small, old lady I heard a lot of people rushing through the double doors, it was like an elephant stampede in the jungle. Thick, red blood was everywhere. I said to the receptionist "Is that them, is it, is that my grandparents!" "Yes, but you can't see them they are both away to the theatre for major surgery" was the sympathetic reply I got from the receptionist. She then thoughtfully asked if I would like a drink but would just bring it back up the way I was feeling.
I was sitting patiently in the hospital reception and there was a little girl who was sitting next to me crying her heart out. She was waiting for her dad whom had broken his arm in a football match and, suddenly so out of character, I turned and shouted at her, "Shut up, shut up, you are crying over a little brake and my grandparents are lying in a hospital bed in a critical state knocking on death's door, shut up!" At this point I completely broke down. I couldn't think straight, I felt sick and very lonely. I had a variety of feelings from worry, pain and fear to anger, shock and frustration. Frustration because a further two hours had dragged by and I had not been informed of any thing going on. I was so emotionally drained.
Another feeling that made the situation worse was loneliness. I had no relatives to help me get through this horrific time. They were on holiday and I could not get in contact with them. I had to take what had happened all in and deal with it all on my own. This was difficult for me and I was at the stage where in my mind I wished I were dead. I felt if my gran and granddad died what was here for me. They mean everything to me.
Surprisingly I fell asleep in the room where I had been put supposedly to have time alone but I think it was so that I wouldn't cause any more disturbances in the reception area. As cold hands touched my face, alarmed that I was, I jumped up and said, "Are the okay, is there any news yet?" A young pretty nurse said "Shooooosh, don't panic, your grandparents are stable but critical. You can go and see them if you want in the intensive care unit, where they have been moved to." Well I tell you I felt that I had just been given my christmas and my birthday all at once. I couldn't cry as I had no tears left inside me but I just had the whole world lift off of my shoulders.
Bleep, Bleep, Bleep, Bleep, the machines went continuously. My grandparents were side by. I have never seen so many tubes in my life. They looked awful, worse than my sister in the morning.
Well day in day out I sat with both of them. With fear of knowing they may not pull through and this killed me, together they both owned all of my heart and if anything had happened to them it would kill me mentally. Every minute of every day my heartbeat got a bit faster after each beat.
Time paid off. Slowly my heart mended as they recovered. Jokingly I told them how much peace and quite I would get if they did die but I knew deep down they were my world, my pride and joy and my heart. I love them both dearly, that dearly that I even missed the party and didn't even have the chance to tell people that it was cancelled As I faced the trauma of my grandparents close to death, I learned the reality of life and how easy it is for someone to drop down dead at any point. So now I feel it is very important to constantly tell the people I love that I actually love them. I also tell them how important they are to me and that I appreciate them. I have also learned life is to short to fallout. You should always live life to the maximum.
Bleep Drum Kit
bleeps.gr
Jim's mother (far right), maternal grandparents, a...