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Rob glanced out the window at the beautiful view of the river surrounded by new spring foliage and the city of Cedar Rapids in the distance, with its jagged skyline void of the towering sky scrapers he was used to seeing. There was a peace about it that was missing in Chicago, a wonderful and vibrant city, but one that never seemed to relax. He was eagerly anticipating capturing a little of that peace and a good night’s sleep. After spending three nights in the ICU waiting room, a real bed and a hot shower were going to revitalize him. “Thank God Dad has rallied,” Rob whispered under his breath, a combination of a sigh of relief and a prayer.
The intensity of the last three days did not fit with Rob’s usual method for handling difficult situations. He had to get away from the problem, ponder it, and develop a plan. He had not been able to do that this time. If there was a chance his dad was not going to make it, he wanted to be there. His mother had died before he could get to her. He didn’t want that to happen again. Now that his dad was stable and was expected to live, Rob needed to take a break and try to regain an objective perspective.
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Locating the apartment, he carefully opened the door and was surprised to see how bright and cheery it was. The walls were gold with white trim. Bright orange and chocolate brown accents in the chairs, pillows, and wall decorations looked like something out of a decorating magazine. Over the sofa was a folk art painting of his dad’s beloved Hawkeyes playing in Kinnick Stadium. This apartment did not look at all like something his mom would put together. It was way too cheery. Moving into the equally well-decorated bedroom, he threw his bag on a chair and headed for the hot shower he had been anticipating, then fell into bed.
Twelve hours later, Rob awoke to the sun beginning to climb up over the horizon, its orange and gold framed by the window much like a perfectly matching piece of art for the color scheme in his dad’s apartment. He moved from the bedroom to the little kitchen to look for some coffee and was pleasantly surprised to find a fresh bag of Starbucks French Roast. As he waited for the coffee to brew, Rob realized he had no idea what his dad was really all about these days. His mom had always bought Maxwell House. She would never have even considered something else.
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