Today Char was the most awake and alert that she’s been so far, and the swelling was down to a minimum so I didn’t think it would be a problem for our oldest son to visit. I still probably over-warned him about her facial injuries but she was still a little swollen last night and I worried it would upset him. I forgot that because of my age I am now stupid beyond belief, and he informed me that she looks just fine. His biggest concern was about how much the airbag burns bother her.

They spent about half an hour together before she fell back asleep. She managed to carry on a reasonable conversation with him and he didn’t seem bothered by all the stops and starts of it. I’m still not sure if that’s because she’s fatigued or if she’s in more pain than what the drugs they’re giving her can handle. But he was able to go home with his grandfather and let his brother and sister know that I’m not lying. She really is getting better. I’m not sure I’ll let him go back tomorrow because this afternoon she had the rods put into her leg and she’s back to being completely wiped out. I’m not sure if she’ll be up to trying to put on a good face for him. We’ll see.

The surgery went well, but she was still very groggy from it when I left tonight. Yeah, I’ll go home every night now. It’s what she wants. I’m not as freaked out as I was a few days ago, but when I am there I still sit in the corner while she’s asleep to watch her breathe. It occurred to me this evening that I probably do that more often than I realize even when she’s fine and home asleep in our own bed. And when she reads this she’s probably going to find that a little creepy.

Surprise, angel, now you know what I do when I can’t sleep. It’s not what you thought it was, is it?

There’s a long line of people who want to see her so I’m hoping that she’s not as groggy tomorrow and that she’s given enough medication for the pain to be able to start handling people. If she’s still in a lot of pain then I have to start getting more aggressive on her behalf because someone needs to assess her pain levels and do something about it. I have high hopes that won’t be necessary, though.