Have you ever thought that one phone call could  be a life or death situation?

Never I would think that in a matter of minutes you could find yourself laughing and then crying.  My uncle and I are roughly close. Since I was young my uncle use to take care of me because my parents went to work. We would do everything together. There was not one day where my uncle never asked for me. My uncle works on cars, so every time the sun was shinning  we were always outside. I would be watching him fix his car or find ways to make his car exceptional. My uncle was always there for me. When I was sick at school, no matter what he was doing he would drop anything and everything to come get me.

It all started one day when I was running in the basement, and when I came up only my mom was there. I asked her where  Dad and Eton (one of my brothers) were. She told me that they went to the hospital for my uncle. My heart released, and in my mind I was thinking what could have happened; I just saw him two days ago. I called my dad;no answer. Ten minutes later my  brother called and said to call my cousin to come pick up my mom and I so we could go see my uncle. When my cousin came we jumped in the car and off we went. In the car I was contemplative about my dad because my dad only has one brother and no one else.

When we walked into Ellis Hospital emergency section, my mom asked for Badi, which is my uncle’s name. The nurse took us to him, and I looked through the door. I saw my uncle laying on the bed with his eye close and not moving nor talking.  That’s when I looked at my dad; tears ran down his face like a waterfall. I deliberated  for a quick few seconds if  my uncle had really just passed away. But no, there was no way. As I walked more into the room there were two ambulance people there, and they had a stretcher right next to them. Where could they be taking him? Is my uncle really gone?   That’s all that went through my head. As they put him on the stretcher one of the ambulance people told my dad that they were going to take him to Albany Medical Hospital instead. When they rolled him out my dad started crying in addition. My mom tried asking him what happened and what the doctors said, but nothing came out. My dad knew that not all of us could go to the hospital, so he left me and my brother at my grandma’s house.

My dad, my mom and cousin went to the hospital. As we walked in my grandma was crying because that was her son. As I walked up to her to give her a hug, my eyes started to water. There was no holding back because, for all we knew, that was the last time I was going to see him. It was a Sunday, and the next day  was school, but that was the last thing on my mind. As I went to go take a nap the doorbell rang; it was family members, and they were all there to ask about my uncle. All they  asked were questions that I couldn’t answer, wistfully. It was 2:00 AM and my parents were still not there. I couldn’t sleep at all. All I could think about was my uncle. At 3:00 AM my parents came, and the first thing I asked them was how was he; my dad couldn’t answer the question, so I didn’t asked again.

The next day I only had two hours of sleep, and when I woke up I had a headache, so I stayed home. On the same day my parents woke up early to go see my uncle. I couldn’t go because of my headache. In my dad’s eyes all I could see is stress and sadness, but mostly apprehension. They left around 8:00 AM and didn’t get back until 4:00 PM. When my dad walked through the door, he didn’t look as apprehensive  or heartbroken as before when he left. It looked like there was good news, so I asked him if  everything was average.  He told me I had to go see him. In my heart I thought, why would I have to go see him.. is this going to be the last time?

The days went by until Saturday came. It was the day I was going to see him. As my brother, my dad and I jumped into the car, my heart started to race like it was in a race car, and if I lost it was going to be the end. We pulled up, and there it was, the sign that said Albany Medical Hospital. As we walked through the hallways, I felt as if I didn’t want to see him because if I did  I was going to sob. As we turned around the curve  there it was, the room numbered 236. My dad walked in first, then me. As I saw him I started to cry. Then my uncle started to cry, which surprised me. I moved closer and closer to him and gave him a hug. It felt as if my whole body was filled with lava, and everytime I wanted to say  something my mouth would just hurt with discomfort. We stayed there until my dad got hungry. We said our goodbyes and off we went. In the car, all I could now think about was how were we going to tell my older brother. My older brother is in the Marines and had to work for two weeks in Newburgh. He called everyday, but no one told him because we didn’t want him to come home and leave work. Afterwards, it turned out that my uncle had a stroke and everything was going to be ok.

Two weeks or so being in and out of Albany Medical Hospital, it was finally time for him to go to Sunnyview Rehab Hospital. Because my uncle had a  stroke, he couldn’t talk, and his right hand and leg could not move. When we first walked in the lady at the the front desk was very nice; you could tell she like her job. As we went into his room he looked mournful. So my dad asked him what was amiss. He pointed to the pictures. When we saw the pictures it was with his kids, my cousins. It been about three weeks since he had seen his kids. He had three kids, one named Shanti, six years old, one boy named Ramnath, five years old, and lastly one girl named Sandy, who was only a couple months old. Almost  everyday my dad would go and bring them to see him. That’s when he would always have a smile on his face. Shanti and Ramnath would always run up and down the hallways like a race track. Everytime it was nice out we would take him outside, and they would be running around all over the place.

Now after one to two months of therapy we could finally take him home for a day. We were going to do something enormous. We got the whole family and did a barbeque. It was all entertaining, and he was so overjoyed to see everyone. Until we had to take him back. Now after another month of therapy he could walk and talk a little here and there. Now all we had to do was wait for was when he was going to get discharged. I knew this day would be the most happiest day of my life and his life too because he hated Sunnyview. He came to Sunnyview Rehab Hospital  in a wheelchair and now he was going to walk out on his feet.

Here it was the day he would leave. Everyone was outside Sunnyview waiting while my dad and I went to go get him. He had no idea what was coming. As soon as we walked out everyone cheered and cried with happiness. He was finally out, and everything was going to be normal again. Now my dad had the biggest smile on his face knowing that his brother was finally out of the hospital.

My uncle is a fighter; he had been through a lot, and no matter what's going on he would always still be there for me or anyone. And he is still pushing through. My uncle inspired me by showing me that no matter what happens there is always a light behind all the darkness; one day you will find it.

-Tresha Behari