...that's a lot of "3"s...!!
Turns out, at some point last night, I locked KNicole out of my room. Oops. While she was in the shower. Double oops. She went downstairs in my robe, hung out with the lady at the front desk, and got her to give her a spare key to get into my room, and woke me up to let me know what I'd done. We got very, very little sleep. Mistake number 1.
Needless to say, I turned off the alarm that went off for us to get up and have breakfast. Mistake number 2.
She took forever to pack, and we were rushed getting to the airport. So much so, that we got off the metro at Chinatown so we could catch a cab. Uber rushed. Mistake number 3.
We get her boarding pass - last minute, she gets through security with enough time to make the plane. Unfortunately, there wasn't any room for her rolling bag - so she had to check it. Mistake number 4.
She texts me to let me know she's on the plane, and I head back to TMH.
I had originally planned on getting to TMH, changing into work clothes, and heading on to work. But I was gross from so little sleep, so I decided to go ahead and shower first. At the same time the lady janitor was cleaning the bathroom. My stall was a steamy mess of chemicals and bleach. I started choking, so she opened the windows and decided to wait until I was done showering to finish.
I got to work where I was informed that there were last minute add-ons to the tour, so I would need to go help. (15 people for every 1 intern). We stand in line under Cannon FOREVER because people don't know how to go through security, and right as our group gets through, I get a text from KNicole.
She's in the hospital. She had a panic attack on the plane, and they had taken her to a hospital in Charlotte, NC on a stretcher.
I almost had a panic attack right there in the tunnel from Cannon to the Capitol. I apologized to our group, and called her. She'd been sedated, but she was fighting it, because she doesn't like not being in control. I did my best to not upset her, but my heart was about to leap out of my chest and I was doing my best to breathe.
I got off the phone with her and called Nom, who was trying to be tough. There really wasn't anything any of us could do at that point and Dad was in meetings...man oh man.
I skipped the video in the Capitol Visitor's Center (CVC), and texted her.
As I was calming down, I look up and who do I see but Dr. Stewart from Commerce?! I walked up behind her and whispered our "secret word" in her ear. She jumped (it's not a word you'd normally hear in the United States Capitol), and we had a few minutes to catch up. That was fun. What was not fun was meeting the woman that issues my checks and having her tell me there probably wasn't enough money left in the budget to hire me back on in the Writing Center when I return to Texas.
Whatever. I had bigger problems right then. Like a sister. In a hospital. In freaking North Carolina.
I met up with the group, and we finished the tour. There was the CUTEST baby on the tour, his name was Dylan, and we flirted the entire tour.
After the tour, I took pictures of everyone sitting in Mr. Hall's chair (including baby Dylan), and things calmed down enough for me to find out United had re-scheduled KNicole's connecting flight to DFW, and would be sending a car to the hospital to get her back to the airport.
Only the traffic was bad, and she missed the connection. And her credit cards were on the bag she'd checked that was on its way to DFW.
Luckily, they were able to schedule her for the last flight of the night, and the angel woman that picked her up took her to Wendy's so she could finally eat. "Best spicy nuggets EVER"
I was wiped, and decided I really wanted to see my parents. Their hotel was at Dulles Airport. I thought they were going to be staying in Rosslyn, which is close to me, but I guess something got changed through Dad's work.
I took the metro to the end of line, Vienna, and took a cab to the airport. Cost me $40 including tip. The jerk drove 15 under the speed limit the whole way, and then "couldn't" figure out how to DRIVE TO THE BUILDING THAT SAID HYATT!!
I finally got there and called my parents.
They weren't there. They were out to dinner with one of my dad's coworkers.
I caught a shuttle to Red, Hot and Blue, a bbq place they were eating at. They were all finishing up, but I was hungry, so I ordered some wings. They were super crispy on the outside...and kind of questionably pink on the inside, but I was HUNGRY so I scarfed five out of the eight on my plate. We took the shuttle back to the Hyatt, and headed up to their room.
At this point, I was pretty sure I was just going to crash there. Their king sized bed was looking deliciously comfy, and I was worn out physically, mentally and emotionally. While we were all hanging out, KNicole called to let us know she'd made it to DFW, but that she was started to freak out again. Dad talked her through it and she made it to the car to get home.
It's now 11:25, and I've realized I don't have my back medicine, and it's too late to catch a taxi to get to the metro. Awesome. I've got a headache already, so Dad gave me some Advil - I just hope it's enough to tide me over until I can leave in the morning. I'm getting hot and cold too, so I've gotta figure out how to deal with that too.
Joy.
*Until Next Time*
No comments:
Post a Comment