About an hour after we were told that Dr. Narayanan was in the OR and we’d have to wait until late afternoon or early evening to be discharged, in he walked with a huge entourage. Residents, the head nurse, our nurse, even the physiotherapist. He gave us our final marching orders, the nurse took a half hour to cut those orders and off we went. Well, with a stopover at the pharmacy, which did test a boy’s patience.

(With regards to pain, Jon is doing amazingly. This is not nearly as bad as last time, and he is on Tylenol, with some optional extras if need be.)

The drive home was just as bumpy as the drive to the hospital, but the difference was now Jon was not uttering tiny ows for each bump in Gerrard. As we approached our neighbourhood, Jon put his head back, and in the two minutes it took to finish the trip he was in a deep, relaxed sleep. There had been so much talk of getting home; it was as if his nervous system could finally relax.

It was so hard, but I had to wake him from by moving him from the car.

But later at bedtime, as Laura read to Jon in his own bed, he drifted off even as she read. With a beatific smile on his face. Home.