11. The Waiting Game

Hatem was initially in Kaiser emergency for almost a full day.  He was admitted into Intensive Care and the staff began monitoring him.  He was conscious, but was focussed only on one thing, getting a cup of coffee.  He really didn't know where he was or why he couldn't get a cup of coffee.  After that he was placed in a medically induced coma to assess the damage to his head and brain.  It wasn't good. 

He was at Kaiser for a couple of days before he was transferred to  UCSF Medical Center on Parnassus in San Francisco where the best care could be given.  Before his transfer, I got wind that he had only six months to live.  It was heartbreaking news.  And it was given without compassion by a doctor who seemed to care more about the correctness of his diagnosis than the feelings of the people who cared for Hatem.  And there were many who cared about Hatem.  People came in and out of his room continuously.  I was there every morning and left every early afternoon.


Since I was now teaching in a dance studio above Thom's Natural Foods on Geary, I naturally left all the restaurant business to someone I thought I could trust -- Samar and Gabriela.  They had been running the place since 2004, so I naturally thought they could run it without Hatem.  But as the days wore on, I began to question that judgment.  Nevertheless, I ignored all of those red flags and allowed Samar to take control.


"This is a blessing in disguise!", Samar would say again and again.  "That man put me through hell.  I'm glad he isn't here any more!  He would just be in my way of me wanting to run the place."  

A blessing in disguise.  . . . . .

What was that?  Hatem was laid up in the hospital with a life-threatening brain contusion and to Samar it was a blessing in disguise.  But, because I had lost all connections with the restaurant after leaving it in 2003 to pursue my teaching, I kept my mouth shut.  I didn't have enough information to make any decisions at that time.


Hatem lay in the hospital for close to six weeks.  Samar ran the restaurant with Gabriela.  I continued to teach dance at the studio location.  My home in San Bruno, left to me by my mother, was mortgaged to the max.  I wasn't seeing any income now.  I knew that something was not right.  Hatem was out of the picture for the time being and I began to get a feeling of uneasiness.