Page 76 of Beyond Expectations

“I’m so sorry. Go… go. Let me know if there is anything I can do.”

I didn’t know what else to say.

He looked down at me and kissed me deeply. His whole body seemed tense, and I felt helpless. I couldn’t even decipher if the trembles I felt were in his hands or my own.

A minute later, my eyes followed as he rushed out the door and got into his town car, waiting at the curb. As I watched the car speed off into the flow of traffic, I knew everything was about to change.

Chapter 21

Rhett

Ihadn’t realized my fists were still balled up until Kara sat beside me and tried to hold my hand.

We all arrived at the hospital and were tentatively sitting in his private room. Father had been out for afternoon tea with Mother when he suddenly had a seizure. Once the medics got him to the hospital, they sedated him, and the doctors had been running tests nonstop for the past few hours.

I arrived first, followed by Julian, Heather, and then Kara. As soon as I arrived, I asked Mother what had happened, and it took a good five minutes to calm her down so she could talk. She sat by my father’s bed, holding his hand, staring. She turned down my offers of a drink, something to eat, or even some fresh air. He had been there for over five hours, and the doctors still hadn’t given us any sign of what was going on. I sat with Heather on the couch. Julian hadn’t stopped pacing the corridor since his arrival. Kara sat on either side of Father’s bed, holding his hand.

“Why have they still not told us anything?”

My temper was absolutely fraying, and the more time passed, the more I struggled to control myself.

“I’m sure they will tell us as soon as possible,” Heather said faintly.

I needed to pull myself together. I needed to be strong. Strong for my father, mother, and the rest of my family. They were counting on me. I couldn’t let my own emotions take over.

Looking over at him lying there, he looked so old, frail, and weak.

Every time a nurse or doctor came in, we thought we’d have more news, something to go on, but they just did more tests, letting us know that someone would come and speak to us soon. The hours just seemed to blur together. Finally, Father’s physician entered, and I could see from his expression the news wasn’t good.

Father’s condition has severely deteriorated, and he will be staying in the hospital under the palliative care team, as it’s looking like he may only have a few days at the most. He said he might come around once the sedation entirely wears off, but there was nothing more they could do besides making him as comfortable as possible.

The room was so silent I could have heard a pin drop.

Even Julian stopped his pacing. When I walked over to Kara to hug her, I was surprised that Julian followed suit and embraced Heather and my mother. We’d never been a remarkably close family. Never close or affectionate. But right then, all that went out the window.

Julian’s head was buried in our mother’s arms. I was trying with all my might to keep my tears at bay, knowing someone had to stay strong. And right then, that duty fell upon me.

It had been several hours since the doctors told us the news. It was the middle of the night, and the room was practically silent. The only sound came from the machines attached to my father. My sisters and mother were in the visitor’s room, trying to get some sleep. Julian slumped over the couch.

I was holding his hand in a chair by my father’s bed. I felt my eyelids growing heavier by the minute. But I didn’t want to give into sleep.

My body must have given in as the next thing I knew, I woke to the slightest movements in my hand.

Looking up, I saw my father’s eyes open.

“You’re okay. You’re in the hospital. Mother, Kara, and Heather are asleep in the waiting room. Julian is over there asleep. We’re all here.”

It felt like everything was going in slow motion. Slowly, he reached up and pulled down on his oxygen mask.

“I…. want…. you… to tell… your mother… how… much… I… have… always… loved… her. She… will… forever… be… the love of my life.”

He replaced his mask, took a few deep breaths, and removed it.

“Tell Julian… he… needs… to… believe… in… himself... and… that… I… love… him.”

Once again, he took another inhalation from his mask.

Every time he spoke, my heart shattered into smaller and smaller pieces.

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