Page 51 of The Waiting Game

Felix shrugged. “No idea. Trust me, if I had a clue, I’d tell you.”

“Mrs. Yun?” The doctor stepped into the room. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I want to go home.”

He gave her a smile as if amused by her crankiness. “Well, we’re going to see what we can do about that.”

He turned to face Jonah. “I’m Dr. Schwartz. You’re Jonah Brewer?”

Jonah nodded.

“Big fan of your hockey,” Dr. Schwartz continued. “But I’ll get right to the medical stuff because I’m sure you’re concerned. Your grandmother did not suffer any major ill effects from her tumble earlier. No signs of a brain bleed, no concussion symptoms. She’s in the clear there.”

“She said something about her heart though?” Jonah said, still not entirely sure how that fit in.

“Yes. Your grandmother suffered what we call cardiovascular syncope.”

Jonah’s stomach tumbled to his feet. “Is that serious?”

“In and of itself, not necessarily. It’s simply a sudden drop in heart rate and blood pressure that leads to fainting. Sometimes stress or illness is enough to bring it on. In your grandmother’s case, it appears to be due to something a little more serious. She has an arrhythmia. That’s an irregular heart rhythm. She has what’s called atrial fibrillation, which is where the heart’s chambers aren’t beating in the proper order.”

Jonah nodded, growing increasingly worried.

“She said she’s been experiencing some symptoms on and off for a few months now.”

“What?” Jonah turned to stare at her. “Why didn’t you say something to me then?”

She frowned. “I was fine. You worry too much.”

“Well, clearly you aren’t fine,” Jonah protested. “You fainted and hit your head.”

Dr. Schwartz cleared his throat. “As I explained to your grandmother, this arrhythmia is treatable. We’ll need to run some more tests and see how she responds to the medication we’ve given her before we decide on the exact course of that treatment, however.”

“Can I go home now?” Grandma Ji-min asked.

The doctor shot her an amused smile. “No. We need to keep you overnight, Mrs. Yun. Just for observation.”

She grumbled under her breath.

“Grandma Ji-min,” Felix chastised softly. “They’re just making sure you’re okay.”

“I want to sleep in my own bed tonight.”

“Well, me too,” the doctor said with a smile. “But someone’s got to be here to keep an eye on you.”

Jonah managed a small chuckle.

The teasing had worked though, Grandma Ji-min wasn’t frowning anymore. “Okay, I’ll stay,” she said with a sigh.

“Good,” Dr. Schwartz teased. “Because I didn’t want to chase you down the sidewalk. I have a feeling you’re a lot fitter than I am. I probably wouldn’t make it far before someone had to come rescue me.”

Grandma Ji-min cracked a smile. “You’re probably right.”

Jonah followed the doctor to the door and thanked him. They spoke for a few minutes and a moment later, Tyson arrived.

He was cute, Jonah supposed. But good lord, like Jonah was really going to pick up some guy while his grandmother lay a few feet away in a hospital bed? The woman had finally lost her damn mind.

“What happens now?” Jonah asked, still reeling from everything that had happened.

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