Page 139 of Thorns of Malice

Patient refusing to exercise.

The patient claims medication is a way for the drug companies to get money, and he doesn't need it.

A timeline of my father's heart attacks weaves throughout the timeline of doctor notes. It's not as detailed as I'm sure the rest of the records Dax has in his safe are, but it's enough to hit me hard.

Why didn't my dad take his medication?

He lied to me.

Rage fills me. The only person besides Jaxon I trusted for years was my father. He guilted me for any lie I ever told him, claiming the devil is behind lies. Yet he repeatedly did the thing he shamed me for.

I blow my nose, then sniffle. I turn the page, and my stomach flips faster. I read it several times with horror sinking deeper every go around.

Patient was given option to take home samples and refuses, claiming he isn't a charity case.

Warned the patient again that his chances of having a catastrophic heart attack rise to 95% when not on medication.

My lips tremble harder, and my tears fall until everything's blurry.

Why was my father so cheap and stubborn? He had the money in his account. He had prescription insurance. When he did fill his heart medication, it was only thirty dollars a month. I remember because I picked it up a few times for him after he had his last heart attack before the one that killed him.

How could he have been so stubborn and foolish?

I pick up the coroner's report and read the highlighted marks.

Long-term coronary disease.

No medication detected in bloodstream.

The facts stare at me until they're too blurry to read.

He wasn't on any pills when he died.

Dax is right. He couldn't have caused my father's death. My father contributed to his own death. Sure, he might not have liked seeing Avery and Dax on TV, but he played Russian roulette with his health.

If he had been taking his medication, would he have had any of those heart attacks over the years?

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