Page 24 of Bassist With Benefits
Panic almost cut Jeremy in half. “Is he OK? Is he dead?”
“No. I don’t think so.”
“He’s not dead,” Jeremy’s sixteen-year old brother said as he walked in from the yard. “The EMTs want to make sure he’s stable before they move him.” The kid was trying to act as if he had everything under control, but his watery, bloodshot eyes gave way to his fear and grief.
“Oh, thank God.” Jeremy’s mother clutched her chest, and for a second, Jeremy thought she was having a heart attack, too.
“Calm down, Mom. Let me go see him.” Just as Jeremy got to the sliding glass doors, a stretcher headed toward him. As the EMTs rolled the gurney past him, Jeremy’s gaze fell upon the head of their family, unconscious, with an oxygen mask over his face, tubes stuck in his arms, and electrodes stuck on his chest. Jeremy’s throat closed, and his voice was barely a whisper. “Dad?” There was no response, and the paramedics whisked his father into the waiting ambulance.
Jeremy drove his mother and brother to the hospital with shaking hands. He followed the ambulance closely, but when they got to the hospital his father was wheeled in through Emergency, while his family was relegated to waiting outside the CCU. It was now a waiting game. Jeremy sat in the blue plastic chair, tugging on a string to his jeans. The tiny fray in the denim turned into a gaping hole as the minutes went by.
His father wasn’t even fifty years old yet, and the fear of losing his dad brought a devastating ache to his heart. He remembered how proud his father had been when he came home with a signed contract for management, and then a record deal. Jeremy was on the cusp of launching his music career, and he wanted his father to witness his success. More than that, his father wanted to be part of it, and the idea that his father could miss all of it left Jeremy’s heart in shreds. He wrapped a string of frayed cotton around his finger so tightly it cut off the circulation. He stared at the bright pink tip of his finger until it blurred from the wetness in his eyes, and a tear slipped down his cheek.
He squeezed his eyes shut, and scrubbed his hands over his face. He needed to hold it together for his mother. The woman clung to her family, and he worried how she would handle it if his father didn’t make it.
Nurses wheeled carts full of medicine down the hall, doctors walked by discussing diagnoses with their colleagues, and others paced while they waited for news about their loved ones. Through the commotion in the noisy hospital, Jeremy could hear the clock ticking on the wall. He’d been watching it since they arrived. They had been there for 32 minutes and 56 seconds. 57. 58. 59. Thirty-three minutes. His mind went numb, and he just watched the clock. Tick. Tick. Tick. It was like a time bomb, waiting to explode with the news of his father’s condition. He had the urge to rip it off the wall and fling it down the hall like a discus, hoping to smash it against the doors to the CCU so someone would come out and give them an update on his father.
His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he jumped. It was Brandon. “Bran…”
“Hey, buddy. I just wanted to wish you a bon voyage, or whatever that expression is. Gonna miss you, man. Have fun. Bring me back a shark’s tooth or something.”
Jeremy’s heart sank to his knees. He was nauseous and thought he might throw up. “I’m not going.”
“Whattaya mean? I helped you pack last—”
“My father had a heart attack. We’re at the hospital.”
“Oh my God. Is he OK?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“I’ll be right there. What hospital?”
His friend’s support knocked the wind out of him. “No. It’s late. I’ll call you as soon as I know anything.”
“Jeremy…”
“Really, Bran. It’s OK.”
Fifteen minutes later, Brandon, Derek, and Alan walked into the waiting room. Normally, Jeremy would have been pissed off that Brandon didn’t listen to him, but the second he saw them rushing toward him, tears sprang to his eyes. They suffocated him in a bear hug. He was sandwiched between Alan and Derek, each with their cheek pressed against his ear. Brandon wrapped his long arms around the three of them in a giant bear hug. It was a massive show of support.
“Thank you,” Jeremy managed to choke out. “It means so much to me that you all came.”
“We’re right here with you,” Derek said. “Every step of the way. In good times and bad.”
“You weren’t gonna stop me from being here,” Brandon said.
Jeremy looked at Alan. Remorse about bailing on their trip ripped his heart out. “I’m sorry.”
“What the hell are you sorry about?”
“I can’t go to Baja with you tomorrow.”
Alan furrowed his brow and looked intently at Jeremy. “I’m not going either.”
“What are you talking about? You’ve been looking forward to going on this trip forever. You have to go, Alan. Don’t miss it because of me.”
Alan shook his head. “Not happening. I’m not leaving you here to deal with your dad without me. I’m going through this with you.”
