Page 68 of Trouble Me
He turned to find an older woman standing behind him. She wore a set of dark green scrubs and held a tablet in her hand. “I’m Ellie, the hospice nurse for your father.” Her smile was kind. “I can take you to his room. I’m headed there myself.”
Hospice nurse? What the hell? He nodded and followed Ellie down the hall.
Her shoes squeaked on the vinyl flooring as they passed several rooms, some empty, others occupied with patients in various stages of their cancer battle. His hands curled into fists as the smell of antiseptic assaulted his senses and brought back long-buried memories. Shane hadn’t set foot in a hospital since Marlene’s death, and before that, when his mother had died when he’d been twelve. The fact that Alan had been brought into a facility didn’t bode well. A heavy feeling weighed on Shane’s shoulders, and he inhaled a few deep breaths, trying to calm his nerves.
Ellie stopped in front of room 5148 and pushed open the door. “Mr. Alan, look who I found roaming the hall.” The nurse crossed the room to the machines beside his father’s bed.
Shane stepped into the room, expecting to find his father lying in the bed, still and pale like he’d seen in the movies. He stopped in his tracks when he found his father sitting up in bed flipping through the latestTimemagazine.
He looked up when Shane entered the room. A big smile split his face. “Shane, you made it. I was wondering when you were coming to see me.”
“Dad?” Stunned, Shane couldn’t move.
“Who else would it be?” Alan motioned for Shane to sit in the chair next to his bed. “Come, sit and talk to me.”
Shane’s brain finally caught up with his feet and he moved toward the bed. He was trying to wrap his mind around the idea that the man in front of him seemed to be on the mend.
He took the vacant seat next to the bed and glanced at the machines. Most of the displays were foreign to him, but he did see that his father’s blood pressure seemed to be good. Shane couldn’t tell if the other numbers on the machines were a good or bad indicator of his father’s health.
“Mr. Alan, let me get your vitals, hon.” Ellie pressed a couple of buttons, and a whirring sound started.
“You look good today, Dad. Better than the last time I saw you.”
The older man smiled. “I feel good today. I’m going home soon.”
Shane rolled his lips inward and looked away, picking at imaginary lint on his jeans. “Did the doctors tell you that?”
“No, but I feel it. I’m going home soon.”
Shane glanced up at Ellie, who continued her work without hesitation. She pursed her lips, the only indication she’d heard Alan’s response.
Shane looked back at his father, studying his face. He indeed looked healthier than he had in a while, in spite of the aged hands, frail body, and tubes hooked up to him. Shane blinked rapidly, unable to reconcile what was going on.
“Where’s Colin?” Shane asked. “I thought he’d be here.”
“Oh, he said he had a phone call to make or something.” He smiled at Shane. “I’m glad you’re here, son. Fill me in. How are the renovations going? Still on schedule?”
Ellie finished Alan’s vitals and left the room quietly while Shane brought him up to date on what was going on with the business in Madison Ridge and at the other locations, carefully avoiding the topic of a certain employee and a land deal.
But leave it to his father to get down to the heart of the matter. “Heard anything more on the property?”
Shane bit back a sigh. He’d had nothing but radio silence from Emma since she kicked him out of her house. Only Lindsey had talked to her when she’d called in first thing in the morning, saying she had the flu and would be working from home all week. All of her correspondence had gone through Lindsey.
“Emma is adamant about not selling.”
“Hey, Shane.” Colin and a tall, lanky, gray-haired man in a white doctor’s coat stood at the door.
“Both of my sons are here. It’s a great day.” Alan’s smile lit up the room.
Colin’s mouth curved into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Hey, Dad. I need to talk to Shane for a minute.”
Alan nodded and picked up his magazine. “That’s fine. But I do have more questions for you, Shane. So don’t leave.”
“I have no plans to leave any time soon, Dad.” His eyes met his brother’s, who nodded to follow him.
Shane battled with the internal monster that wanted to lash out at his brother right now.Seeing Colin was just another reminder of all that was at stake for Shane. And all that he was on the verge of losing or had already lost. The pain in his chest was nearly unbearable.
Out in the hall, Shane crossed his arms. “What’s going on, Colin?”
