Page 56 of A Kind Wedding: Christian & Charleigh

“No. I’m not leaving him, Christian.”

I studied the EKG. “We need to get him to the Cath lab now.”

“I’m coming with you,” Charleigh said.

I gripped her shoulders. “Charleigh, I know you want to be with your dad, but your mom needs you. Please, babe.”

She slowly nodded her head as tears streamed down her face. Taking my thumb, I wiped her tears away and pressed my lips against her forehead.

“I promise he’s going to be okay,” I softly spoke.

I was in the Cath lab performing an angioplasty when the door opened, and Jackson walked in.

“I heard you were here. What the hell happened?”

“We were at dinner, and he went into cardiac arrest.”

“I’m so sorry, bro.”

“It looks like I’m going to have to implant an ICD. Prep him for surgery while I talk to his wife,” I spoke to the team that was with me.

Jackson and I walked out of the Cath lab and over to where Charleigh and Jillian were.

“Christian, how is he?” Charleigh asked.

“He has ventricular arrhythmia in his left ventricle. I need to put in an ICD.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“It’s a small electronic device connected to the heart,” Charleigh said. “If it detects an abnormal rhythm, it sends a shock to the heart. It’s like a defibrillator.”

“Do what you have to, Christian,” Jillian said. “I can’t lose him.”

“Just so you know, I’m assisting you,” Charleigh said in a commanding tone. “You are not telling me no. Do you understand me, Dr. Kind?”

“Yeah. I understand you. Let’s go scrub in.”

“I’m heading home.” Jackson placed his hand on my shoulder. “I’ll let the family know what’s going on.”

* * *

Charleigh

I held my father’s hand as he lay peacefully in the ICU. My mother sat on the other side of him, holding his other hand.

“Go home, Charleigh,” she said. “You need your rest.”

“No. I’m fine. I want to be here in case something goes wrong,” I said.

Christian walked into the room and checked my father’s vitals.

“I’m not leaving him,” I said. “I need to be here when he wakes up.”

“I don’t expect you to, but you need some sleep. Let’s go into the on-call room. It’s right down the hall.”

“You go. I’m not leaving his side.” I laid my head down on his arm.

Christian walked over, gripped my shoulders, and kissed the back of my head.

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