Page 58 of Iron Fist

She looks me up and down, eyes wide and wary. “Are you a relative?”

“He’s my father-in-law.”

Now her wariness turns to skepticism. “Can I see some identification?” she asks.

“Now what the hell kind of identification would I have that would say I’m his son-in-law?” I demand. “Tell me what room he’s in.”

“Rogue!”

Turning, I see Laney approaching. She works here at the hospital as a social worker. The tension in my shoulders eases.

“Laney, thank Christ. Where’s Rory?”

“Come on, I’ll take you to her.” Not even breaking her stride, she nods at the woman behind the desk, who is now glaring at me. I flip her off and follow Laney.

“Rory’s dad had a heart attack last night,” she tells me as we walk. “The cancer is advanced enough that it’s putting stress on his other systems. His body is just too weak to deal with it right now. The docs stabilized him, and they’re giving him fluids. They’ll decide later today whether he can go home, or whether they’ll want to keep him another night.”

We arrive at the cardiac ward. Laney turns right and knocks softly on a door that’s slightly ajar.

“Hello?” she says softly as she pushes it open.

Inside, Rory is slumped in a chair next to a hospital bed. Her dad is lying in it, asleep, his mouth hanging open as he snores softly. He looks about eighty years old right now, even though he can’t be more than sixty.

Rory looks up. When she sees me with Laney, she’s instantly out of her chair.

“How did you know I was here?” she whispers, coming closer.

I take her in my arms. I do it without thinking, and she clings to me like she’s drowning and I’m a life preserver.

“I went to the Viking to look at some paperwork, and Jessie told me. Why didn’t you call me?” I murmur into her hair.

“I didn’t want to bother you. I didn’t want to assume…”

“Stop it,” I say, cutting her off. “How is he?”

She sighs tiredly. “Not great. Stable, apparently. He’s exhausted.”

Laney observes us in silence, a curious expression on her face. “I should get back to work,” she says. “Rory, you know where my office is. Come get me if you need anything at all, okay?”

“I will. And thank you so much, Laney. Thanks to all of the old ladies. You’ve been so great.” There are tears in Rory’s eyes as she hugs the other woman, who hugs her back and then gives me a quick nod as she leaves the room.

“You look like you haven’t gotten any sleep,” I tell Rory.

“That’s because I haven’t,” she admits.

“You want to go grab something to eat at the cafeteria? Some coffee?”

“I suppose now’s a good time, since Dad is sleeping.”

We follow the signs to the hospital cafeteria, where I buy Rory a cup of coffee and a pastry. I sit down with her and watch her as she eats.

“Saw your car in the parking lot at the Viking,” I tell her.

“Yeah, that’s one more float in the parade of shittiness that is my life,” she sighs. “I need to go back there and get it taken care of.”

“No need. I had it towed to the club’s garage. Someone will look it over and see what it’ll take to repair it.”

Rory stops eating to stare at me. “Thank you, Brody.”

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