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She went out into the hall to answer it. “Hi,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady.
“Hey.” His voice sounded deeper on the phone. Huskier. “That’s good news.”
“It is, right? I thought so, but—”
“No, if he’s awake it’s definitely good.”
Penny let out a long breath and squeezed her eyes shut. Hearing Caleb’s voice made her feel a lot better.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “Just worried. And I hate hospitals.”
“Me too.” She heard the sound of the milk frother in the background.
“You’re at work still?”
“Yeah. Roxanne came in and sent Elyse home. She was pretty freaked out.”
“Poor Elyse.” Poor all of them.
“I better get back to work,” Caleb said. “You sure you’re okay? Is there anything we can do?”
“No, I’m fine. There’s nothing to do right now but wait.”
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll see you later.”
Penny went back into the waiting room and settled in for the long wait.
Two hours later, George’s son showed up. He was short and wiry, just like his dad, only with a little more hair. He gave Penny a hug when she introduced herself. “My dad’s told me all about you.”
“Really?”
Mike nodded and rubbed his palms on his business casual khakis. “He talks about everyone at that coffee shop like they’re family.”
Penny swallowed around the lump in her throat. “He’s like family to us too.”
The volunteer brought over a clipboard of forms for Mike to fill out. While he was working on them, Penny offered to get him something to eat, and he accepted her offer gratefully.
She came back ten minutes later with a granola bar and a banana for herself and a hamburger and french fries for Mike.
“Thank you so much,” he said. “For everything. It’s nice to have someone here so I don’t have to wait alone.”
While he ate his hamburger, Penny recounted the episode at the coffee shop that morning, telling him how quick-thinking Caleb had been to recognize what was happening, administer aspirin, and start CPR. She also told him what the paramedic had said about it maybe saving George’s life.
They killed the next hour making hushed small talk in the waiting room while they waited for George to get out of surgery. Mike’s wife was staying in San Jose for another two days with their son, but they were coming down Friday afternoon as soon as she picked him up from school. Hopefully George would be well enough to see his grandson by then.
After a while, they ran out of things to say and fell into an edgy silence. Penny glanced at the clock on the wall for approximately the one thousandth time. Any minute now, the doctor might come out with an update—or it might be another hour or two.
She took out her phone and deliberated texting Caleb again but decided against it. If he was waiting anxiously for an update, it would be mean to keep getting his hopes up by texting him when there wasn’t any news.
She’d just put her phone away again when she saw Caleb standing out in the hall.
He was watching her with his hands in his pockets like he was trying to make up his mind whether to come in. When she smiled at him, he nodded in acknowledgement and started toward her.
“Caleb!” She was so happy to see him she almost jumped up and hugged him again, but something about his body language stopped her. “I didn’t know you were coming!”
“I just got off work and thought I’d wait with you.” His eyes flicked over to Mike, who’d stood up when he approached.
