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“I’d empty my bank account and sign over my penthouse to hear you tell me your fantasies right now.”
I chuckled. “Well, it starts with you opening …” My deviant, fictional adventure was put on hold when Dex’s cell phone started to ring.
“Ignore it,” he said. Go on.”
“But…it’s sort of late. Almost ten o’clock. Don’t you want to even see who it is?”
His response came so fast it made me laugh. “No.” After a few more rings the cell phone quieted. Dex prompted me to continue. “So…where were you? What am I opening? The door? My pants? Your pants? A bag? Handcuffs? Don’t leave me hanging here.”
I giggled. “Okay. Well, I had this one sort of daydream where you open…” As if on cue, Dex’s cell phone started to ring again. The damn thing was vibrating and jumping around on the end table.
“Maybe you should get that.”
“No.”
“At least see who it is.”
Begrudgingly, Dex reached for his phone. He stared at the screen for a ring before speaking. “It’s my father’s wife, Myra.”
“Aren’t they in the Caribbean? Why would she be calling? And so late?”
Dex swiped and brought the phone to his ear with a huff. I listened to one side of the conversation. His body immediately stiffened.
“What happened?”
“When?”
“Where is he?”
My heart sank waiting to find out the details, but it was clear whatever it was, was not good. After he hung up, Dex immediately got up from the bed and started pacing back and forth. I was almost afraid to ask.
“What happened?”
“My father. He had a massive heart attack.”
“Oh my God. Is he…”
“He’s in CCU. He’s alive but hasn’t woken up yet.”
“In Turks?”
“It happened on a plane. Apparently, he hadn’t been feeling well, and they decided to come home early so he could see his doctor. Happened a few minutes before they were landing in Florida tonight.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Dex ran his fingers through his hair. “I need to go down there. First flight in the morning.”
“I’ll go with you.”
He looked at me. “You sure?”
“I want to be there for you.”
After a few heartbeats, he nodded. Then he proceeded to pick up the phone and call the airline. While he barked into the phone, I put away the moisturizer he’d been massaging me with and went to the kitchen to get a drink of water.
Standing at the kitchen counter, it dawned on me for the first time…I was about to meet my biological father.
Maybe.
I needed wine instead.Dex was quiet the entire flight down to Florida. He’d spoken to Myra first thing this morning while we were headed to the airport and found out that his father needed a triple bypass, along with a valve replacement. His heart was weak after the massive heart attack, but they couldn’t waste time because of the ninety-nine percent blockage. Surgery was scheduled for this afternoon.
When we arrived at Good Samaritan Medical Center, Dex already knew the room number so we breezed right past the line at the patient information desk and followed the signs for the elevator. It wasn’t until the doors closed that I had really given any thought to what my showing up might do to Dex Sr. Up until then, I’d been only focusing on wanting to support Dex.
“Maybe I should wait out in the hall when you go in to see him.”
Dex was normally so present, so aware of everything around him; it was odd to see him in a fog. “I’m sorry. Did you say something?”
“I said maybe it would be better if I didn’t go in to see him with you. I could just wait in the hall.”
“Is that what you want or what you think is best for him?”
“I don’t want to upset him.”
Dex took my hand and nodded as the elevator doors slid open. “You’re coming in with me.”Dex Sr.’s wife was in the hall outside of CCU talking to a doctor. When we approached, they turned to us. Myra forced a smile. “Hi, Dex. Thank you for coming.”
“Of course.”
“Dr. Sharma, this is Dex’s son, Dex Jr.”
The doctor nodded. Then, Myra looked to me. I extended my hand. “Bianca George. I’m a…friend…of Dex’s. I’m sorry about your husband’s health.”
The doctor looked at his watch. “I was just about to go in and visit with your father. You’re welcome to join while I review his morning stats.”
Dex nodded.
Dr. Sharma turned to me. “I’m sorry. But CCU is limited to family members, so you’ll need to wait out here.”
I saw Dex’s face and braced for it. He pulled me close to his side. “Bianca is my girlfriend. But there’s also a pretty good chance she’s his daughter. So, she’ll be joining us.”
Not knowing how to respond to that, the doctor motioned us to follow him inside.Even though he was paler than I imagined he normally was, and he had monitor lines and IVs hooked up all over, I would have recognized Dex Sr. anywhere. He looked just like my sister, even more so in person than he did in the pictures.
