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The short drive seemed to take forever, and then he struggled to find a parking place. By the time Jason walked into the emergency department, his nerves were shot. “I’m with Abraham Green,” he said to the front-desk nurse. “He was brought in by ambulance.”
“Are you family?” she asked as she turned toward her computer and began typing.
Making a mental promise to get medical powers of attorney in place right away, Jason said, “Yes.”
“Take a seat and I’ll have someone walk you back.”
Though his first instinct was to yell, ask for the chief of staff, or start making phone calls to someone who could tell these people who he was, Jason managed to keep himself in check. “Kristen, Donny, go over there.” He pointed them toward the vinyl couches in the corner. “I don’t know how long I’ll be, so call your mother and tell her what’s going on.”
“We can’t go back there with you?” Kristen asked, her eyes bloodshot and swimming with tears.
“No.” He shook his head. “One person at a time.” Which wasn’t necessarily true and really depended on Abe’s condition and what they were doing to treat him, but Jason didn’t think it would help his kids or Abe to see each other in that setting.
“You’re with Mr. Green?” a woman said from behind him.
“Yes.” Jason swung around.
“Follow me.”
“Kristen, call your mother,” he said and then followed the woman down the hall and hoped for the best.
It didn’t take long before they reached a heavy door. They walked through, passing two curtained-off emergency rooms, and then the nursing aide pulled the curtain on a third room and stepped aside to let Jason in. Abe was reclining on the bed with an IV in his arm and an oxygen mask with a nebulizer attachment over his nose and mouth. He was pale but didn’t have any obvious signs of injury. Apparently the sound of footsteps got his attention, because he opened his eyes.
When their gazes met, Jason flashed back to that first night in the bar almost a year earlier. The one-night stand he’d picked up had somehow turned into the center of his world. Suddenly, his chest ached and his stomach heated, which should have made him turn around to find the nearest doctor and demand a scan and a physical, but it felt too good to be sickness.
Jason had loved people in his life. His children, Angela, his parents, his sisters, his nieces and nephews, his grandparents, and probably others. But he had never been in love. Not until that moment. Or at least he hadn’t realized it until that moment. He’d probably been feeling it for months.
His heart pounding with joy, hope, and, yes, a little panic, he pushed the revelation aside to be dealt with later. Right then, he needed to check on Abe. “Hi, baby,” he said softly as he stepped toward the bed. “You gave me quite a scare.”
Lifting the mask off his face, Abe asked, “How’re the kids?”
“Put that back.” Jason hurried his pace and replaced the mask over Abe’s nose and mouth. “The kids are fine and breathing is important.” Jason darted his gaze around until it landed on a chair. He reached his leg out, hooked his foot over the metal bar at the bottom, and pulled it over. “Nonverbal answers only,” he directed as he sat down and leaned on the bed. “Are you feeling better?”
Abe nodded and put his hand on top of Jason’s.
“Good.” Jason sighed in relief. He grinned and shrugged sheepishly. “I guess that’s the only yes or no question I had.”
Abe smiled at him from underneath the oxygen mask and squeezed his hand just as his phone rang.
“Crap,” Jason said. “I forgot to put it on vibrate.” With his free hand, he fished the phone out of his pocket and ended the call before registering that Angela’s name was flashing on the screen. “That was Angela.” He stood up. “I’ll be right back, okay? I need to call her and make sure she’s on her way here to get the kids.”
After nodding, Abe squeezed his hand one more time and let go.
Jason hit the Send button as he walked out of the room and searched for a hallway away from the patient-care area.
“Is everything okay?” Angela asked, answering the phone on the first ring. “What happened?”
“My guess is an asthma attack, but I don’t know what triggered it.” He dragged his hand through his hair. “It isn’t usually this bad. I haven’t seen the ER doctor yet or gotten the story from Abe.” He drew in a deep breath. “The good news is he’s fine.”
“Good,” she said, sounding relieved. “I’m on my way to pick up the kids. Do you need anything?”
“No.” Jason shook his head reflexively. “I’ll text you when I know more.”
FOUR HOURS later, Abe was signing discharge paperwork, and Jason texted Angela to let her know they were heading home and Abe was fine. The albuterol, oxygen, and rest had returned Abe’s lung function to normal, but Jason still didn’t know what, if anything, had triggered the attack because they hadn’t had a moment alone together. He blamed the overly friendly emergency doctor for that problem. Honestly, with the amount of time the man had spent looming over Abe, it was a wonder he had been able to treat any other patients.
