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The lift dings and the doors open on level three. Noah takes my hand and I turn to the right, pulling him in the direction the nurse had instructed. We make our way through the double doors and before I know it, we’re in the Cardio Wing.
There are ridiculous posters on every wall, each one having something to do with looking after your heart, and while they’re supposed to be informative, I find them more annoying than ever. It’s practically a kick in the face saying ‘Sucked in, you landed yourself in hospital. Now here’s a poster to tell you where the hell you went wrong.’
My eyes scan the door numbers, carefully reading each one as Noah’s hand tightens in mine. The doors on the right are going up by twos.
478.
480.
482.
And then finally, 484.
As I go to barge my way in through the door, it opens from the other side and a smart looking guy in a white Doctor’s lab coat comes striding through. He presses his lips into a tight line and quickly nods his head, acknowledging my presence but also letting me know he’s got no time to stick around and chat. But really, I don’t care to talk to him, I need to see my dad. I can chase down the doctor later to make sure everything dad has told me was true. After all, he has a habit of downplaying things.
The doctor kindly gets out of my way and I don’t waste another second barging through. Noah comes in behind me and crashes into my back when I come to a startling halt in the doorway.
Dad lays in a hospital bed, already a sight I’ve never seen before. He looks as white as a ghost and his skin is all clammy, looking as though he just voluntarily ran a marathon nonstop after not visiting a gym for the past twenty years.
He looks exhausted.
“Daddy?” I murmur, stepping deeper into the room as my eyes continue sailing over him.
Noah remains by the door, keeping out of the way as to not intrude as I make my way over to dad’s side. His eyes flutter open as I curl my hand around his and he gives me what he assumes is a beaming smile, only to me, it looks forced and as though it’s taking a shitload of effort. “Hey, Squish,” he grumbles, letting out a sigh as he wipes the smile off his face.
“A heart attack, dad?” I accuse as though he’d done it purposefully to scare me.
“Come on, now,” dad says, giving my hand a little squeeze. “It’s nothing. Just a scratch. I’ll be out of here this afternoon and back in the truck tomorrow.”
“Dad,” I gape, absolutely horrified. “You had a heart attack. A freaking heart attack. You didn’t just scrape your fucking knee, and you can bet your ass you won’t be out of here by tonight. Surely they’ll keep you at least three or four days.”
“Fucking pricks,” he scoffs. “They better not. I have a delivery scheduled for tomorrow.”
“For fuck’s sake, dad,” I groan. “You’re not working tomorrow.”
“Watch your language,” he scolds before letting out a shallow breath making me wonder if I’m maybe pushing him a little too much right now. I mean, he did have a heart attack after all and I’m here giving him a hard time about it instead of checking if he’s alright and asking how he feels like a good little daughter.
Wait…daughter? Shit. Aria. I left her at Noah’s place. Fuck. I’m an awful person.
“Really?” I challenge, unable to help myself. Maybe in another few minutes, my heart will calm down and I’ll be able to act like a decent human being. “You’re going to bring me up on my language right now when you’re lying in a fucking hospital bed. Do you have any idea how scared I was?”
“Squish, I’m really ok,” he promises. “I just need to have a few more tests and then we’re in the clear. At the moment they think it’s a blood clot and best case scenario, it’s fixed with a little medication.”
“And worst case scenario?” I question.
“Worst case,” he says. “I’ll be in here a little more than three or four days.”
“Jesus,” I groan as my mind whirls with the endless possibilities. “Do you need to have surgery?”
“I don’t think so,” he tells me. “But we’ll see what the Doc has to say.”
“Ok,” I sigh before collapsing down into the chair beside his bed. I quickly glance back to see Noah sitting at the end of the room, slouched in his chair but watching me carefully.
A soft smile lingers on his lips and it does wonders for my racing heart. ‘I love you,’ he mouths, reminding me that he’s only a few steps away in case I need to breakdown once again. Though, now that I know dad is mostly ok, my breakdown can wait until I‘m tucked in bed and Aria is fast asleep.
