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His dad was in good hands.
Suddenly he missed his family very badly.
“Austin?” Lindsey came toward him and placed a reassuring hand on his arm. “What's wrong with your dad?”
He belatedly realized he'd never discussed his family with her. Not for any particular reason, he wasn't ashamed of them or anything. But the subject had not come up. Until now. He swallowed hard. “According to my sister Amber, he's had a heart attack. They were going to try and place a stent but he had three arteries blocked so they decided to take him straight to the OR for open heart surgery. I need to go home.”
“To Milwaukee? You mentioned getting a flight there.”
“Yeah.” He pulled himself together and focused on her compassionate gaze. “Will you come with me?”
“Me?” Her voice squeaked in surprise.
“Yes, you. And Josh, too.” He didn't want to analyze his feelings too closely, but knew he needed Lindsey there. At his side. He couldn't imagine facing this alone.
He couldn’t even imagine his life if his dad didn’t make it through surgery. He silently prayed for God to heal his dad and to guide the surgeon’s hand for the best possible outcome for this procedure.
“Why?” She asked before she could stop herself. She hadn't slept well haunted by the memories of kissing Austin. And wishing she had not denied his request for another kiss. Then she'd wondered if she was just like her mother. Allowing her out of control hormones to guide her decisions.
But her confused feelings were no longer important. Austin's father was undergoing emergency open heart surgery. He obviously needed a friend.
“Please? I need your support.” His eyes darkened. “In case God calls my dad home.”
“Your dad will be fine,” she said with confidence she didn't feel. She didn't know anything about his father. But she was secretly thrilled that Austin wanted her near him in this time of crisis. “Of course, I'll come with you.”
“And Josh?”
She hesitated, debating about whether she should bring Josh. If she called Tony's mother, she was pretty sure Becky would agree to keep Josh while they were gone. On the other hand, she had no idea how long they'd need to stay in Milwaukee—much of that depended on how well Austin's father did after surgery. As the next week was a short week for school, the kids were off Thursday and Friday for teacher in service days, Josh wouldn't miss too much if she pulled him from class.
“We will both come with you,” she decided. Josh would be upset if they kept him out of the loop. She knew her son would want to be there for Austin, too. “I'll call Tony's mother, to let her know we'll pick him up early.”
“I'll make the plane reservations on the first available flight.” His expression was dazed, as if the reality hadn't quite hit him yet. He turned and crossed to the living room where his computer was located to book the flight while she pulled out her phone.
After explaining everything to Becky, she then talked to Josh. He was great, didn't seem to be upset about missing the rest of Tony's party. Josh had sounded concerned about Austin and was more than willing to take this trip to Milwaukee.
She then had to call work to arrange to be off. Not an easy feat—especially after she had picked up the extra hours to begin with. She tried not to think about the large loan payment she would have to make as she called several of her colleagues to help cover her shift. Thankfully, one of the nurses she had done a favor for a few months ago came through and agreed to work in her place.
Five and a half hours later, they were at the gate, waiting to board their flight.
Josh's fascination with the process, his first time ever flying in a plane, was enough to keep them from worrying about what was going on in Milwaukee. But once they were seated on the plane, Austin reached over to take her hand in his.
She stared at their entwined fingers for a long moment. She had taken the middle seat between Austin and Josh, giving her son the window seat so he could enjoy the thrill of flying. Even though Josh was sitting right there, able to see how they were holding hands, she couldn't make herself let go. Clearly Austin was shaken by his father's abrupt illness. She would not deny him this small bit of support.
She tried to think of a safe topic to discuss. “You mentioned your sister, Amber. Do you have any other siblings?”
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Yeah. There's a few of us.” He was quiet for a moment before glancing at her. “Are you sure you want to hear all this?”
She nodded. “Why not? We have plenty of time.”
He nodded. “Amber is the baby of the family, two years younger than I am. She’s married to a physical rehab physician by the name of Nick Tremayne. I’m next in line. Then there’s Alec who is a cop. He’s a year older than I am and married to Jillian. Jillian is an emergency medicine doctor at Trinity Medical Center. That's where my dad is, by the way. Then there's Adam, he's a couple years older than Alec and works as a pediatrician in his own practice. He recently got engaged to Krista Vaughan, one of the pediatric nurses at Children's Memorial Hospital.”
“Wow,” she murmured, when he paused for a breath. “How am I ever going to keep them straight?”
“Don't even try. My parents used all names starting with the letter A which only adds to the confusion. Where did I leave off?” He frowned. “Oh yeah, Adam. Andrea is the second oldest of the group. She’s a nurse too and is married to a guy named Stuart who travels a lot as a pharmaceutical sales rep. They have two kids, Bethany and Ben. Oh, I forgot to mention, Alec has daughter too, Shannon who is a year younger than Bethany. They are both younger than Josh,” he added glancing over to where the boy's face was plastered against the window. “Shannon is six and Bethany is seven to his nine but they’re good kids. At least Josh will have someone to hang out with. Even if they’re girls.”
She chuckled. “That's good.” The name of Austin's family were buzzing around in her head, making her dizzy. She mentally counted backward. “So there are five of you.”
“No, six. The oldest is my brother Aaron. He's a big time orthopedic surgeon at Johns Hopkins institute. We don't see him very much. He was married, but he and Morgan divorced two years ago. They didn't have any children.”
