9. Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine
The panic had mostly abated by the time we reached the hospital. Mostly.
Mona pulled us directly into the emergency room lane, the BMW’s engine idling. “You go,” she said, gesturing for Kiki and I to enter the building without her. “I’ll park this and catch up.”
I didn’t argue. I helped Yukiko out of the backseat, practically carrying her the last step.
Between the interview and the bad news, my princess was the worse for wear, shaky from adrenaline and in high heels that had become uncomfortable halfway through her initial walkthrough of the Morning Harbor studio.
She leaned against me as we walked, using me for balance.
I wished I’d had the foresight to bring her some flats.
The doors opened with a mechanical hiss, air conditioning washing over us both.
We made our way to the front desk, passing agitated family members and minor cases waiting for treatment.
A dark-haired young nurse was manning the reception desk, a diet soda and a half-finished bag of chips to the side of her station.
“Daniel Ramsey,” she said, scrolling through the directory once I told her who we were and what we were here for. “He’s upstairs in intensive care. Your relationship to the patient?”
“Family,” Yukiko said.
“Father-in-law,” I said at the same moment. “Also we work together.”
The nurse glanced from Kiki to me and back again. “Only immediate family members or the listed emergency contact are allowed in the intensive care unit,” she said blandly. “Are you two either of those?”
List? There was a list?
“Listen,” I said. “We just found out he had a stroke. We don’t know anything else, and we just drove all the way down here—”
“I’m sorry,” she said, sounding both like she meant it and like she dealt with this situation approximately two dozen times every day. “You’re more than welcome to remain down here. Once the patient is moved to a more stable environment, they’ll be able to take visitors—”
“I don’t know if he’s going to be moved,” I said, feeling desperate. “Listen, this is an emergency.”
“I can stay down here,” Yukiko said, already in the bargaining phase. “But you have to let Jack up. He may not be blood, but that man has basically been his father for the last twenty years.”
“Who is the emergency contact?” I snapped.
This was practically intolerable. Every moment we spent down here was another Marcie’s father could be slipping away. I could feel my blood threatening to boil. They had to let us upstairs.
The nurse consulted the screen once more. “There are two,” she said, blinking a bit at how unusual that was. “His wife, and a Miss Isringhausen—”
“That would be me.”
I turned. Mona was making her way across the lobby, double-timing it so quickly her briefcase slapped against her thigh with every step.
She pulled a slender wallet from her jacket as she reached the desk, flipping it open to display her identification like a federal agent.
“I’m Daniel Ramsey’s emergency contact, and you’re going to unlock that elevator behind you and let me upstairs. ” Her jaw set. “Along with these two.”
The nurse coughed. “Ma’am, I’m sorry, I can’t do that—”
Mona leaned forward, one hand on the desk, and spoke a name.
It didn’t mean anything to me. But it must have meant something to this poor woman, because she went about as white as a sheet.
“I think you know I mean it,” Mona said, the words almost a growl. “Do not tempt me, miss. Not today. I would not want to make the lives of you and everyone else in this hospital the kind of hell I can—”
“Jack!”
I knew that voice.
By the time I was facing the big double-doors, Marcie, Sam and Lakshmi were already through them.
All three of them looked absolutely wrecked, but Marcie most of all.
Her eyes were red from crying, and she was still wearing the pajama bottoms and t-shirt she’d presumably had on while she and the others were watching Yukiko’s Morning Harbor interview.
I made it three steps towards her before she threw herself right into my arms. There was zero hesitation—the fact that I’d walked in here with a completely different woman on my arm who I’d been calling my wife didn’t even register.
She buried her face against my shoulder, sobbing hard as I wrapped an arm around her lower back.
“Oh my God, Jack,” Marcie whimpered, shaking in my arms. “Dad, he’s… is he okay?”
“We don’t know yet, babygirl,” I told her. “We just got here. We’re going up now.”
Marcie nodded. She slipped out of my arms, keeping one hand on my chest. “I’m Daniel’s daughter,” she told the nurse, regaining some of her composure. “Which room is his?”
The nurse looked at Mona. Then at me, Yukiko, Marcie, Samantha and Lakshmi.
“Listen, there’s no way I can let this many people into the intensive care wing,” she whispered. She sounded more than a little bit afraid of Mona, for which I didn’t blame her.
Mona understood. “Fair,” she said, glancing at the group. “Jack, you and Marcie go. I’ll stay here with your other wives and Lakshmi.”
The nurse did a double take at the phrase other wives but didn’t say anything.
“You sure?” I asked.
Mona grimaced. “Just make sure he’s alright. You can brief me after.” She glanced around the room. “Besides, I’ll make sure no one fucks with the group.”
That made sense.
While we waited for the elevator, Sam and Lakshmi stepped forward.
“Hello, Jack,” Lakshmi said, her voice that strange combination of formal and loving that I grew more fond of by the day.
She pulled me into a quick hug, as if still a little nervous to be romantic in public.
“I am so sorry to hear about Daniel. I hope he’s okay. ”
“That was fucked what those hosts did,” Samantha chimed in, throwing herself into a much more blatant hug. “I can’t believe they tried to ambush Kiki like that. You did so good saving her, Daddy.”
“We’ll talk about it later,” I assured her. “Right now, I’ve got to go see Daniel.”
She nodded, then kissed me. “Reverend Kate says hi, by the way,” she said, shaking her head faintly. “Marcie and her prayed for Daniel over the phone the whole drive over—I think it was the most serious I’ve ever heard her.”
Lakshmi walked over to Yukiko. Without a word, she led my wife to a nearby chair, then pulled a pair of slip-on shoes from the pocket in her purse she’d stuffed them in. “Here.”
A shocked laugh spilled from Yukiko. “What would I do without you, Laks?”
Just then, the elevator dinged. “We’ll be back soon,” I promised the group.
The ride up was quiet, save for Marcie’s sobs. “It’s okay, babygirl,” I promised her, my fingers laced through hers like they might never let go. “Mona said he’s in stable condition.”
It calmed her down somewhat. But there were plenty of definitions of stable. Some better than others.
Though it seemed impossible, I couldn’t help but think Mona had somehow worked her pull up here.
The wing where Daniel’s room was looked far nicer than the hospital lobby we’d just left, and was quiet enough that it felt almost peaceful.
It had an open plan with a large nurse’s station in the center, giving the employees a view directly into all of the suites along the sides.
We didn’t need to ask which one belonged to Daniel. As soon as we entered, I saw Vanessa.
It was the first time I’d been in the same room with Daniel’s wife since the wedding. I wished it was under better circumstances. I wasn’t sure how long she’d been at the hospital, but she looked like she hadn’t allowed herself to sit down or relax since she’d arrived.
“Mom?” Marcie asked.
Vanessa turned. Saw me and her daughter standing across the room, hand in hand.
And her expression crumpled.
“Oh, sweetheart,” Vanessa whispered, stepping forward. “I am so, so sorry I didn’t call you…”
Marcie didn’t care. Her hand left mine as she raced across the room, falling into her mother’s embrace. Vanessa wrapped her arms around her daughter, gently rocking back and forth as the two of them sobbed quietly.
“Is he okay?” Marcie asked. “Please tell me he’s going to be okay, Mom. I…”
“Shhh,” Vanessa whispered. “He’s alive, darling. The doctors say… they say he’s going to be alright, it’s just…”
She looked up into her mother’s eyes. “Just what?”
Ice filled the pit of my gut.
“He’s just going to be… tired for a while,” Vanessa said, forcing out a smile. “You know how your father is, darling. He’ll be up and walking around and complaining about the Wall Street Journal op-ed page before you know it…”
“Vanessa,” I said.
She glanced up from her daughter. “Come here, son.”
I’d managed to hold it together right until she called me that. By the time the two of us were hugging, I was sobbing. Vanessa held me tight, her fingers rubbing the spot between my shoulder blades the same way she’d done with Marcie.
“Why did you not call me?” I asked. “Daniel, he…”
“He told me not to,” Vanessa said, her tone making it clear that wasn’t her decision. “And… until a short while ago, I didn’t know…”
She broke off with a sob. She didn’t need to say the rest.
Didn’t know if he was going to pull through.
Hell. I didn’t like it, but I understood it.
“How did you find out?” Vanessa asked. “Mona, I suppose?”
I grimaced. “They sprung it on us in the middle of Kiki’s interview.”
Vanessa actually gasped. “Oh Jesus,” she whispered, putting a hand to her mouth.
“It’s okay. Mona says it’s going to play great online.”
Vanessa blinked away her tears. “Come in,” she said, taking mine and Marcie’s hands. “I’m assuming everyone else is waiting downstairs?”
I nodded. “Mona’s got them all corralled. I’m sure she’ll want to come up and see Daniel in a bit—”
I trailed off. The room was nicer than I expected, and Daniel had it all to himself. He was sitting propped up in bed, with a pillow behind his neck and a frankly absurd amount of blankets covering him from his chest to his toes. He looked…
A lump filled my throat.
He looked small. And old.