* * *
“He’s going to be okay.”
I hated hospitals. The last time had not been the best of experiences, and every time I even drove past one, my body would stiffen and my head would swim. There were too many memories linked with it. Shitty food, the smell of detergent and disinfectant, and of course, the endless pain. That was the worst of it.
Which made the sight if my father in the ICU even worse. He was lying on a bed hooked up to enough wires to light up an entire block. The constant beeping of the heart monitor filled my head, and I struggled just to keep my concentration on what the doctor was telling me.
“Luckily nothing’s broken,” he said, flipping through the pages of my father’s chart. He looked like a med student, and a part of me wondered if he even knew what he was doing. “At his age, that would have been the biggest problem. He’s stable for now, and once he’s awake, we’ll run an MRI.”
“When do you think he’ll wake up?” I asked, looking at Samuel through the large glass window separating the hall from the ICU.
“Hard to tell,” the doctor replied. “I’m guessing pretty soon. It’s probably just the shock of the attack. What happened, exactly?”
“That’s what I’m going to try and find out,” I replied, my anger now taking a front seat and pushing my worry over Samuel to the back. I wanted to get my hands on Heath and beat his teeth out the back of his fucking head.
“Well, if it’s any consolation, the Sheriff’s downstairs, waiting to get a statement,” the doctor said. “If you have anything to say, it’ll be best to tell him.”
“Thank you, doctor,” I replied.
“Other than that, I suggest you go home,” he continued. “There’s nothing more for you to do here anyway, and we’ll call you if there’s any change.”
I nodded, shook his hand, and made my way back to the waiting room. Jenni was sitting on one of the bigger couches, Kelly curled up in her arms and asleep. I sat down next to them, stroking Kelly’s hair and quickly pulling away when her body shook like a leaf. Jenni kissed her head, rubbed her shoulder and attempted to calm her down.
“What did the doctor say?” Jenni asked.
“Told us to go home,” I said. “And that the Sheriff’s downstairs if I want to leave a statement.”
“What do you want to do?” she asked.
“I want to take Kelly home,” I replied. “I’ll pass by the Sheriff in the morning.”
“I’m so sorry, Alex,” Jenni said, gently shaking Kelly awake. I watched as my daughter’s eyes fluttered open, her face scarred with tear streaks. She sat up slowly, looked around her in confusion, then stiffened when she realized where she was.
“Grandpa?” she asked, looking at me with eyes that quickly watered.
“He’s okay,” I said. “Still asleep, but the doctors tell me he’s going to be just fine. We’ll go home and come back in the morning.”
Kelly quickly shook her head. “I don’t want to leave him.”
“It’s not up to us, sweetheart,” I said. “They’re kicking us out anyway. There’s nothing we can do here anyway.”
“I don’t want to leave,” she sobbed. She leaned into my arms and began to cry again. I held her tight, the fury inside me burning. A part of me knew that if I came across Heath right now, I’d probably kill him.
“I know,” I said, kissing her head. “Come on, we’ll be back in the morning. That’s only a couple of hours away.”
Kelly nodded and let me pull her to her feet. She held Jenni’s hand, leaning into her as we made our way to the elevators and rode one down. The hospital was empty this time of the night, the fluorescents casting an eerie glow as we walked down the narrow hallway and turned a corner into the emergency room. A single nurse manned the station there, chatting quietly with a man I assumed was the Sheriff. He was dressed casually and looked like he had been dragged out of bed.
He caught my eye, said something to the nurse, then walked up to us.
“Mr. Logan,” he greeted, sticking his hand out. I took it. “I’m Sheriff Baker. I’m terribly sorry about Samuel. He’s an old friend, and when they told me about what happened I came down right away.”
“Thank you, Sheriff,” I said. “If it’s okay with you, I need to get my daughter home. She’s had quite the shock for the day.”
“I can only imagine,” the Sheriff sighed. He looked at Jenni, then quickly back at me. “Any idea who was responsible for this?”
I nodded. “Heath Collins.”
The Sheriff frowned and looked at Jenni again. “Are you sure?”