"Is this Aiden Reeves?" a sharp voice interrupts in my ear.
I frown. "It is, who is this? Why do you have my dad's phone?"
"I'm sorry to inform you, Mr. Reeves, but your father's had a heart attack. He's currently at Jefferson Hospital receiving care. You're listed in his phone and on his insurance as his emergency contact so we wanted to give you a call to inform you. Is there anyone else he would want us to call?"
In an instant, all the blood drains from my head and my mouth goes dry.A heart attack? How? When? He's the healthiest 50-year-old I know, how could—
"Mr. Reeves? Is there anyone else you'd like us to call?"
"N-no, there's no one else," I stammer, feeling frozen. "I mean, it's just us. It's always been just us." Somehow, a little bit of clarity seeps into my brain. "Wait, you said he's receiving treatment? So he's okay?"
"It would be better if you came into the hospital to discuss with his doctor. We can explain everything then."
"And I can see him?" I ask in a desperate rush.
"Yes. Although he might be resting when you get here. The attack hit him pretty hard."
That's the sentence that drops my stomach through the fucking floor.
"Okay, I'll be right there," I murmur in a daze. "Thank you for calling."
I pressendon the call and put my phone down. For a moment, I can only stare at the counter in front of me. I can't wrap my head around anything right now, how did this even…?
A quiet voice sounds from beside me. "Aiden? Is everything okay?" I feel a gentle touch on my arm. "What's wrong?"
I turn to see Dani standing beside me with a worried look on her face.
"It's my dad," I say in a monotone voice. "He had a heart attack.”
She sucks in a startled breath. "What? When? Is he okay?"
Swallowing roughly, I nod in answer. "Yeah," I croak out. "He's at Jefferson."
"We have to go then," she says immediately, tugging on my arm. "Come on, I'll call the Uber."
Something about that strikes me as odd. With a frown, I ask her, "You're coming with me?"
"Of course I'm coming with you," she says in a rush. "I'm not letting you go by yourself. Come on, we should go."
The next twenty minutes are a blur. I let Dani take the lead, calling an Uber and shuffling me into it when it arrives. She figures out where we need to get dropped off, and asks people for directions inside the hospital. Finally, they give us a room number for my dad.
It isn't until I'm standing in front of it that it hits me what I'm about to walk into. I clutch at Dani's hand and ask in a rushed whisper, "Can you come in with me? Please? I—I don't know what I'm about to walk into."
She wraps her other hand around mine where I'm probably squeezing her hand way too hard. "Of course. If you want me to." Nodding quickly, I keep her close to me as I force myself to walk into the hospital room with my sick dad.
As soon as I'm through the door, it hits me how serious this situation is. My dad had aheart attack. I could've lost him. I almost did.
And the thought of that—of being truly alone in the world—is enough to make me freeze in place. In shock. In pain.
"It's okay," I hear Dani murmur beside me. She's pressed tight to my side, squeezing my hand in encouragement and letting me know I'm not alone. "He's okay, Aiden. He's just sleeping. Look."
Sure enough, when I force myself to look at my dad, I see his chest rising and falling in its normal pattern. Physically he looks fine—minus the machines that he's currently hooked up to. But if I block all of that out, and focus instead on the small snores I can hear him letting out, then it really does just seem like he's just sleeping.
"Oh thank God," I find myself breathing, rushing to his side and collapsing in the chair beside his bed. I reach blindly for his hand and squeeze it, more desperate for the feel of his warm skin than anything else.
"He's okay," Dani whispers. I feel her take a stand behind my chair, resting her hands on my shoulders and squeezing reassuringly. That simple touch is enough to bring me down from my panic and settle me into a slightly more controlled state.
"Thank you," I whisper. I don't take my eyes off my dad, but she knows I'm talking to her. She squeezes my shoulders again, not needing to say anything else.