I lose track of how much time passes. It feels like forever. I sit in the chair beside my dad's bed, holding his hand and waiting for him to wake up at the same time that I will him to rest. At some point the doctor comes in to explain what happened and what his body went through, but I'm still too out of it to fully comprehend the details. Thankfully Dani is there to ask questions, and when I finally shake out of my haze later that night, she calmly answers my panicked concerns.
"You should go home," I eventually croak out when I realize what time it is. She's been here for hours, despite the fact that she's never even met my dad.
"I'm okay," she says with a yawn. She's laying on the uncomfortable bench on the other side of the hospital room, the same place she's been for the past four hours since the doctor last left us.
"You don't need to stay, Dani," I try to tell her, but even I can hear the lie in my voice.
She levels a look at me, seeing right through me. "I'll stay until he wakes up and you realize he's okay," she says in a firm voice. In a voice that says she means what she's saying and nothing but an act of God will pull her away before she's ready.
"Okay," I whisper miserably. Helplessly.
I must fall asleep at some point, because I'm bent over his bed with a crick in my neck when I eventually feel a hand smooth over my head. I jerk upright with a gasp.
"Calm down, kiddo, it's just me," he says. And just hearing that voice is enough to bring tears to my eyes.
"Dad," I choke out.
"I'm here," he croaks. "Can you get me some water? My throat's drier than a nun's cunt."
My laugh is wet and infinitely grateful. I force myself to my feet so I can grab a cup from the table beside him and fill it with water from the bathroom sink, then I'm bringing it over to him and handing it over.
"What happened?" he says after taking a big drink.
"You had a heart attack," I say tightly.
He gives me a look that almost seems guilty. "Guess I'm not as healthy as I thought I was, huh?"
I collapse in the chair beside his bed again. "Fuck,Dad, I thought I was going to lose you. Don't ever do that to me again. You're all I have."
At that, Dad's gaze darts over to the sleeping Dani curled up on the hard bench.
I swallow roughly. "She was with me when we got the call. She just didn't want to leave me alone when I panicked."
Dad's eyes track back to me. "You sure about that?"
No. I'm not. But I'm not ready to examine the other possibilities.
Instead of starting that conversation, I launch into questioning him about every detail of his diet and exercise routine, and add in my own comments about the doctor's suggestions.
An hour later, he's long since drifted back to sleep when Dani's eyes open.
"Hey there, sleeping beauty," I say with a tired smile.
She blinks herself awake, looking confused as she watches me. "You seem better. Did he wake up?"
I swallow again and nod. "He did. We talked for a while but he fell back asleep."
When her eyes dart to my dad, she seems nervous for the first time since I got the phone call.
"I'm glad," she says, although her tone is stiff. "Did the doctor say when he'll be discharged?"
"Probably a day or so. Physically he's fine now, just tired. I'm going to take him home and stay at his house for a few days. Just to make sure he's okay and taking it easy."
"That's a good idea," she says, straightening from the couch and getting to her feet. I can't for the life of me figure out why she seems uncomfortablenow, versus when she first came to the hospital.
She cuts off my internal confusion when she says, "I'm going to head home then. I have to reschedule my trip to Virginia, so I should probably get that sorted."
The reminder of her trip is enough to make me startle. "Shit, you were supposed to leave today. Why didn't you say something?"