“I’ll be right back, Daddy,” I say. I rest his head gently on the towel and run to the kitchen for the phone.
Someone is beating on the door, and I dial as I run to open it.
Colton is standing on the front steps, his eyes wild with worry. “I heard you scream,” he says. “What’s wrong?”
I leave the door open as I run back toward the hallway. “It’s my dad,” I say. “I came home and he was passed out in the bathroom. I think he hit his head. I’m calling 9-1-1.”
“I’ll talk to them,” he says, reaching for the phone. “You just sit with your dad.”
I nod, tears now streaming down my face. Dad still hasn’t woken up, and he looks so pale lying there on the floor. I never should have left him here alone when he’s been acting so strange lately.
Guilt weighs heavy on me as I hear Colton telling the 9-1-1 operator our address.
The one night I decide to let loose and have fun and this is what happens? It’s like fate is punishing me for thinking I could ever have any sort of normal life.
I belong here with my father, and he means more to me than anything else in this world. If anything were to ever happen to him, I would never forgive myself.
“They’re sending an ambulance right away,” Colton says. He brings a blanket from the couch in the living room and rests it over my father’s legs. “What in the world happened? Did he slip and fall?”
“I don’t know,” I say, barely able to contain my hysteria. “I have no idea how long he’s been like this. I can’t believe we were out all night while he was just here by himself.”
Colton touches my arm. “It’s not your fault,” he says. “Accidents like this happen. You couldn’t have known he was hurt.”
I pull away faster than I mean to. “I should have checked on him earlier,” I say. “I know he hasn’t been feeling right lately, and I should never have left him alone.”
The sound of sirens in the distance brings fresh tears to my eyes. How could this be happening?
“I’m sure it’s nothing too serious,” he says calmly. “Just a bump on the head. They’ll get him in and check everything out, make sure he doesn’t have a concussion. It’s going to be okay. I can’t see how this would be related to what’s going on with his hands. Arthritis wouldn’t make him fall. Everything’s going to be fine, Jo.”
“How can you know that?” I snap.
I close my eyes and sit down hard against the cold tiles.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you,” I say. “I’m just scared. I’ve never seen him like this before.”
I don’t want to say it out loud, but there’s a part of me that knows there’s more to this fall than just an accident on the way to the bathroom. He’s been acting strange a lot lately, having a hard time picking things up with his hands or running credit cards at the bar. I’ve seen him trip up and nearly fall a few times in the past couple weeks, and I just dismissed it at the time, but the worry has been there in the back of my mind, brewing.
What if this is really something serious?
I’m shaking so hard, my teeth are chattering. I simply couldn’t handle it if anything happened to my father. He’s everything to me.
Colton sits on the floor in the hallway and places his hand on mine. I keep one hand on the towel pressed against my father’s forehead to stop the bleeding. The gash doesn’t look too bad, but any kind of blow to the head is bad news.
The ambulance can’t get here fast enough, and even though I can hear the sirens wailing, it feels like it’s taking them forever to actually arrive.
When they finally pull up and the flashing lights pulse across the dark hallway, Colton stands and lets them in the front door.
I recognize the paramedic who comes down the hallway. We used to go to school together, and his father is good friends with my dad.
“Josh, thank you so much for coming,” I say. “I don’t know what happened.”
Josh drops his bag in the hall beside the bathroom door. “How long has he been out?” he asks.
“I don’t know. I was caught up in the storm all evening and just got home and found