needed to keep his feet solidly on the ground.
“Your grandmother is so strong, baby girl. She will pull through this. It’s just a bump in a very long and very beautiful road,” he told her, stepping back only far enough to look into her glassy eyes.
A moment of happiness ran through him — he was pleased that up to this point his granddaughter had never experienced anything but joy in her short eighteen years. Her words brought him back to attention.
“How do you know that, Grandpa? On the ride here Mom and Dad said she . . .” She stopped, not able to repeat what had happened in the chopper. Her parents had been told she’d flatlined, but none of them could say the word outloud, not when it was in regards to Katherine.
“I have faith, Jasmine. We all need to have faith,” Joseph said as he took her hand and placed it on his heart. “Feel this?” he choked. “It’s too full of love to lose her. And I know yours is just as full. Our love will keep her with us.” He had to stop or he was going to completely fall apart.
Jasmine didn’t even attempt to stop her tears as she cradled her head against her grandpa’s heart, allowing the gentle beat to soothe her. He rubbed her satin hair as she shook in his arms. Needing to be strong for her was helping him more than anything else could have at that moment.
“Do you have more information?” Alex asked. Their voices had all quieted as they stood in a circle. Joseph knew that Jasmine being there with them was keeping the panic down, was keeping them from shouting. None of them were used to waiting for anyone. Situations like this were foreign to them. They were leaders, they were warriors. They didn’t like their lives being in someone else’s hands.
Joseph didn’t know what to say to Alex, but he was saved from answering when the doors to the room opened again and more family stepped inside. Now the already crowded room was growing to alarming numbers. Mark and Emily pushed their way through. They gave Joseph half hugs as Jasmine wasn’t leaving his side, both giving their niece a gentle kiss on the top of her head as they backed away to the rest of the family.
Jasmine was the only grandchild there. Some of the kids were too young, or staying at camps, and some were watching the younger children at home. The hospital wasn’t the place for the kids right now. They wouldn’t be able to see their grandmother yet, and it would only cause them panic. It was better to gather at the mansion when the initial scare was over. Joseph had no doubt it would be over and he would be taking his wife home first thing in the morning. He’d never let her out of his sight again.
“We have a room for your family,” a nurse said as she stepped forward with Brooke. “Brooke’s let me know there will be many more people showing up, and we thought we’d give you privacy.”
Joseph could barely focus on the young redheaded nurse. He wasn’t able to process her words. His mind just couldn’t focus on anything.
“This way, Dad,” Lucas said as he gripped Joseph’s free elbow and smiled at his daughter, who was still clinging tightly to her grandfather.
“Okay,” Joseph answered, finding himself walking forward, surrounded by a circle of his family.
They moved down a hallway and entered a room with dim lighting, a lot of seats, a few tables, and other items that were meant to occupy a waiting family. Joseph didn’t care about any of it. He just cared that his family was there.
“What do we know?” Alex asked, trying again to get information.
“We should wait for the rest of the family. We know more are coming,” Brooke said. The look she got from Joseph’s kids was incredulous. They didn’t care if the story had to be repeated five hundred times. They wanted answers.
Just as Brooke began to tell the story again, the door opened and in walked George and Richard, Joseph’s brothers.
“Oh, Joseph,” George said as he rushed forward, his wife, Esther, at his side. “Please tell me she’s okay.” It was a command, and Joseph knew how his brother felt. He wanted to command she be okay too.
“We’re still waiting,” Joseph said. Richard stepped up and hugged him.
“She will be okay. There’s no doubt in my mind. She’s too strong