at the paramedic—“which hospital are we going to?”
“Good Hope Hospital has a cardiac emergency center.”
“Is that closest?”
“It’s the best.”
“Take us there.” Then I yelled down the hallway as we exited the building in case the guy hadn’t heard me the first time. “Call Edie Lund. Tell her Nolan said we’re going to Good Hope Hospital.”
On the ride to the emergency room, the paramedic asked me a bunch of questions I couldn’t answer.
Dad still hadn’t regained consciousness, but his color looked less gray after they’d placed him on oxygen. As I stared at him, I couldn’t believe my strong, larger-than-life father was in this state. He’d always been healthy. Taken good care of himself and enjoyed things in moderation. Had I pushed him too hard in the game? Did he feel he needed to prove himself to keep up with his son, half his age?
The medical staff whisked him away as soon as the ambulance doors were open. A nurse took me to the emergency room desk to fill out paperwork, but I could only answer the most basic info: name, address, age and insurance provider.
My mom arrived ten minutes after we did. I couldn’t imagine how fast she’d driven to get here so quickly.
I’d never seen her so panicked. “Where is he?”
“He’s with the doctors.”
“What happened?”
I explained and directed her to the front desk so she could finish filling out the medical portion of the admissions forms.
As soon as she finished, she demanded to see him. We were told to wait.
She paced, her high heels clicking across the tile. She had her arms crossed over her chest and she was shaking so hard the bracelets on her arm rattled.
Without a word, I moved in front of her and wrapped her in my arms.
“I c-can’t lose him, Nolan. I c-c-can’t imagine life without him.”
“Me neither. I got him help as soon as I could.”
“You didn’t call me. You had the club call me.”
“It was the fastest way to let you know. My cell phone is still in my bag at the club.” I looked at her. “Who else did you call?”
Horror crossed her face. “No one. I grabbed my keys and slipped my shoes on and left. I don’t have my purse or my phone. We have to call Jax. And Ward and Monte.”
“I’ll call Jax.” At the front desk, I said, “Can I use your phone please?”
“Sure. Dial nine first.”
I was half-afraid Jax or Lucy wouldn’t pick up, believing it was a spam call, but after the second time I called, he answered with, “What?”
“Jax. Mom and I are at Good Hope Hospital. Dad had a heart attack.”
“Jesus. Is he okay?”
“He was unconscious in the ambulance but we don’t know any more than that right now. He’s with the doctors.”
“I’m on my way.” He hung up.
Mom had returned to pacing.
“Jax is on his way.”
She nodded.
I stood by the door and waited for my brother. It seemed to take him longer to arrive than I thought it should.
Jax clapped me on the shoulder and went straight to Mom.
We relayed the information to him. After another hour of waiting, we’d hit the wall of politeness and demanded to know what was going on.
A woman in scrubs approached us and took us back to where they’d isolated Dad and run tests.
Mom gripped both mine and Jax’s hands hard at seeing Dad unconscious and hooked up to machines and an oxygen mask strapped over his face.
Then we were directed to a small room where we were told to wait for the cardiologist.
The woman who introduced herself as Dr. Curran appeared to be Jax’s age and she got right down to business. “Is there a history of heart disease in your family?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“Unfortunately I didn’t see anything in Archer’s medical records that he had any recent tests that would’ve given him a warning to his condition.”
“What condition?” Jax asked.
“He’s got four heart blockages. He looks fit for all intents and purposes, but I suspect, given the damage to his heart, he’s been masking his symptoms for at least a year. The good news is he is healthy enough for us to do the surgery. The bad news is he needs to have this surgery tonight.”
“What surgery?” Mom asked.
“Quadruple bypass surgery. We’ve got a team in place and as soon as we have your permission, we can get him prepped.” Then the doctor went into an explanation that should’ve come with a PowerPoint presentation. I got lost after the description of the purpose