When the Heart Lies - By Christina North Page 0,68
hard wooden bench as Nick headed off. His cell rang and rang. When the nurse glanced up from the desk and tilted her head with wide eyes, he finally answered. It was Olivia. “Olivia, this is a bad time. I’ll call you back.”
Before he hung up, she interrupted. “Wait. It’s about Kinsley and Max.” Silence.
He stood, turned his ashen face from Nick’s view, and spoke into the phone. “At eight-thirty a.m. on a Sunday morning, this must be serious.”
Olivia spoke up right away. “It is. This morning, Jackson went to talk to Kinsley’s friend, Veda. Max was at her house. Wayde brought him down this morning, telling them he was taking Kinsley back to Lakeside, but there’s no pending admission. Max is safe with Veda until he’s able to get back to New York. We put an officer at the house.”
“And Kinsley?”
Nick came up behind Xavier just in time to hear her name.
“What about Kinsley?” When he got no response, his brows furrowed tight, and he questioned him again. “Dad, what about her?”
Xavier held his finger up and went back to his call. “Go ahead, Olivia.”
“We don’t know anything yet. Jackson is still on his way to Wayde’s house. He wanted you informed right away. I thought you might want to arrange for Max to get home as soon as you can.”
“Call me when you get any new information.” Xavier was quiet again.
Nick was waiting in anticipation for an answer, which would be difficult even in the best of situations.
Olivia spoke before he could hang up. “Xavier, are you okay? You don’t sound right.”
He sighed, but it was broken. “It’s Angela. She’s had a stroke. I need to go.” He hung up before she could speak and turned to Nick. He didn’t officially know anything about Kinsley yet and only told him about Max. “Max is ready to come home. I’m going to have Jonathan fly down and pick him up, so we can be here for your mother.”
“You handled that fast. I’m glad you agreed he should be home. What about Kinsley?”
“No information. Your mother? Has she woken up yet?”
Nick slipped his hands into his pockets, glanced away and back again. “No. The nurse said she woke briefly and was agitated, so they had to sedate her. They’d like to keep her quiet. She gets too distressed when she awakens. The nurse also said the behavior is a common reaction with stroke patients. If she’s stable enough tomorrow, they’ll move her from Intensive Care. There’s not much we can do here tonight.”
They sat and leaned back in unison, slumping against the cement wall for support. Xavier called Jonathan. He gave him Olivia’s number and asked him to make arrangements to pick up Max as soon as possible. As he ended the call, he noticed Angela’s doctor walking in their direction and stood.
“Mr. Wentworth? I’m Dr. Sheehy.” The doctor stuck his hand out, and Xavier shook it. Sheehy then extended his hand to Nick. “Are you a relative?”
Nick nodded.
Xavier turned to Nick and placed his hand on his shoulder. “This is my son, Nick. You can talk in front of him.”
“She’s stabilized, and she’s lucky to be alive.” The doctor focused on what he was saying, moving his head back and forth, accentuating the depth of his statements. “The stroke caused severe damage. There’ll be a long rehabilitation. At the moment, there’s no telling how much of a recovery she’ll have, if any. She’s unable to speak or move her right side. Try to keep things positive. She’ll be able to hear whatever you say when you do visit with her. Right now, she’s still sedated. You might want to take advantage of that time, and come back to see her tomorrow.” The doctor shook their hands again and left.
Xavier watched after him. When the doctor was out of sight, he sighed, and turned to Nick. “Nick, are you going to be okay? I can drive you home.”
Nick buried his face in his hands.
“You can come back to the house if you like. Stay with me. I’ll make sure things are taken care of with Max.”
Nick looked up, dragging his face from his hands. “What? Oh. No, I’m fine. You go. I’m just going to sit here a few minutes.” His eyes wandered a bit and then came back to Xavier. “Go. Really, I’ll be fine.”
~ ~ ~
Jackson parked at a distance from Wayde’s house and walked through the grove. Everything still appeared quiet. As he neared the back porch,