out of sync. But if you continue to worsen at the pace you have so far, it’s possible you’ll need a heart transplant.”
Savannah feared her heart would stop right then. She couldn’t even bring herself to look at Shaun, knowing she’d break down. “A transplant? It could get that bad?”
“There is a possibility, yes.” He stood and hung the chart back on the foot of her bed. “But don’t dwell on that. Your chances for a full recovery are good.”
He gave them a parting smile and nod, then left them to sit with the reality of a heart so broken it might never heal.
SHAUN WOKE DISORIENTED, THE LAST of his dream still playing out in his mind as he opened his eyes to a room with too much light. He shook the disturbing images from his head and checked the clock, then groaned when he saw he’d overslept.
By the time he got downstairs for breakfast it was almost nine o’clock. He heard Jessie in her room, talking on the phone, and realized he couldn’t leave for work until he told her what was going on with Savannah. She’d already been asleep when he’d gotten home the night before, and he’d been reluctant to wake her since he wasn’t sure if she had a morning shift. Apparently she did not, which meant she was probably on the phone with Adam; that conversation could go on for hours. Shaun decided to have his breakfast and then ask her to hang up so they could talk.
“… And then we could do a sundae bar for dessert, maybe see if The Sweet Shoppe would be willing to donate – oh wait, my dad’s here, hold on a sec.” She covered the mouthpiece of her cell with her hand. “Hey, Dad, what’s up? I didn’t know you were still here.”
“I overslept this morning. Can we talk for a minute before I leave for work?”
Her face clouded. “Yeah, hold on.” She went back to her phone. “Hey, let me call you back. My dad needs me for a minute. Cool?… Okay, love you too. Bye.” She hung up and tossed the phone on the bed. “It’s about Mom, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.” He sat across from her on the bed, their knees touching over the floral bedspread as he laid out the details, starting with Savannah’s collapse. “They’ve started her on some medications that might help – in fact, they seem fairly confident that they will. But she’s going to be in the hospital for at least another week, possibly more.”
Her eyes got big. “Wow. That’s a long time.”
He huffed out a chuckle. “Yes, it is.”
“But then what?”
“Well, hopefully the medications will help take some of the pressure off her heart and let it heal. Once it does…” he shrugged. “She’ll be back to normal.”
Jessie nodded slowly. “That’s good.”
“Yeah.”
“So… anything else?”
“Well, she asked me to get her laptop to her sometime today. I was hoping you could take it to her.”
She made a face. “I don’t know if I’ll have time. Adam and I have to finish planning the freshman welcome dinner, and I’m working until five-”
“Jessie, this is your mother. She’s lonely in there.”
Jessie rolled her eyes. “Come on, Dad, we both know she’s not desperate for
He arched his brows in reproach. “You’re her daughter. Of course she wants to see you.”
She sighed, slumping back against the pillows. “Come on, Dad. You know we don’t get along.”
“I know – and that’s why I think you ought to go in and see her. How often do you two spend time alone together? Your relationship will never improve if you’re never together.”
“But, Dad, hanging out with someone and hanging out in the ICU are completely different. Seriously, it’s just going to feel forced. She’ll know it, and I’ll know it, and it’ll be totally uncomfortable.”
He remembered yesterday afternoon, when Savannah had gone off about them not being spiritual enough lately. Maybe with that personal awakening her eyes would be opened to how distant she was from her own daughter. “She may be a little… easier to relate to.” He put up his hands in surrender. “Look, you’re an adult; you can make your own decisions. Just bring her the laptop and leave if you want to.”
“Oh, right, that would be really nice.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re telling me everything, right? They didn’t give her only a month to live or anything?”
“Well, no. They think it’s serious, but they seem to think they’ll be able to get it under control.”
“But what if they can’t?”
He hadn’t wanted to get into the what if’s. He let out a long breath. “If they can’t, she might need a heart transplant.”
Her eyes went wide. “Oh-oh wow.”
“Yeah. But really, they don’t seem to think it will get that bad. Although being cooped up in there by herself might be enough to do her in,” he said, attempting a joke.
Jessie looked at the clock, then back at him with a look of resignation. “I work at noon; I’ll go see her before then.”
He stood and planted a kiss on her forehead. “You’re a good daughter.”
“You’re a good dad. And guilt-tripper.”
He laughed for the first time in two days. “Thanks, I think.”
Shaun got in the car and headed for A &A. He hadn’t planned on working today, but Savannah had insisted. “The only thing you can do here is sit in an uncomfortable chair all day and read while I nap.” She was right, of course, but he still felt like he should be there – if for no other reason than to monitor how her spirits were doing. He hadn’t said anything to her before leaving, but by the time he was finally kicked out of the ICU, he was concerned at how much she’d slept and how much more drawn she looked. Certainly it was just the shock of the previous 24 hours of tests and news and constantly being awakened by nurses when she was trying to nap. But still…
He shook the thoughts from his head. No use borrowing trouble. She was in the best place possible if she truly was deteriorating, and dwelling on it wouldn’t fix anything. He had other things to think about, like the hospital bills that would be rolling in soon. A &A had decent insurance, but it didn’t cover anything 100%, and he knew hospitals were notorious for gouging you on even the smallest items, like ten bucks for an aspirin. He needed to start planning now for when those statements came, because they had no money right now to pay them.
He could think of a few ways to save some money here and there, like not going grocery shopping while she was away and just eating what they had in the house. Jessie usually had one meal at home, sometimes two, and he could skip breakfast. Over a week that wouldn’t amount to much, but he could get used to it now and then keep it up when Savannah came home. Over the long run it would help a little.
But not nearly enough. He knew that for sure. The only way he could think to get more would be to skim more from A &A. And in order to do that, he’d need to get rid of Nick.
Savannah would be mad when she found out. But he had to do it. What choice was there? If Nick was as conscientious as he appeared to be, it wouldn’t take long before he figured out Shaun’s scheme.
He didn’t anticipate any pushback; one of the reasons he’d hired Nick was because one of his references mentioned something about Nick’s avoidance of confrontation. As long as Shaun stayed firm, chances were Nick would slink away and never come back.
Shaun pulled into the parking lot and sat in his car for a minute, psyching himself up. He wished he could just get it over with, but he didn’t want to do it at the beginning of the day when everyone was around to see Nick pack up. He’d catch him around 4, ask him to stop by Shaun’s office before he left for the evening.
As for what Shaun would do until then, he had his work cut out for him. Time to start reacquainting himself with how to do the job of an accountant.
JESSIE TOOK THE LONG WAY to the hospital, giving herself time to let her emotions sort themselves out before facing her mother. She was angry with Shaun for guilting her into going. But mostly she was scared. Scared to go to the hospital, a place she’d only been one other time, to say goodbye to a dying friend in high school. Scared to see her normally vibrant and healthy mother in the stark white bed. And, despite her chronic irritation with Savannah, she was scared her mother might die.
