“Angioplasty. Maybe a bypass surgery.”
He leaned back in the chair, took a long swallow of the toxictasting coffee, and studied her. “Since when did you become an expert on all things cardiac related?”
Her lips lifted. “Don’t tell anyone, but I’m a reality-medicalshow junkie. I know just enough to be dangerous. Medical diagnoses intrigue me, so I watch every medical show I can when I have a spare minute.”
“Get the fuck outta town.”
“No, I’m serious.”
He stared at her, wondering what else he didn’t know about her. “There are facets to you that continue to surprise me.”
She took a sip of coffee. “Good. I hate being predictable.”
“You are anything but predictable, Lizzie.”
He leaned over and brushed his lips against hers. “Thank you for being here with me tonight. I couldn’t have made it without you.”
“No place I’d rather be, for as long as you need me.”
Her words made him lean back, look at her. Really look at her. There was something in her eyes . . .
“Gavin.”
Gavin lifted his gaze to Jenna. He stood and so did Elizabeth.
“Doctor’s back. He said for us to meet him in one of their family discussion rooms, and he’s going to talk to us in about ten minutes.”
They followed Jenna to the room and sat. And waited. Ten minutes turned into thirty. Gavin’s skin crawled, and he was ready to climb the walls. He squeezed Elizabeth’s hand on one side and his mother’s on the other.
Finally, the doctor came in.
“I’m Dr. Miles Spinelli, one of the cardiac surgeons here. Mrs. Riley, your husband has a blockage in three arteries.”
His mother squeezed Gavin’s hand. Hard.
“What does that mean?” she asked.
“It means he’s going to need triple-bypass surgery.”
“Oh, God.”
Tears fell down her face. Gavin wrapped his arm around his mother, and Mick held her, too. Mick held Jenna’s hand, and they all sat and listened while the doctor described the bypass surgery and what it would entail for their dad. The doctors were going to strip veins from his leg and use those to bypass the clogged arteries in his heart. It was a complicated and dangerous surgery, but the doctor indicated it was done frequently with a high success rate. He would have to spend about five days in the hospital after surgery, and after that would be sent home with strict dietary and exercise instructions. The recovery would be slow and would require some lifestyle changes.
“The important thing is, he’s alive. He survived the heart attack. Many don’t. Now we’ll get him moved up to a room in the cardiac care unit, monitor him over the next twenty-four hours, and get him ready for surgery on Monday.”
Everyone stood as the doctor left.
“Well. He dodged a bullet,” Mick said.
Gavin’s mother looked pale, her tear-streaked face more than Gavin could handle. If his father had always been a rock, his mother had been Mount Everest. She held the family together, and if she fell apart, the rest of them would, too.
Right now she looked as fragile as a cracked egg.
Jenna took both of Mom’s hands in hers.
“He’s alive, Mom,” Jenna said. “Remember that. He’s still with us. He’s going to make it through this just fine.”
“That’s true,” Gavin said. “Dad’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever known. He’s going to fight.”
She nodded, glanced at each of them. “I’m so glad I have all of you.” Then she shifted her gaze to Tara and Elizabeth. “And the two of you, too. I don’t know what I’d do without you all in my life. You give me such strength. I’m going to need all of you to get through this—to get Jimmy through this.”
“We’ll all be here for you, Mom,” Gavin said. “Whatever you need.”
She swept her palm across his cheek, then kissed him and hugged him.
“I’m going to go see your father now before they get his room ready.”
Gavin exhaled, dragged his fingers through his hair. He didn’t even know what time it was, what time they’d gone to sleep last night, or what time Jenna had called. It felt like there was a boulder tied around his neck, dragging him down.
“Someone needs to convince Mom to go home and get some sleep.”
“I’ll take her,” Jenna said. “She’ll probably want to stay up here with Dad tonight, so she’ll need a shower and a change of clothes. I’ll make her something to eat.”
Mick nodded. “We can do shifts up here with her so she’s not alone.”
“I don’t know that they’ll allow more than one family member at a time in there,” Elizabeth said. “ICU usually only permits one or two. CCU might be different. You might want to check.”
Mick narrowed his gaze at her. “And now you’re an expert on hospitals? You just know everything, don’t you?”
Tara laid her hand on his arm. “Mick . . .”