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“Whatever.”
We’re walking down the hall in the intensive care unit when Dr. Johnson speaks up. “She must be the middle daughter. He mentioned he had three.”
“That obvious, huh?”
“I have three daughters as well. It happens. But as the father, there’s a reason why we choose a certain child first. It means you’re the toughest and the first person you see after a significant health crisis will see you at your weakest.” He pats my back and nods toward the room with a smile.
I push through the door to see my father sitting up and looking good for someone who just had a heart attack followed by immediate surgery. His eyes find mine, and for a second, they get a little glassy before he smiles.
“If this was all just to get me to visit, I am not amused,” I tell him before a smile pulls at my lips.
“Ellie.”
“Hi, Dad,” I whisper as I move through his private room and lean down gently to hug him. I search for that familiar scent to trigger my nostalgia brought on by my father’s hugs but I only smell the faint smell of the hospital. “How…are you not eating well? Are you exercising?”
“Wow, you’ve been here for five seconds and you’re already on me. That has to be a record.”
“Dad, I’m serious.” I stare into his warm chocolate eyes and shake my head. “I’m still not ready to be an orphan,” I repeat the words I’d said to him years ago when my mom died. He’d smoked cigarettes for years and once she died, I made him promise to quit because I was scared of what would happen if something took the only parent we had left. He’d quit after much badgering and crying and months of temper tantrums.
Truly, I delivered some Academy Award-worthy performances.
“I know,” he tells me with a nod. “I’ll do better, Ellie. Please don’t cry.” He reaches for my hand and squeezes it.
“I thought when I left…” I sniffle as a tear falls down my cheek. “You said you’d be fine.”
“And I am.”
“Clearly not!”I exclaim before letting out a defeated sigh. “I wasn’t planning to move back yet.” I bite my bottom lip thinking about how I would uproot my life back to Ohio. Transferring schools would be easy, but the thought of leaving four people I’m very attached to feels like it would be impossible.
“And I don’t need you to. Honey, sometimes things just happen when you get older. Could I be taking better care of myself? Yes. But I don’t need you to do that for me. You did that for long enough.”
A sad smile pulls at my lips. “I met someone…in Maryland.”
“Oh?” The biggest smile crosses his face because he’s been asking me for a grandchild for about two years now. “Is he here?” He nods toward the door.
“No, he wanted to come. But…I told him I wanted to come alone.”I’ll give him the rundown on the details later…juuuust in case he’s not thrilled about his age.“I think you’ll really like him.”
“Honey, if he’s got your stamp of approval, I love him like a son already.”
Later that night, only Emily and I are left at the hospital. My grandma left and Trent took my niece home. Eden came straight from the airport, but once she found out he was okay and saw him, she went home to change and drop off her stuff. So, Emily and I are sitting next to each other in the waiting room while they do some tests on my father when she speaks up.
“We’re moving,” Emily says sadly and I turn to look at her.
“What?”
“We’re moving…”, she repeats. “Trent is getting transferred.”
“To where? Tell me you mean like down the street.”
She shakes her head. “Chicago.”
“Chicago!?” I say. “You…when?!”
“Next month?” she offers weakly. “They said they could put it off for a few months but we agreed to go because we wanted to move before I got too pregnant.”
“Put it off! Our father just had a heart attack!”
“You think I don’t know that? I didn’t know this was going to happen when we agreed, Ellie. God,” she says before putting her hands over her eyes. “You think I would have said yes if I did? You’re not the only person who cares about Dad,” she snaps.