Page 350 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol 4

“But he’s okay, right? He’s going to be okay? The ambulance got here in time?”

She wiped beneath her eyes, smudging more of her mascara. “Mercy Hospital has the best doctors in the city.”

That wasn’t an answer. My body wanted so badly to crumble to the floor. But I couldn’t sit and wait like she’d asked. There wasn’t enough time. There was never enough time. And I wasn’t ready to run out of it.

Mercy Hospital was only a few blocks away. So I started running. Hoping I wasn’t too late. But I was never the one with hope. That had been my mom.

***

I was somehow still standing after running to the hospital and bypassing the slow nurse in the emergency room who didn’t realize that I was in an emergency. But whatever energy I had left dissipated as soon as I walked into my uncle’s hospital room.

Some kind of mask was over his face and tubes were attached to his arms. His breathing sounded labored despite the equipment. He looked so pale. I swallowed hard.

“Uncle Jim?” I said softly. “I’m here.”

The only response I got was a labored breath. His eyes were closed. The nurse said he was resting. But I wasn’t sure why doctors weren’t swarming around trying to figure out what was going on. The school receptionist said he couldn’t breathe. That he’d coughed up blood. I saw a trickle, dried and black, on the corner of his mouth.

I pulled a chair closer to his bed and sat down. “Uncle Jim?” I slipped my hand into his and tried not to cringe at how cold his skin was. “Wake up, okay? I need you.”

As the minutes ticked by, I felt calmer. I was used to sitting in hospital rooms waiting. And waiting didn’t necessarily mean bad. Waiting for a clean bill of health for my mom. Waiting for the results of the experimental treatment. Always waiting. If something was seriously wrong, there would be no waiting. He’d be in surgery. Or something.

Besides, my uncle was healthier than ever. He’d lost weight since I’d moved in with him. He was eating more vegetables than sweets. The only thing that had seemed off was his cough. And even that had gotten better. It was just a cold. He wasn’t supposed to be lying here. Not for a cold.

“Wake up,” I whispered. “Please wake up.” I squeezed his hand.

“Are you Jim’s niece?”

I turned around. There was a doctor standing there, staring at me. I hadn’t heard him come in over all the beeping of the machines.

“Yes.” I dropped my uncle’s hand and stood up. “Is he okay? Why isn’t he waking up?”

He looked down at his clipboard. “We gave him something to help him rest.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “So he’ll wake up soon?”

“In a few hours. We’ve given him some morphine for the pain.”

“When can I take him home?”

“Home?” He shook his head. “I’m afraid that’s not possible.”

“But it’s just a cold. He needs rest. And hot soup.” I laughed, but it sounded forced.

“It’s not a cold.” The doctor put the clipboard under his arm. “I just got off the phone with his oncologist. He fought it for years,but he stopped his treatment months ago. It wasn’t working anymore.”

“Fought what?” I didn’t know what an oncologist was. But it sounded fancy and I’d learned that any fancy medical name usually meant something horrible. “He just has a bad cough. I tried to get him to see a doctor, but he insisted it was nothing. So…it’s nothing. It’s nothing, right?” I didn’t even believe my own words.

“He has stage IV lung cancer. I’m so sorry. I figured you knew.”

I felt like I couldn’t breathe. “So get him back on his treatment.”

“That’s not how it works. It’s too late.”

“It’s not too late. He’s here right now. Give him the treatment.”

The doctor shook his head. “Like I said, he’s resting. I’ve given him morphine for the pain. It’s the best we can do. I’d recommend that you start making arrangements.”

“Arrangements for what?” My brain couldn’t process his words. I refused to. This doctor was clearly a lunatic that had escaped from the crazy part of the hospital. Was there an asylum at Mercy? I couldn’t remember.