“Um…” She glanced over her shoulder, biting her lip. “Well, nothing’s been writtenin his file yet, they’re still running some tests, but I could give you aguess, if you’d like.”
“Yeah,sure,” I nodded, “tell me what you think.”
Clearingher throat, she stepped away from the computer and toward me. “He didn’t haveanother heart attack. What’s going on … or, what Ithinkis going on is,your father is battling heart disease.”
“Oh,”I said, nodding. “So, he’s gonna take some pills and be okay.”
Thenurse chewed at her lip for a moment before shaking her head. “Well, it’s notalways that simple, and with Ischemic heart disease, the prognosis isn’t great.You should be prepared for that. But we can be positive and hope for the—”
“Well,you just said that they’re still running tests, right?” I interrupted,instantly annoyed and defensive.
Sheswallowed, clutching at her hands. “Right, but—”
“Then,I guess we’ll wait for the results to come back before we start assumin’anything.”
Nodding,she offered an obviously fake smile. “Absolutely. And I’m Andrea, by the way. Ihave your dad tonight.”
Inodded once, not bothering to ask how she knew he was my father. “Vinnie.”
Fora moment, Andrea stood, frozen in front of me, before walking back to hercomputer.She’s weird, I thought. Weird and awkward, but that sarcasticwit of hers told me she was okay.With a nice ass, I also noted,glancing at her back, and smirked.
***
Popshadn’t slept much, and I slept even less, little thanks to Andrea and herseemingly constant vital checks. So, come morning, he and I were both runningon fumes and desperate to be back home and in our beds.
Withoutwarning, the door of the room flew open and in came my brother and sister,worried and frantic.
“Itold you guys, you didn’t have to come,” I mumbled, seeing as Pops had onlyjust drifted off into something kind of like sleep. “I know shit looked kindabad last night, but we’re good. At least for now.”
Jennascowled angrily. “You’re kidding, right? I couldn’t even get back to sleepafter you called.”
“Itried but there wasn’t any point,” Zach muttered in reply, glancing over to thebed. Then, he asked, “How’s he doin’?”
Ishrugged. “I dunno. I mean, he had that little episode late last night but thatwas it. After a while, he was feeling better.”
Jenswiped a rogue tear from her cheek. “I can’t believe we’re back here again.”
“Meneither.”
Zachtightened his arms around his middle and shook his head. “He should’ve takenbetter care of himself. We knew he’d be back here again if he didn’t get his—”
“Willyou stop?” Jenna snapped quietly, smacking the back of her hand against hischest. “We could all talk about what he should’ve been doing or what heshould’ve not been doing, but the fact of the matter is that he’s—”
Shewas interrupted by the door opening. I thought it would be Andrea again, shewas just about due to check Pops’s vitals again, but it wasn’t her. A doctor,short with dark hair and dark skin, entered the room wielding a clipboard. Shesaw the three of us, huddled together at the foot of our father’s bed, and whenshe noticed he was finally asleep, she beckoned for us to join her in thehallway.
“Myname is Doctor Singh,” she introduced herself, offering a kind smile to each ofus. “You are all Mr. Marino’s children, yes?”
Wenodded in unison as Jenna asked, “How is he?”
Dr.Singh’s smile shifted to a straight, thin line as she addressed her notes.“Well, at the moment, he appears to be stable. He didn’t experience a heartattack last night but—”
“Oh,thank God,” Jenna breathed, gripping onto Zach’s arm.
Clearlynot a fan of being interrupted, the doctor hardened her glare as she continued,“But, after running a number of tests, we have been able to confirm thatyour father has coronary artery disease, or CAD.”
Everyvertebrae in my spine locked stiffly into place as my brother asked, “So … whatexactly does that mean?”
Herexpression became solemn and a deep line formed between her brows. “Whathappens with CAD is, plaque lines the walls of the blood vessels, making thepathways to the heart more and more narrow, until eventually the blood flow isstopped altogether.”
