“The hospital.”
I stop mid-sip. “What?”
“He wasn’t feeling good in the middle of the night, so I brought him to the ER, and they admitted him. Just for observation.”
“Why didn’t you get me up?”
“He said not to bother you.”
I open my mouth to unleash, then stop myself. I exhale instead. “I’m going to need you to wake me up when my father is sick enough to go to an ER.”
“I told him we should. I told him you’d be mad. But you know how he is.”
Yes, I do.
“How is he now?”
“He’s better.”
“The doctors are trying a new medication. Hopefully, he’ll get released today.”
“I want to talk to his doctor,” I say, heading back upstairs to get dressed.
“She won’t be back until later.”
“What’s her cell phone number?”
“I don’t have her cell phone number,” Debby says.
“No problem. I can get it.”
“I don’t think you need to call her cell phone, Rita.”
I dig through my suitcase and pull out a pair of jeans and slip them on. “I’m coming up there.”
“Well.”
I pause as I’m taking my pajama top off. “Well, what?”
“Why don’t you stay there and help us with the dogs.”
And in those words, I hear what she really means: Don’t come here.
“Did he tell you not to let me come up there?” I say.
“He just needs to rest is all.”
I grab a T-shirt and slip it on. This is the second time my father hasn’t wanted me in his hospital room. Maybe he is the one in avoidance mode. I could go up there anyway. What could he do? He’s trapped in a hospital bed. Maybe that’s the problem. In the hospital, he loses his home court advantage. Normally, that is something that spurs me on, but with him my normal rules don’t apply. “I’m going to need updates.”
“Okay.”
“I mean it, Debby. Call me as soon as the doctor sees him.”
“I will.”
We hang up, and I pad back downstairs barefoot. I refill my coffee and look around the kitchen. Now what?
I check my phone, but I don’t have any texts from Grant or Carl. My text to Katrina about meeting again has also gone unanswered even though I can see she read it.
