Thank goodness Elijah’s behind the wheel because I’m a mess. I keep asking him what happened, but he says he doesn’t know much, just that Sandy apparently crashed his car into a tree on the way back into Green Springs and was transported to the hospital in Tupelo. Why in the world was he headed into town? He should have been at his office this time of day.
Elijah finally pulls into the emergency entrance of Lee Medical Center and stops the car to let me out.
“You go on in and find out what’s going on. I’ll park and be in shortly.”
I rush through the automatic double doors and see a counter straight ahead. Ignoring all of the people standing in front of me, I rush to the front and blurt out “I’m looking for Sanford Patrick. He was brought in by ambulance.”
The person in front of the computer calmly taps on the monitor in front of her and looks back up at me. “He’s undergoing some tests. You’ll need to wait out here until the doctor can talk to you.”
“Please. He’s my father. I’ve recently lost my mother and I can’t lose him too. I really need to be with him.” I’m trying to keep my emotions in check, but it’s not working.
The receptionist senses my panic and gives me a sympathetic nod. “What’s your name, dear?”
“Sally. Sally Jones-Patrick.”
“We have an Elijah Patrick down as his emergency contact.” Just as she says this, Elijah shows up and puts his arm around me.
“I’m Elijah. His brother.”
“Very well. Please have a seat in the waiting area and we’ll come get you as soon as we have news.”
My uncle leads me over to some chairs and sits beside me. I immediately collapse into him and the tears begin to fall. He rubs my back and tries to soothe me with his words.
“I know you’re worried, and so am I. But the fact they’re running tests is a good sign. No news is good news right now.”
I nod my head, not trusting myself to speak. My tears are reduced to sniffles and I know my nose is running. Since Elijah is used to living with emotional females, he knows just what I need and produces a handkerchief from his pocket.
As I’m blowing my nose and wiping my face, Elijah resumes speaking. “As soon as possible, we need to update Sandy’s Health Care Directive. You need to be his medical proxy and emergency contact.”
“But I don’t know his health history or his wishes.”
“Well, it’s about time for you to find out. You need to know this side of your family medical history, and as his only child, he needs to update his financial power of attorney and his will to include you. I can’t believe he hasn’t seen to this already.”
“I don’t care about any of that right now. I just need to know he’s okay.” The tears start to flow again.
Elijah tucks me under his chin and gently pats me on the back. “I know, honey. We’ll sort all that out later. Try not to worry too much about Sandy. If you haven’t figured it out yet, we Patricks are fighters.”
I must have dozed off for a few minutes on Elijah’s shoulder because he’s gently prodding me. “Sally, honey, the doctor’s here.”
I blink for a few seconds, remembering where I am and why. Elijah is shaking the doctor’s hand, turning to me as I rise from the chair.
“This is Sandy’s daughter, Sally.”
A petite, blonde woman appearing to be in her mid-fifties stands before me. “I’m Doctor Carrington.”
“Doctor, how is my father? What happened? When can I see him?”
The doctor smiles patiently at my rapid questions. “You should be able to see him soon. We’re getting him settled into a room as we speak. He probably won’t be awake for a while, as he’s been through quite a lot and he’s very tired, and we want him to rest. As far as what happened, he apparently ran off the road and hit a tree. Fortunately, no other vehicles were involved. Based on the account of the paramedics and his condition when he arrived, we’ve determined he suffered a heart attack, which likely caused him to black out behind the wheel.”
The tears threaten to fall again as the doctor continues. “Mr. Patrick is a very lucky man. He’s got an ugly bump on his head, but we’ve already determined there’s no bruising or bleeding on the brain, which is excellent news. Our main concern at the moment is his heart. We’ve called in his cardiologist who will be running additional tests and determining a further course of action.”
Elijah speaks up as I try to digest what I’ve just heard. “Thank you, doctor. Cardiac issues run in our family. Our father died from heart failure at a fairly young age.”
“We’ve made tremendous strides in cardiac medicine over the years, and Mr. Patrick is in good hands here. I’ll have someone let you know when you can go up to see him.”
I give Dr. Carrington a tentative smile, as I really can’t manage to speak yet. As she turns away, Elijah squeezes my shoulder. “I need to call the girls and tell ’em what’s goin’ on.”
A short time later, a volunteer approaches to show us to the cardiac care unit. We take the elevator up to the fourth floor and enter a wing that’s actually a part of the ICU. We check in at the nurses’ station and learn that Sandy is likely going to sleep through the night, and he can only have one visitor at a time.
