“Don’t you have one?”
“Not exactly.” She explained about her old GP retiring.
“Well, get one. If necessary, I’ll refer you to one. Because we made another little discovery regarding your health.”
Honey felt a wave of concern. She’d been so tired lately ... with an occasional fluttering in her chest. But she was only in her mid-sixties and in generally good health. “My heart?”
“No. Not yet, anyway. Your blood pressure is extremely high. That could affect your heart as well as put you in danger of stroke.”
“But I’ve always had low blood pressure.”
“Well, you don’t today. It could be related to your head injury, but I don’t think so. You’ve been here a couple hours, and it’s still very elevated.”
“Oh.”
“I ordered blood pressure meds from the hospital pharmacy. The nurse will bring them to you soon. Then we’ll keep you here until your blood pressure goes down enough that I feel it’s safe for you to go home.”
“Okay.” Honey sighed. This was more than just a bump on the head.
“Thanks for answering my questions, Mrs. McKerry. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t faint and fall.”
“Right.”
“By the way, Mr. McKerry is demanding to see you.”
“Oh, please, don’t let him in here. It will only upset him more.” Honey reminded the doctor of CT’s FTD.
Jamie nodded. “We’ll keep him out there.”
“I just hope he’s not alone.”
“Your daughter’s with him. If you give me permission, I’ll explain your condition to her.”
Honey wanted to say, “No, don’t tell anyone,” but that sounded childish. “I guess that’s fine, but I’m not sure I want my granddaughter to hear everything. I mean, she’s got a lot to deal with. She’s only thirteen.”
“I didn’t see anyone besides your daughter with your husband.”
“Okay, then tell my daughter, but don’t worry my husband about it.” Honey reminded herself that if Jewel had come to help, she probably needed to know what she was up against. Although it might make her hightail it back to San Jose. But maybe that would be for the best. Honey wasn’t sure. Not about anything.
“You just rest. And don’t worry.” Jamie’s tone felt as soothing as a cool glass of water. “You’re going to be just fine.”
“Thanks.” She considered asking if Jewel could come in here to visit but realized that would probably leave CT alone ... and that would not be good. And so she just leaned back and closed her eyes and tried to relax. High blood pressure? A concussion? What next?
8
Jewel
Nothing was going like Jewel had imagined. She’d only been here a few hours and she was already on the verge of a full-blown panic attack. What had she done by recklessly selling everything and moving up here? How was Cooper going to react to all the chaos? Her grandpa was losing it, and her grandma was seriously ill. Sure, they needed help more than ever now, but this was way outside of Jewel’s wheelhouse. Nothing about her life—being an independent artist, owning an up-and-coming art gallery, not even single parenting—had prepared her for this. She’d made a great big horrific mistake.
She twisted the handle of her boho bag as she sat across from her dad in the small waiting room. The one reserved for their “special” cases. Fortunately the hospital staff seemed to understand this situation. Or else they just wanted to contain CT and keep him from upsetting more people. But Jewel was getting fed up with him. She knew he was ill, but this was ridiculous. She loved him, but she had to control herself from shaking him and telling him to snap out of it.
Was he really this far gone? Or was he trying to get attention from his drama king act? Naturally, he was stressed. But so was she. Still, she wondered how long it would be before he would have to go into some kind of assisted living. Her mother hadsworn she would never do that. “CT wants to live out his last days on the farm. To die with his boots on,” she had said more than once. Well, that was a fine platitude when life wasn’t a great big mess, but Mom might feel different about things now.
Jewel used to be a smoker back in her rebellious twenties. She knew it was a stupid habit, but more than ever she wanted a cigarette right now. She could imagine inhaling that soothing breath of tobacco smoke, holding it inside, then slowly releasing it and blowing away her troubles. Instead she recrossed her legs, folded her arms tightly in front of her, and stared helplessly at her fractured father. Hunched over, mumbling to himself about the color of the carpet, still wearing his work clothes, in need of a shave. An onlooker probably assumed he was a drifter from the streets.
She’d tried to comfort him several times, but he’d simply shrugged her off as if she were a stranger about to steal his wallet. She’d offered him food, but he’d just waved her away. Even when she tried to assure him that Mom was okay, it didn’t seem to register. He was too far gone. And at this rate, she wouldn’t be surprised if he wound up in a hospital bed himself. Maybe in the psych ward. And maybe that was a good idea. If someone could sedate him, just knock him out until it was time to take Mom home, he might actually appreciate it. She knew she would.
She reached for her phone and texted Cooper again, asking for an update on the movers and making sure she remembered to turn off the oven before the roast became a burnt offering. Cooper reassured her that the movers had come and gone and claimed to have everything under control. That is, unless Cooper was texting from the back of the moving van after informing the movers to transport all their belongings—and her—back to San Jose. She wouldn’t put it past her disgruntled daughter. Especially if Coop fully understood what they were up against now that Grandma was incapacitated. Jewel glanced back at her confused dad and realized she desperately wanted to run in the opposite direction too. Was it too late to pull the plug on this?
