Feeling the fear suddenly overcome him, fear of seeing Regina freak out replaced every ounce of anger that had started building just minutes ago. Suddenly, he couldn’t care less about any of that.
“Can you please bring her to Mission Hospital?” She rattled off the information about where it was. Then her voice broke again. “Don’t tell her he was rushed here, okay? Just say he wasn’t feeling well so we brought him in. We’ll tell her when she gets here.”
Brandon hung up and turned to Regina, dreading his next words to her. Her brow was arched a little too high, and he knew her interest in the phone call was zero—she was still thinking about whatever it was she’d been told about him and Sofie.
“That was Pat,” he said, and her expression changed immediately. “Your dad’s not feeling well, so they took him to the hospital.”
“What?” The panic was immediate. “That was Pat?” she asked, instantly digging in her purse. “Why did she call you?”
Brandon had no answer for that. He wasn’t even aware Pat had his number. “I don’t know, babe,” he said, reaching his hand out over her knee to try and sooth her. “She just said he wasn’t feeling well. Relax. It might not be anything.”
Regina’s hands were already beginning to shake as she dialed her sister.
“Pat!” she said. “What happened? What’s wrong with Daddy? And why didn’t you call me?”
She was quiet for a moment as Brandon jumped back on the freeway. He listened to her trying to get more out of Pat, but it sounded as if Pat wasn’t giving her much. “What do they mean you don’t know? What was he complaining about? Was something hurting him? Is he running a fever?”
As casually as he could, Brandon stepped on the accelerator. Talking to Pat seemed to have calmed her some, but apparently she wasn’t satisfied because she called her sister Bell as soon as she hung up.
Brandon listened quietly without saying a word, and he was glad she took his hand when he reached out for hers. Her hand still trembled a little, but it wasn’t shaking like when she’d first pulled her phone out.
“Are you sure you’re not keeping anything from me, Bell? Pat said she tried calling me first, but I had no missed calls, yet she called Brandon four times in a row.”
Glancing at the clock, Brandon wondered how long her dad had been out before Pat and her mom got there. He didn’t want to even think it, but if it had been a massive heart attack, her dad might already be dead. He’d hate to think of what Regina might do—how’d she’d react—if they got there and he was gone. Ever since she’d told him about her family not knowing a thing about her breakdown in New York, she’d reiterated how important it was that they never see that side of her. For whatever reason, it was something she was completely ashamed of. And worst yet, she was still insisting she didn’t need her meds.
By the time they got to the hospital, Regina had calmed considerably. Talking to both her sisters had done the trick. She explained to Brandon why Pat had his number.
“She asked for it the last time I had brunch at my parents. She said it was just in case there was ever an emergency. You’d be the closest one to me, especially since I mentioned how often I spend the night at your place.” This seemed to embarrass her, and he actually smiled when she added with a whisper, “My mom and Bell have it too.”
As soon as they were out of the car in the hospital parking lot, he came around and cradled her face with his hands then kissed her. “No matter what, baby, you can handle this. Okay?” He looked into her still-frightened eyes as she nodded. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she whispered back, and after seeing the suspicion in her eyes earlier, hearing her say it with such sincerity was music to his ears.
Fortunately, her father was alive, but he was in surgery when they arrived. It almost felt as if Regina had gone numb. She didn’t shake or freak out when she was told that her father, in fact, had suffered a heart attack. He was in surgery to have three stents inserted and would need to have more surgery to have two more inserted on the other side.
The hysterical Regina who’d begun to lose it in the car when she was simply told her father wasn’t feeling well sat next to her mother the whole time, assuring her mom that her dad was going to be okay. Romero held Bell a few times when she’d broken down and cried, and Pat sniffled the whole time. Meanwhile, Regina remained composed and focused on keeping her mother calm.
At one point, Brandon followed her out into the hallway when she excused herself to use the ladies’ room and pulled her aside.
“How you doing?” he asked, looking into her almost glazed-over eyes.
She nodded, glancing away. “I’m okay,” she whispered. “He’s gonna be okay.”
“He is,” Brandon agreed immediately and then said the exact opposite of what he’d always been taught to believe. “It’s okay to cry, babe. If you’re worried or afraid, you can let it out.”
Shaking her head, she smiled weakly. “No, I’m fine.”
He let her go, and she rushed away to the ladies’ room. Brandon actually hoped she was going in there to cry. He knew hearing her dad was in surgery because he’d had a heart attack had to be terrifying.
I’ve never dealt well with loss.
Remembering her story about nearly using a gun to help her deal with the loss of her late husband, made Brandon squeeze his eyes shut. He shuddered to think of how she’d deal if her dad didn’t make it.
The doctors seemed to think they’d caught it in time and he was safe. They’d insert the stents tonight. He’d be monitored for a few days in the hospital, and then he’d see his regular doctor and be scheduled for the second surgery to have the other two stents inserted. The most severely blocked arteries were being taken care of tonight. And while the other two were more than seventy percent blocked, they still could hold off on those so he wouldn’t have to be out so long and they could keep the surgery less invasive.
Brandon was in awe the entire night of how well Regina kept it together. Even after the doctors inadvertently mentioned the ambulance ride to the hospital and Pat and her mother had no choice but to tell Regina the truth that he’d been rushed there in cardiac arrest, she stared at them in silence but didn’t lose it.
By the time her dad had made it safely out of surgery and they’d all gotten a chance to go in and see him, it was early morning. Only two people were allowed in the ICU at once, and Regina asked Brandon to go in with her. The moment she laid eyes on him, Brandon saw it. For the first time since they’d gotten there, her face scrunched up, and for as much as she tried, she had no control over her quivering lips.
“He’s gonna be fine,” Brandon whispered, hugging her and kissing her head.
She clung to him and, to his relief, finally cried against his chest. He slid his hands up and down her back and continued to kiss her head. “Let it out, baby. It’s okay. You’ll feel better.”
As she continued to cry quietly against his chest, Brandon almost resented the fact that her sisters were willing and able to cry openly in front of Regina and she felt the need to be the strong one. Why?
Brandon had never been a religious person. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d prayed. But seeing how long and how despondently Regina cried against his chest scared the hell out of him. Her dad had gotten through this, this time. Brandon was now actually praying he’d be fine after the next one.
Hiding the impatience, Brandon kept to himself what he was feeling as he watched Regina clean her face up. She’d refused to walk out of the ICU with any evidence that she’d broken down. He wanted to tell her Pat mentioned she knew Regina played it off, that she knew she could freak. She had the right to. This was her father—her daddy. Why couldn’t she be allowed to fall apart? But he knew this was not the time to argue about this, so he waited silently as she reapplied makeup and powdered her red nose.