For the Love of Dixie (Kings of Chaos 3)

“No. You don’t look at him. You look at me. I’m the one you need to be worried about right now.” I lean over the desk. “These men are my family. Don’t let this face and these work clothes fool you. I want to know if my father is alive and I’m not going to wait for you to track down the doctor who’ll take his sweet time getting up here to tell me.”

She clears her throat and shifts in her chair. “He is alive and stabilized, that’s all I can say.”

“There…was that so hard?” I ask.

She shakes her head. Her hazel eyes are full of disdain, anger, and fear.

I want to feel bad, but I don’t have it in me. From the minute I walked up, she judged me and gave me shit at the worst possible time. There were things I missed about this life, like getting straight to the point. There was no need for fake niceties. “You get all that, Stone?” I ask.

“Yeah, I got it, baby girl. Let me go tell the others,” Stone replies.

The mention of the others thrusts me back into icy waters. A chill rushes down my spine, and I can’t help but follow his journey with my gaze. I scan the crowd, searching for the one person I want to see the most, and the least at the same time.

Leaning against the wall, he looks like a mythical being. The golden strands of his hair fall around his shoulders, and his muscles flex in his forearms. All he needs is a hammer, and he’d be Thor.

His bright blue gaze collides with mine, and I’m lost. My heart bangs against my ribs like a prisoner rallying for freedom. Unable to move, I remain rooted like a tree grown up from the white and green tile floor.

“Miss?”

A baritone voice breaks the spell. I turn around and spot the silver-haired man with kind brown eyes, and a long face. His green scrubs makes him look pale. It felt like a death omen. My stomach aches.

“I’m Doctor Adams. I’ve been taking care of your father. Mr. Dunn is a very lucky man. We unclogged his blocked arteries using thrombolysis.”

“In layman’s terms, Doc,” I urge.

“We injected him with a clot-dissolving agent to get blood flowing back to his coronary artery. We’ll check in to see how they look and watch his progress. We’re hopeful with a new diet, exercise program, and the removal of stress, he’ll get back on his feet and avoid surgery altogether. The only answer if he continues the life he’s been living will be a pacemaker and even then, it will only extend his life so much.”

“I understand, Doc. He needs to realize he’s not a young man anymore.”

“He’s still under sedation, but coming to himself slowly, if you’d like to see him.”

I nod my head, working out my plan of attack in my mind. My father never liked to be told what to do. So, I’ll have to make him think this lifestyle change was his idea. “Can he have visitors? Those men out there, they’re family.”

“After you see him, one visitor at a time, for a few minutes apiece.”

“Thanks, Doc. I’ll go tell them.”

“Good. Nurse Reynolds will show you to his room. I’ll oversee your father’s recovery through the night, and then we’ll be talking to him about the necessary changes.” He’s off as suddenly as he appeared.

I walk over to Stone, relay the information, and return to the nurse’s station.

“He’s in room 416, third on the left,” Nurse Reynolds says.

“Thank you.” I hurry down the hall. I push the door open and peer inside. He looks so small lying there, far too still in the bed with a white blanket drawn up to his chin. Scooting the navy blue chair beside his bed, I sit and grab his hand; his swallows mine. The calluses remind me of the hands on policy he’s always had. Hell, he raised me with it. I can change a tire and oil with the best of them. Seeing this capable man felled is ripping my heart to pieces. “I’m here, Pops. And I’m going to stay here for as long as you need me,” I whisper.

His hand squeezes mine. “Always need you, Rosie.”

“Pops?”

His eyes flutter open. “What happened?”

“You had a heart attack. They’re working on clearing your arteries, but you have to change your lifestyle.”

He harrumphs. “No quack is going to tell me what to do. All gotta leave this place some time.”

“No time soon, if I can help it.”

“Takes more than a heart attack to put your old man in the ground.”