Charlotte smiled gently and put her hand on my shoulder. “It's more than okay. Dr. Verner is the best.” She shrugged. “Besides, why go to the hospital if you don't have to? Dr. Verner has all the same equipment.”
“But...” I set the cup down in my lap and sighed. It just felt strange, but I supposed medicine could be practiced anywhere. It was just odd to think of her father getting lab work without having to go to the lab. Add on to that, that I was sure we couldn't actually afford Dr. Verner's services. I was fairly certain he wasn't covered on our insurance.
“It's one of the perks of working for a billionaire,” Charlotte assured me, as if reading my mind. “Don't worry. These kind of things are why Dr. Verner is on Bastian's payroll. Your dad's in good hands.”
I played with my teacup, spinning the delicate china around in my fingers. If I dropped it, it would shatter and the similarity to my father's life frightened me.
“You need to eat something,” Charlotte coaxed, handing me a cracker with cheese on it. “Or you'll get hangry.”
Her reference to this morning made me smile and I took the cheese. Despite knowing that it was probably the best, most expensive cheese on the whole island, it was tasteless to me. I chewed automatically, more to make Charlotte happy than because I was hungry.
The door at the end of the hallway swung open and I jumped to my feet, nearly spilling my cup of tea. I set it on the tray, spilling most of it, before hurrying to talk with Dr. Verner.
“Does he need to go to the hospital? Is he going to be okay?” I asked, the words coming out faster than I had intended. “What's wrong with him?”
Dr. Verner straightened the stethoscope around his shoulders. “He's stable for now, but I want him to stay in bed and wear the heart monitor for a while.” He motioned to the tea and crackers. “Please, have a seat.”
I anxiously hurried over to my spot and sat down, hands in my lap eagerly awaiting the doctor's news. He didn't look tired, which I took as a good sign, but the last time a doctor told me to “take a seat,” my whole world had spiraled out of control. “So?”
Dr. Verner's face was serious and he took a deep breath before giving me the news. “Your father had a heart attack.”
I was glad I wasn't holding the tea because I would have dropped it. Charlotte gasped and grabbed my hand. I was glad she did, because I needed someone to hold on to.
“But he's so healthy!” I exclaimed. It didn't make any sense to me. “He doesn't have high cholesterol, he's not a smoker, and he just passed his physical a few months ago...”
“This wasn't caused by his lifestyle. Apart from running a stress test, there would have been no way to know about this,” Dr. Verner explained. “From the tests I ran, it appears to be an arrhythmia, which means that his heart's electrical system isn't firing properly.”
“Arrhythmia,” I repeated. The word was bitter in my mouth.
He nodded. “Today, the electrical system in his heart malfunctioned. Instead of sending the normal beat pattern, it sent gibberish, which made his heart spasm. Luckily, it reverted back into a sustainable rhythm before too much damage occurred.”
I took a deep breath, focusing on the fact that my father was okay. “What happens now?” I asked, almost afraid of what the doctor might tell me.
“First, I'd like him to rest while I monitor his condition,” Dr. Verner replied. He tugged at one of the ends of his stethoscope. “There are some tests I'd like to run once he's feeling a little bit better, but he needs to relax and recover for a few days. Once I've had a chance to run those tests, we'll be able to look into treatment options.”
“Like a pacemaker?” It was the first thing I thought of when Dr. Verner had mentioned electrical problems of the heart.
“Yes, a pacemaker might be a viable option.”Dr. Verner smiled, warmth coming into his eyes. “I'll know more once I get the results.”
“But, he'll be okay?” My voice cracked as I asked the question. Dr. Verner patted my knee gently.
“Yes, it looks like he will be,” he assured me. “But, I will need to keep a close eye on him just to make sure.”
I nodded, relief flooding my chest and letting me breathe again. He was going to be okay. Maybe not right away, and maybe he would need a pacemaker, but those were both things I could deal with.
“You said he'll need to take some time off?” Charlotte asked, still holding my hand in hers.
Dr. Verner nodded. “Yes. No work for at least the next three days. I want that heart monitor on him at all times. It's connected to my phone, so I'll have an alert the moment it does anything strange and I'll be within five minutes at all times. It also has the ability to shock him if necessary.”
“Wait, you said no work?” I repeated, trying to ignore the part of his sentence that mentioned shock. “But that's the whole reason we're here. Are you sure?”
The doctor nodded. “Yes, I'm sure. He needs to rest. If you bring him work that he can do in bed and without getting his heart-rate up, I'll allow it.” He gave me a stern look. “But no crawling around under furniture. He needs as little stress on his heart as possible.”
I nodded, but grudgingly. This was going to make this week a lot more difficult.
“Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to send some of the findings off to a cardiologist to get his opinion on them.” Dr. Verner stood, and I rose with him to shake his hand. “If you have any more questions, please let me know and I'll be happy to answer them.”
I knew I should have a million questions, but there was only one that I could think of.