Forever After (Unrestrained 5)

“Is there a problem? Dr. Franks said surgery went well.”

She checked her screen and called over to the surgical suite where Ethan had been. She spoke in a quiet voice and nodded, listening to the other person on the line.

“Thank you.” Then she turned to me. “They had some problems with his blood pressure and had to treat him in the OR suite. He should be up as soon as his vitals stabilize.”

“Thank you,” I said and sighed, running my hand through my hair. “Please let us know if anything happens.”

“We will, Dr. Morgan.”

I went back to where Elaine and Kate sat, their eyes blank. “He should be here as soon as everything’s stable. Sometimes, patients stay in recovery for as long as their surgery took to finish.”

“There’s something wrong,” Kate said, her face pale. “Dr. Franks said he’d be up soon.”

I shrugged, trying hard not to impart any of the anxiety I felt about Ethan. “Sometimes it takes longer,” I said. “They were making sure his vitals are all stable before they transport him. He’s in post-surgical recovery. Once everything is good, they’ll move him here.”

She nodded, but I could see the doubt in her eyes. “Maybe you could go and see Sophie now,” she said. “While we wait for daddy to come here.”

I nodded. “You don’t want me to stay with you until he does?”

She shook her head. “No," she said. “I don’t want Sophie to be away from either of us too long. She doesn’t know Karen. She might be upset.”

“I’ll go,” I said and stroked Kate’s cheek, wishing I could allay her fears – about Ethan and about Sophie – but I knew I couldn’t. I hoped that she and Elaine would take comfort in each other’s company for the next hour while I was away checking on Sophie.

“You could call Karen and ask her how Sophie's doing,” I said, preferring to stay and be with Kate in case something happened to Ethan in the next hour. “I could stay with you.”

Kate was adamant. “No, please,” she said. “Go and make sure Sophie is okay. I can barely stand to be away from her this long. Come right back after she’s fed and happy.”

I stood and bent down to kiss Elaine on the cheek. “You okay?” I asked, searching her face. “You two will be all right while I’m gone?”

“Go,” she said and pasted on a smile for me. “Take care of Sophie for us. We’ll be fine.” She reached over and took Kate’s hand and squeezed.

Then I bent down and kissed Kate on the cheek, which was still damp from her tears.

I turned to go, wishing I could stay, afraid that by the time I got back, Ethan could be gone.

On my way home, I got a call from Mark Dupuis, the Deputy Chair of the Board of Directors for the corporation.

“Hey, Mark,” I said, frowning, wondering what he’d be calling about. “What can I do for you?”

I heard him take in a breath, like he was preparing himself for a difficult conversation. “Drake, I hate to do this to you, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but can you come down and meet with the Board? They’ve called an emergency meeting to discuss the, well, shall we say, negative publicity around the corporation.”

“What?” I said and frowned, checking my watch for the time. “What negative publicity?” Then of course, I remembered. “No, forget that. I know what negative publicity.” I sighed heavily and tried to figure out the proper response. “Look, normally, I’d be right there to meet with them, talk about strategy, but I have an emergency on my hands right now. I have to go to my place and feed my daughter— “

“This is a bit more important than that, Drake. I hate to say it, but this is pretty serious.”

“No, I mean, my father-in-law is in New York Presbyterian. He’s had a stroke and came out of the OR. He’s not doing well and now is not a good time for me to be coming down for a session with the Board. Please ask them to reschedule.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Mark said quickly. “I understand. I’m sure the Board will understand but I’m also sure they want to ask you to resign from the board completely and let them manage things while this court case is ongoing.”

“For Christ’s sake,” I said and pulled over, unable to concentrate. When I was stopped completely, I closed my eyes. “All right,” I said. “You can tell them I’ll withdraw for a year. Tell them to appoint whomever they decided as acting Chairman. I want to be kept up to date with any decisions they make, but I understand the necessity of this.”

“Thanks, Drake. I regret having to do this, but I think it’s for the best. We’ve had people calling from the papers asking about your role in the corporation and we’ve had to continually reply with ‘no comment’.”

“Tell the Board that I respect their need to appoint someone temporarily to take my place.”

“I will, and Drake? I hope everything works out for you. For your dad and for the case.”

“Me, too,” I said and ended the call. Then, I wondered what he meant by the case. Did he think I was maybe guilty? For a moment, anger filled me that Lisa would do this to me.