Big Date

Ch. 19 A nightmare?

Rushing to the hospital was not as simple as Jordan would have liked, for she needed to wait to have officers assigned to her. As General Foster had explained, it wasn't wise for her to leave Dan's place without protection until they'd wrapped their investigation and neutralization of the threat that had attacked Dan's place just yesterday. Luckily for Jordan, General Foster had been able to assign Eli and Amar to act as Jordan's private officers.

Jordan's hands shook as she reunited with her cellphone and started reaching out to her family. While Jordan's mom didn't pick up, her sister-in-law Tess did. Tess informed Jordan that her dad had had a heart attack and was currently in a hospital on the west side of town, recovering. The last place Jordan would have expected to be was in the back of Dino's car with Amar and Eli sitting on either side of her, heading to the hospital. Along the way, the guys kept offering words of encouragement, taking turns telling stories about people who'd had heart attacks and made full recoveries. Meanwhile, Dino, for once, remained silent. Jordan knew that Dan and Dino's dad had died from a heart attack. It's clear why the brothers had been so shaken to hear news of Jordan's dad.

After finding a parking spo,t Jordan, Dino, Eli, and Amar headed into the hospital. Once they'd made it up to her dad's room, Jordan was greeted by Tess who was holding a sleeping Spencer.

"Is he okay? I came as fast as I could!"

"Jordan, who are all these guys?" Tess whispered.

"They're here to help me...They're friends... and you remember Dino... Dan's brother..."

Tess looked my three guys over as they towered through the hallway. Then, she explained that Chris and my mom were in the room with her dad. Jordan entered alone, leaving her three bodyguards (if you include Dino) with Tess and Spencer outside. Jordan was immediately greeted with hugs from Chris and Jane.

"Thank goodness you're here! The news said you were with... that giant..."

"I was with Dan," Jordan replied, emphasizing Dan's name in response to her mother calling Dan "that giant".

"Come here sweetheart." Jordan's dad, Charles said with a weak, gravely voice.

"Dad! I love you so much. I came as soon as I heard,"

"You're the one to blame for this!" Jane chimed in.

"What?"

"We were having a very heated discussion about the giant. The stress of it all made him have a heart attack!"

"Hush Jane. The doctors said-"

"It's the giant's fault! No one can tell me otherwise!"

"Shhh, Mom, let's keep it cool in here at least," Chris interjected, trying to deescalate the situation.

"All I want is for my daughter to have a good and normal life. A steady job, a husband, some kids. Is that so much to ask for?!"

"I know mom, but right now this stress is not good for dad,"

"There wouldn't be anything to stress about if it wasn't for that giant. We've had reporters finding us everywhere. The grocery store, my nail appointment, EVERYWHERE,"

"I'm sorry mom-" Jordan interjected.

"You need to be better!"

"Jane! That's enough. Can Jordan and I have the room?" Charles spoke up, making his wife and kids turn and face him.

Jane and Charles went back and forth for a moment before Chris wrapped an arm around Jane's shoulder and escorted her out of the room, leaving Charles and Jordan alone. Chris asked Jordan to take a seat next to his bed. Jordan felt speechless, moving to sit next to her father.