Winning the Lottery

Ch. 11 Heart Stopper

I led my father to the elevator.

"You look good. Have you lost weight?" he asked.

"Nope. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm great. It's the prime of my life," he smiled.

I sighed and hit the number for the General floor. "My priority today are two patients that are related to my boss, okay? Her husband and son. She's there with her whole family. You can come, but keep quiet, okay?"

"Sure thing, baby girl."

I internally groaned.

When the elevator stopped, I led him off the elevator. I stopped at the nurses' station and downed half of my coffee. Then, I took a breath and turned. I went into the room with my father on my heels.

"Okay, Jake. Vitals, right?" I spoke, turning to Jake.

"Yes, ma'am. Hey, a couple of my guys were going to come in. Is that okay?" he asked.

I checked his vitals and wrote them down. "Thats great."

"Britt, there's a guy behind you," Peter slowly spoke.

I noticed he didn't have his oxygen on. "Put your oxygen on, Peter."

"I'm breathing fine."

"Speaking of being fine, should I call oncology? You need to make a decision."

He looked at Kelly. "Honey, I need you to decide for me."

"Yes, call oncology." She stood. "Britt, I have an appendectomy at noon. You up for a lunch date?"

"She has a lunch date," Dad spoke.

I turned. "I said no talking. I'm not going to deal with you for the next couple of days if-"

"Got it. I'll be in the hall." He stepped out.

"Who was that?" Jake asked.

"My dad," I sighed. "I'm sorry. He just got here and I'm hoping he'll get bored and, um, leave."

"I want to meet him," Kelly smiled.

"No, you don't. He's an ass."

"I can hear you!" he called.

"I know. I meant for you to!"

"I want to meet him, too," Jake smiled. "You've seen more than enough of my father. It's only fair."

"I hate you."

"I hate you, too," he smirked.

"Dad, come in," I sighed.

He came in and smiled, "I haven't heard you call me that in four years. It's a beautiful sound."

"Four years? You haven't seen him in four years?" Peter gasped.

"Yes, four years. I didn't really need to be talked out of my career. Anyway, Dad, this is Dr. Kelly Hamilton, Peter, Melanie, William, Drew, and that is Jake," I quickly spoke, pointing to everyone.

"Peter is married to Kelly. Their sons are Drew and Jake. Melanie is their daughter and William is her fiancé," I explained.

"Impressive," Peter smiled.

"I know you better than my own family," I smiled.

"It's hard to know what's broken," Dad spoke.

I turned to him. "Why are you here? Thanksgiving isn't until Thursday."

"I told you, I wanted to see you and what you do for a living. You may not like me, but I'm still your father. I worry about you."

Dr. Welch looked in. "Dr. Malone, I've got a craniotomy in ten. You want to scrub in?"