Page 70 of Degrees of Power
I begin to protest, but he interrupts. “Kate, this is not up for debate. Security will be accompanying you everywhere, at least until we get to the bottom of this since I’m the one that’s in charge of keeping you safe, not to mention that I need to answer to your husband when he returns,” he says.
“I’ll do my best to behave then,” I say, smiling to myself as I walk back to my father’s room
Although it’s the late at night, the nurses’ station is alight with activity. Physicians moving in and out, signing ledgers, talking on phones, and discussing patient progress with nurses. I nod to Dereck who is on duty outside my father’s door before I go in. Don is sitting in the recliner next to him and glances up from his phone when I walk in. My father does not appear to have moved or be in any different state than when I left him.
“Just letting Emily know I won’t be home tonight,” Don says, pocketing his phone and coming to stand next to me at my father’s bedside.
“Any change?” I ask, watching my father’s lifeless appearance.
“No, the physicians were in a short while ago, and they said that time will tell if the medicine will take affect. The swelling appears to be the same, and they’ll know more in the morning,” he says gently.
I say a silent prayer that we’ll have better news by morning before telling him goodnight and returning to my mom’s room. I slip off my shoes and get comfortable in the makeshift bed, watching my mom’s chest rise and fall, and the waves of the monitors that surround her. I glance down at a message eager to see one from Chase, but it is Jenny checking in to make sure I’m okay. It’s hard to keep the tears and rage at the injustice at bay, watching my mom, knowing that while she may make it, my father may not. I glance at my cell to see it’s one thirty in the morning. While Chase has only been gone twelve hours it seems like an eternity. I open my purse, pull out my MacBook, and rummage through the bag that Gaby sent with me, smiling at her thoughtfulness. Cheese, grapes, and my favorite oatmeal cranberry cookies. I take a couple bites as I begin googling the accident, but my appetite quickly turns to nausea as I view the scene of the accident and the wreckage. While I don’t learn any more than Sheldon has shared I can’t get the visual of the massive semi bearing down on my parents and the collapsed car out of my mind. I finally shut down my computer and after another hour of tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable, I finally fall into an exhausted and fitful sleep.
I dream that I hear Chase’s voice, the deep timbre piercing through my sleep, giving me comfort. I pull my pillow closer, but then hear it again. “Do what you need to keep him alive.”
“We need to have this conversation with your wife. She’s the next of kin,” someone says, as I slowly rouse to take in my surroundings.
“Chase?” I say, finally able to open and focus my eyes on the two men standing next to my mom’s bedside. He turns at my voice and comes to sit next to me, pulling me into his arms.
“Baby, I’m so sorry. Your father developed a blood clot from the cranial bleed. They need to make a decision to relieve the pressure. I’ll let Dr. Moore explain it to you, but they need to act fast,” he says.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Mrs. Prestian, I’m sorrywe have to meet under such dire circumstances. I’m the surgeon on call and your father’s medication, while managing to keep the swelling from increasing, has not been able to bring it down as quickly as we had hoped. Additionally, a clot has formed that we need to remove. I’d like to remove it and try to release a little of the pressure while I’m in,” he says.
“What do you mean, while you’re in?” I ask.
“Mrs. Prestian, the procedure I’m recommending is a small hole inserted into the cranium. The official term is a craniotomy. It will allow me to find the blood clot, remove it, and at the same time relieve a little of the pressure that’s built up. The statistics and results of this procedure are good, but time is of the essence.”
“I’m familiar with the procedure. I worked on a process improvement for the procedure a few years ago. Do what you need to do to keep my father alive and protect his mental capacity. I would far rather this procedure than a craniectomy,” I say.
“You can be assured, Mrs. Prestian, I will do everything in my power to do just that, and we will reserve the procedure you reference as a last resort,” he says, shaking our hands before leaving the room.
“Does your dad know? He stayed the night with him. We should tell him what’s happening,” I say to Chase.
“He’s aware. We were talking when the physician came in for his rounds this morning. Sheldon said you didn’t get to sleep until late. I didn’t want to wake you,” he says, pulling me close.
“You’ve talked to Sheldon, so you know what happened? You know someone intentionally did this to my family? Somehow they found out that my dad was taking my mom out for dinner and they put a plan in place to run them off the road with a fucking semi truck, Chase. A semi truck! Have you seen the pictures? The Lincoln didn’t have a chance in hell. I want you to tell me if the same person that keeps coming after us is responsible for what happened to my family. I need to know, Chase,” I say.
“The communication leak was confirmed a couple hours ago. It’s Alfreita’s men, but unfortunately it’s not as simple as that. After your father’s uncle learned about your father’s intent to sell parts of his business portfolio to Vicenti it appears he began working with Alfreita for the same reasons your uncle Tony did. They want to take over your father’s market and at the same time put Vicenti out of business. Your father didn’t want to sell to your uncle, didn’t trust that he had not started selling the cuts that are poisoning people at a growing rate. Katarina, it was Alfreita that put the hit out on your father, but we’re not sure how involved your uncle was in the actual planning of it.
“I want Alfreita gone! Out of our lives forever. I want that monster dead, I won’t be happy until I am at his funeral and see his hateful body buried. My mother is still having nightmares, still dealing with the emotions of being kidnapped, and just think about what he would have had them do to her if you hadn’t stepped in? Now both of my parents are fighting for their lives because of him. Do you know what a craniectomy is? They are going to drill fucking holes into my father’s skull, and if that doesn’t work they are going to saw off the top of his skull so they can relieve the pressure to his brain!”
“Katarina…”
“I realize I’ve gone both ways on this and I was naive. I didn’t realize they wouldn’t stop. I just want him out of our lives,” I say, finally letting my mask slip and the tears to fall uncontrollably.
“Baby, we’ll get through this. I promise you,” he says, pulling me into his arms, rocking me back and forth as I cry into his chest.
“I hate to interrupt, but they’re prepping your father,” Chase’s dad says, coming into my mom’s room.
“It’s okay Don. I need to tell my mom what’s going on. I know she’s on a ton of morphine and probably won’t be able to hear me or understand what I’m saying, but the research says people can and do hear these types of things,” I say.
Chase holds me to him and brushes the hair out of my eyes. “Dad and I are going to step out for a bit. Take all the time that you need,” he says, brushing my lips gently with his own.
I walk to the edge of the bed and take my mom’s hand, holding it tightly. “Mom, it’s me, Kate. You and Dad were in a horrible automobile accident. We’ve been with you all night and your vitals are getting stronger. You’re going to make it. Dad’s still alive, but he’s fighting, Mom. He has a lot of pressure and a blood clot on his brain and they have to take him into surgery. This could go either way, good or bad,” I say, wiping the tears that fall uncontrollably down my cheeks.
The hand in mine squeezes me. I look down at her small frail hands thinking maybe I dreamed it, but it happens again. She squeezes my hand tighter and I return the gesture.
