One More Dance by Roxanne Rustand (fun books to read for adults TXT) 📕

“Or even if he just opens his eyes, let me know. He hasn’t stirred a bit.”

“And we don’t expect him to. Not yet.” The young nurse fairly vibrated with energy as she shelved the chart and bustled from the nurses’ counter to Jared’s bay, where she examined the bags of IV saline and meds hanging above his bed. “But I’ll call you, I promise.”

“ARE YOU SURE YOU DON’T want me to come in with you?”

Casey shook her head and managed a smile. “I know you have to get back to work in Madison, and the ICU would only admit family members, anyway. Thanks so much for everything, though.”

Deanna bit her lower lip, as if worrying over just how much to say. “It...will be a shock, seeing your dad. It was for me when my dad had a heart attack. All the tubes and wires and monitors were sort of scary.”

“I know.” Casey opened her car door, then leaned over to give her mother’s old friend a quick kiss on the cheek. “You’ve been the best. Thanks."

She fetched her duffel and backpack out of the backseat of the SUV, nodded in farewell, then trudged through the automatic doors of the ER.

Even before she’d got on the plane, fear and dread had been churning through her stomach over the upcoming scene with her parents. Arriving to find Deanna waiting at the airport instead of Mom, and hearing the awful news about Dad, had made everything a thousand times worse.

The nurse at the desk waved her over to the elevators.

Outside, the air was crisp and sweet with the scent of a northern spring, and the early-morning light was still soft with a wispy mist that intensified the lush green landscape of the hospital grounds. Inside, the bright lighting and the smell of disinfectant made her eyes burn as she sidestepped a woman scrubbing the floor and stepped into the elevator.

She hadn’t let herself think about this moment.

She’d politely refused to talk about it with Deanna.

But now it was here. The elevator doors were opening. And straight down the long hallway, she could see the ICU sign on a set of double doors.

Her hands shook as she hiked her backpack higher up on her shoulder and took one slow step after another toward those doors. How bad was he? Would he even make it? Would he even know her?

A single, hot tear slid down her cheek as she tried to imagine life without him...his playful teasing, the truly awful jokes that sent Mom and her into gales of laughter, because they were so silly. The sweet gifts he bought at the most unexpected times, just because.

She didn’t deserve a great dad like him. Not now. And how could she even begin her explanations when he and Mom were already dealing with so much?

Taking a deep breath, she pushed on the door and found herself in yet another hallway that opened up into a visitors’ lounge, with doors marked ICU—Limited Admittance straight ahead.

As if by magic—or an unseen alarm—a stocky nurse came through the doors and smiled. “You must be Casey. We’ve been watching for you, dear. Come on in.”

“Is he... Is my dad...okay?”

“He’s sleeping very soundly right now, thanks to some of the medications. But you can go in and sit with him awhile.”

Nervous, Casey forced herself to follow the nurse into the ICU to a curtained section where she could see only the end of the bed and the outline of some sort of frame to keep the bedding away from Dad’s burned flesh.

The nurse smiled sympathetically and rested a hand on Casey’s arm. “It’s hard, I know. But his color is good, and he’s a strong man. The doctors say that he might even be able to go home in a few weeks. Maybe less.”

Casey nodded to her in thanks and stepped around the bed to the chair placed near Dad’s head.

Just as the nurse had said, he looked as if he were simply sleeping—except for the stark white bandaging on his head, such a contrast to his dark hair, and all of the tubes trailing from the IV bags hanging on a tall pole.

The sounds of a compressor and the soft beeps and chirps of the various monitors were deafening against the hushed silence of this place.

Prickly tears filled her eyes and she scrubbed them away. He looked so alone, so defenseless. Up close, she now saw the tiny sutures marching up the side of his lean face and the lines of stress at his mouth and eyes.

“Oh, Daddy,” she whispered, touching his still, cool hand where it lay on top of the covers at his side. His complete lack of response frightened her and she jerked her hand away. “Why isn’t Mom with you?”

Of course, her mother was at her clinic 24/7, and her father was always immersed in his law practice. Last summer, he’d rarely come home before ten at night, with all the extra hours he donated to the free clinic. How close were they, if they hardly ever saw each other anymore?

The thought filled her with a sense of loss over the family they’d once been, back when the house was filled with laughter and the weekends were spent on outings together.

“I’m here, Daddy. I don’t know if you can hear me, but I need to talk to you so badly.”

She tentatively took his hand in hers once again and held her breath, waiting for his fingers to curl around hers and squeeze, acknowledging her. Wishing Mom would suddenly stride into the room and announce that everything would be all right.

Though maybe it was better this way...a chance to be with him alone for a while. A chance to unburden her heart, even if he couldn’t really hear her.

“Daddy,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry about your accident. You’ve got to get better. You’ve just got to.”

A nurse peeked around the curtain at the foot of his bed. “Just a few more minutes, dear.”

Casey