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“I can’t take enough of them.”
We stared at each other. Then I went on to apologize for what happened in the courtroom with Zac.“Your apology isn’t necessary, Stevie. I’m not worried about what happened. As a matter of fact, I predicted it. You and Zac have been holding in so much emotion and there was bound to be an explosion of it like what I just witnessed up there in Judge Smith’s courtroom.”
“And he continued this case. I’m gonna have to go through all of this with Zac again. I won’t lose my shit again. I’m just gonna have to face Zac and speak to him. I thought all of that would be behind me after today.”
Brooke gave me a sympathetic smile and then her cellphone started ringing.
“I’ve gotta take this,” she said. “It’s Jennifer and she never calls me. She only texts, so this must be really important.”
I nodded and Brooke answered her call.
“Yes, I’m with Stevie. Why?” she asked.
As soon as I heard Brooke say that, I knew something was wrong. Then I saw the change in her eyes. They were now filled with even more concern for me. Less than thirty seconds later, she hung up and put her hand on my shoulder.
“The assistant pastor at your dad’s church has been trying to call you but your phone must be on silent. Your dad had a stroke, Stevie. He’s in the hospital.”
I turned around and took off running to my car while Brooke yelled for me to stop but I didn’t. I just kept running—hoping and praying that I could make it to my dad before I lost him.
51
#pleasureandpain
Stevie
WHEN I GOTto the hospital, my dad was in his bed with an IV needle stuck in his left hand and an oxygen mask on his face, and he was sleeping. His assistant pastor, Kyle, and his church secretary, Margie, were in the room and came over to me as soon as they saw me. Their greeting was heartfelt and so was mine. Then I walked over to my dad, held his hand, and watched him breathing. He didn’t wake up at my touch and my guess was that he must be sedated.
I heard the door open and looked over to see a man in a white coat, kindly smiling while extending his hand to shake mine.
“Hi, I’m Doctor Richardson. You must be Mr. Sinclair’s daughter, Stevie,” he said.
“Yes, sir, I am.”
“It’s nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too. Please tell me everything that’s going on here with my dad.”
“Are you aware that he had a stroke?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. I currently have your dad on an IV drip with a medicine that will help break up the clot in his brain. As far asthe full extent of damage that the clot has done to your dad’s brain, plus the effect on his speech and physical abilities—I’m not sure yet. Right now, my concern is keeping him still and resting. We have him sedated and plan to keep him that way until tomorrow.”
“I understand. What is the rehabilitation process for someone who’s had a stroke?”
“It’s typically a long road. It could take months or even years. It all depends on the extent of damage to your dad’s brain. After he leaves here, he’ll likely need to go to a nursing facility or an inpatient rehab center. If he hasn’t been affected by the stroke too badly, then he could go home, but he’ll still need help. Someone to look after him until he’s capable of caring for himself again.”
“I’ll do whatever is necessary for him.”
“Stevie, your dad is in good hands here and he also has a lot of people praying for him, including me.”
“I appreciate it, Dr. Richardson.”
As he continued talking to me in more detail about my dad’s rehabilitation process, my mind had already moved ahead to what I knew I was going to have to do now: move back to Austin to take care of my dad. I was going to make sure he received all the medical care that he needed so he could recover from his stroke as much as possible.
Between being held hostage at gunpoint by Mr. Ferguson, ending my relationship with Zac, and now this with my dad, I could only shake my head at this perfect storm pouring down its poison rain on top of me—and I couldn’t take another thing happening.
After Dr. Richardson left the room, I texted Brooke a brief update on my dad and also let her know that I’d keep her informed as things moved along here. I also let her know that I wouldn’t be at work the rest of this week and then apologized.She told me not to worry about it and to do whatever I needed to do. I didn’t bring up that I’d soon be resigning from my position at her office, but planned on doing it once I had a better hold on everything that was going on here.
