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CHIP HATED TO ADMIT it, but he’d need to revisit Cheryl and Brody with a line of questioning, and it was because of his wife’s nosing into things. She had a knack, an intuition where she picked up details he might overlook.
It’s just that he worried about her not only getting hurt by asking the wrong questions or the wrong people, but also worried that she’d jeopardize their case. He was between a rock and a hard place.
Come morning, Katy was getting ready for work when her phone buzzed. She picked it up and glanced at the caller ID. “Mom?”
“Katy, it’s your father. He’s had a heart attack. Can you meet me at the hospital?”
Katy’s heart dropped. “Yeah, I’ll get there as fast as I can. Where are you?”
“I’m at the hospital now. I came over with the ambulance.” Doris’s voice was shaky.
Her stomach lurched with panic, leaving her with a mix of nausea and uncertainty. “Okay. I love you, Mom. Hang in there.” She threw her clothes on and ran down the stairs. She blurted the news out, “Chip, my dad, hospital, he had a heart attack. I’m on my way over.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” he asked.
She nodded. “Can you?”
“Of course,” he said. “I’ll call the station and let them know where I’ll be. Come on,” he said. “I’ll call them when we get to the hospital.”
Everything that seemed to matter melted away. Time stood still. Nothing else mattered. Katy needed to see her father. Needed him to be okay. Needed him to live.
Chip fired up his truck. Once he backed out and was driving down the road, he reached over and took Katy’s hand with his spare. “You okay?”
She choked, almost unable to get the words out. “I don’t know.”
“What do we know so far?”
Katy shook her head. The tears fell fast and hard. “I’m not ready for this...”
“He’s going to make it. Think positive. There’s no other option. Rocco is still very much a part of our lives. He’s not going anywhere.”
Once they got to the hospital, Katy felt better. Seeing her father helped. After time in the emergency room and testing, he was moved to the Cardiac Care Unit. Katy sat quietly with her mother. Chip quietly paced the hallways. He wasn’t a fan of hospitals; they left him queasy.
Her father was given medications through his IV line, and monitors beeped and recorded his vital signs and heart rate. They’d watch him for a few days and do tests to see how much damage was done. Rocco drifted in and out of sleep.
Chip wandered off and returned with coffee for Doris and Katy. “How are you holding up?”
Doris looked at him. She stood and gave him a hug. “You’re a good man. I’m glad you and Katy have each other.”
Chip nodded.
Rocco opened his eyes. “Moving on to a younger man already?”
Doris turned and smiled. “The first moment I get.”
“That’s my girl, a real go-getter.”
“How are you feeling, Daddy?” Katy asked.
“Like I had a heart attack,” he quipped playfully.
“You need to get better fast, or Sal might start winning the poker games down on the docks.”
“That old Sal couldn’t seal the deal if he was dealt a winning hand.” He closed his eyes, and drifted off again.
Doris looked at Katy and spoke softly. “He’s still himself.”
When he came back around again, Katy went to his bedside and held her father’s hand. “I love you, Dad.”
“Katamara, do you know what my greatest experience in life was?”
“What?” she asked.
“Raising you,” he answered. “Best thing to happen to us.”
Katy smiled. It was the sweetest thing ever.
“Don’t miss the opportunity. Raising a child is life changing. It shows you what’s important in life and helps you see things differently.”
“I’ll think about it,” she said. She hadn’t spoken with Chip about kids in a while, unless you counted thinking about Wyatt and what he’d been through. It was never a pressing matter, and where Eve and Ed selectively chose not to have kids, Katy wasn’t sure where she stood anymore.
Doris stepped in next to Katy. “Rocco, you’re my better half. Don’t you dare scare me like that. I can’t imagine living day to day without you by my side.”
“You can’t get rid of me that easy, woman.” He grinned, then closed his eyes again.
“Get some rest. I’ll be right here,” she said.
Katy turned and saw Chip in the door. His eyes were misty. “You okay, big boy?”
“Eh, you know...”
Katy nodded. She understood. He wasn’t one to express his emotions freely, but seeing Rocco in the hospital bed hit home. As in-laws go, Doris and Rocco weren’t the worst ones out there, and he was fond of the old man.
After a long night, Katy and Chip headed home. Katy would check back in the morning. Running a business was growing more difficult day by day. She needed to rethink things, maybe her hours, and adapt with a couple of changes. Maybe shorter hours, a smaller menu, a few more grab-and-go items, self-serve coffee... She wasn’t so sure running the deli would be a lifelong experience. She’d done it for a long time, but was rethinking things. The thought of a heart attack left her staring at mortality. Was she living life the way she’d always intended? If not, what would she change? Now might be a good time to do it.
