Pushing Forward (Sequel to An Unlikely Duo)

Chapter 13: Shock

Kayla's POV

"Guess who?" I snuck up behind Scott and covered his eyes. I wasn't normally a morning person, but I was surprisingly awake today and in a great mood.

"Hmmm Kayla?" Scott played along, but I could tell something was wrong.

"What is it?" I sat down in front of him warily. Was he going to break up with me? Was I destined to screw up relationships? What did I do? I thought back on the past few weeks and couldn't think of anything specific that would make him want to dump me.

"Promise me you'll remain calm" Scott spoke slowly as if I was a ticking time bomb.

"You're scaring me. Just spit it out" I insisted.

"It's Jake's dad. He-" before he could say another word I was running out of the room and down the hall desperately wishing he could take the words back.

I dashed around corners not caring who I ran into on my way.

When I finally got to the room I panicked. He wasn't there. Mr. Mitchells wasn't there.

Scott came running up behind me right as I was about to go into the room to ask Jake and his mom where he was.

Scott grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back into the hallway.

"Put me down I have to know what's going on" I struggled against him still panicking that Mr. Mitchells wasn't in his room.

"He's not out of surgery yet. I got an update from Dr. Jones saying it's not going well, but they don't want to worry his family yet" Scott whispered as he ushered me down the hall toward the operating rooms.

"The surgery isn't going well?" I was wringing my hands outside the operating room peeking through the window every few seconds. Two weeks ago they came up with a plan that they hoped would fix his rare heart condition. Of course given the circumstances they weren't sure it would work, but Dr. Jones was pretty confident in the plan.

Everything seemed to be looking up. What happened in that OR?

"The damage was more serious than they originally thought" Scott pulled me into a hug as I tried to hold the tears at bay.

I stood there letting him hold me while we waited.

Finally even his embrace couldn't comfort me anymore. I started pacing. Up and down the hall. Back and forth. Back and forth.

I could tell Scott didn't know what to say, but neither did I. Back and forth. Back and forth.

He had to live. Jake was only twenty one. His parents just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary six months ago. His dad couldn't die. He had too much left to experience. Retirement. His son's college graduation. His son's wedding.

The son he loved, but he never admitted that to the one person who needed to hear it the most.

The son who I knew would regret all those fights for the rest of his life.

He couldn't die. Mr. Mitchells could not die.

I thought the waiting was going to drive me certifiably insane when Dr. Jones finally came out of the OR.

"There was too much damage. That coupled with the anesthesia and surgery was too much for his heart to take. We couldn't save him" Dr. Jones gave me a sympathetic look before heading down the hall to tell Jake and his mom. His face seemed to age each time he had to inform a family of the passing of a loved one.

Jake. Oh God. His father was gone. He was twenty one and down to one parent. I realized I had to be there for him when he heard the news.

I assured Scott that I would be fine before making my way to the hospital room that no longer had a patient.