“Shh, sh sh sh sh. It’s okay. I’m here now,” I whispered.
She spoke through her sobs. “He’s—had a—a-a-a…”
I kissed her forehead. “I know. I spoke with the doctor outside.”
She started coughing. “Why are you—you here?”
I snickered. “Do you really have to ask?”
And when she looked up at me with her red, watering eyes, I felt my heart tug in my chest.
“Bart, I—”
I let my forehead fall against hers, and it silenced her words. “I’d never leave you alone during something like this. Ever. I just hate that it took me even this long to get back.”
She straddled me, and it made my heart skip a beat. “I’m so glad you’re here. Thank you for coming.”
I nuzzled her head until her eyes locked with mine. “We’re going to get through this, okay? But, we’re going to do it the right way this time.”
She furrowed her brow. “The right way?”
My eyes danced between hers. “We can talk about that later. But, just know that the right way doesn’t always involve family doing everything.”
She blinked. “I can’t let some stranger—”
I pressed a finger to her lips. “It’s got nothing to do with strangers and everything to do with medical professionals. Your father needs the care of someone who’s medically trained. That’s the point he’s hit. You can help, but you can’t do everything he needs. And there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Tears flooded her cheeks. “He’s not going to like that.”
I cupped her wet cheek. “Well, he’s a big boy. He can deal.”
She giggled and wiped at her tears, sniffling to try to keep her composure. And this time, I was the one who couldn’t help myself. With my heart taking flight and her body heat radiating around me, I leaned forward and planted my lips against hers, feeling her kiss back as the saltiness of her tears spread along my tongue.
I slid my hands into her arms as she draped her arms around my neck. Dammit, I’d missed this woman, and it felt wonderful to have her back in my arms, even with the circumstances at hand. Our tongues collided in a soft dance as our lips undulated together, carving out the smallest piece of paradise in what seemed to be the middle of hell.
And when we finally came up for air, I found Luna smiling at me.
“There she is,” I whispered.
She giggled softly. “I’m really glad you’re here.”
“So am I.”
She settled her cheek against my shoulder, and a few minutes later, her soft snores joined her father’s. Nurses filtered in and out every hour, on the hour, and all of them seemed to completely overlook my presence. I unraveled her hair from its messy bun and stroked my fingers through it. I slowly worked out all of the knots and kinks before pulling it back into a low ponytail so it didn’t continue to pull at the top of her head. Mom had always dealt with migraines because of how tightly she kept her hair pulled back, and the last thing Luna needed to deal with was something like that.
Then, a knock came at the door.
“Who is it?” Luna asked as she ripped her head up.
I chuckled as the door eased itself open, revealing Dr. Weatherford. “May I have a second with you, Miss Faircloth?”
Her eyes grew worried. “Is something wrong?”
“No, no, just wish to speak with you in private.”
She looked back at me. “Bart can’t come?”
I looked over at the doctor before he sighed. “I’m going to need you to amend and sign off on a HIPAA statement before you leave, okay?”
Luna slid down from my lap. “That’s fine. Bart?”
I stood to my feet. “Lead the way, Doctor.”
We left Mr. Faircloth’s side before another team of nurses slipped in, probably to draw blood and run some more tests. I felt Luna slip her hand into mine, threading our fingers together as we walked behind the doctor. I looked down at our connection before a smile spread across my cheeks. And the tighter she clung to me, the more powerful I felt.
I’ll help get you and your father through this. Whatever it takes.
“Step into my office,” Dr. Weatherford said.
Luna and I slipped in before he followed us. And when he closed the door, I felt Luna flinch.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
The doctor nodded. “Just wanted to get away from everyone filtering in. Our mornings are busier than most people expect, and I wanted some privacy for this conversation.”
My stomach seized. “What’s going on?”
The doctor looked at me. “While the nurses are checking Michael’s potassium levels, I want to speak with the two of you about your rights regarding negligent medical care.”
I blinked. “Why the hell would we need something like that? And what’s wrong with his potassium levels?
Luna patted my chest with her free hand. “Dad came in with high levels of potassium in his system, which attributed to the back and neck pain he was feeling.”
I looked down at her. “And the negligent medical care?”
She looked up at me with her big puppy dog eyes. “I’ll let Dr. Weatherford explain.”
So, I turned my attention back to him. “What’s going on?”
The doctor sighed. “Normally, in the medical community, we try to help save our colleagues from things like malpractice lawsuits and the like. They have a nasty tendency to ruin entire careers, and we try our best to make sure that never happens.”
But…?” I asked.
“But, before every replacement surgery, an allergy test is supposed to be run. It’s a very simple test: a nurse draws blood, and the lab runs tests on it with the implant material to make sure the sample doesn’t react.”
Luna swallowed hard. “They didn’t do that test, did they?”
The doctor shook his head. “I’ve placed a call to the head of his surgical nursing team to see if the results were misplaced, and I haven’t told them my thoughts or feelings on the matter. It’s not my place. But, when the surgical hospital finally sent over his medical records, the test results—or any indication that the test had been performed—weren’t there.”
Luna’s lower lip quivered. “That facility has almost killed my father.”
I squeezed her hand. “We don’t know that yet, though. They could’ve just not added the test results to the main file. It happens sometimes.”
Dr. Weatherford nodded. “And it’s what I’m trying to figure out. But, if I can’t find those test results, I’m going to have our hospital lawyer meet with you personally. I can’t engage you on what you should do, but I can inform you and direct you toward multiple sources of other information that can get involved and help you.”
I felt my blood boiling. “Thank you, Doctor. That’s very kind of you.”
Luna sniffled. “Yes. It’s very generous. I can’t thank you enough.”
He looked at his watch. “All right, it’s time for me to get home so I can see the kids off to school. Dr. Shropshire should already be clocked in, so just remember that only one of you can be in the ICU room at a time.”